Sermon
The Right Way and the Wrong Way -
The Saint and the Sinner - Psalm 1
June 1, 2003
Pastor Donald Sheley

Let's take our notes from the bulletin. This is the first Sunday for our new series, our summer series called "A Summer in the Psalms, and I really enjoy the summer. I think this is the third summer now we've done this. We've selected 12 news Psalms, which we're going to be learning the great truth from during the weeks to come.

Now we're reading our text from the Amplified Bible. And I take just a moment to explain because we do have folks that join with us from time to time who may not be acquainted with the amplified text. The amplified text is written to express, or explode, or expand the original intent of the language of the words. When you transpose or when you take a truth from one language to another there are difficulties oft times, and you have to use different words to somehow get the same truth across.

And this is true, for you know that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament Greek. Now Hebrew is a very concise language. The normal Jewish person in their daily vocabulary has a vocabulary of about 10,000 words. In our English speaking world we have a vocabulary of about 30,000 words, but if we were from the Greek speaking community, we would have a vocabulary of nearly 200,000 words. And again, it's the precision and the preciseness and the beauty of the language. So you have to use a number of words to explain or to express one thought oft times. Now let's read the amplified text, and if we were reading this from the Hebrew and we understood all the shades of meaning, this is kind of what we would be reading from the Hebrew text.

"Blessed, happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather. But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teaching of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.
And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].
Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God].
For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God's will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to naught)."

Now our notes begin with this suggestion. The Psalms are rich in human experience. At times they ring with the din and the noise of battle, and at other times they take us with hushed hearts in the inner sanctuary, into the immediate presence of God. At times they set our hearts aflame and our feet dancing for joy, and at times we turn to them when our face is drenched with tears.

For the psalms touch all the notes in the keyboard of human emotion. Here we have love and hate, joy and sorrow, hope and fear, peace and strife, faith and despair. This is the stuff of which life is made. No wonder God's saints in all ages have felt the tug of the psalms. The book is a vast storehouse of human emotions and experiences to which all of us find ourselves identified.

In times of trouble especially, we often turn to the psalms. When Jonah found himself in what he called "the belly of hell" he prayed and his short prayer is absolutely saturated with quotations from the psalms. Listen to his prayer: "Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. And he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol" (or out of the belly of hell) "I cried, and You heard my voice." He's quoting directly from Psalm 120 and Psalm 65.

He continues his prayer; For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me. He's quoting from Psalm 88 and Psalm 42. His prayer continues; Then I said, I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple -- Psalm 31. The waters surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, 0 Lord, my God. He's praying Psalm 16 and Psalm 18.

Jonah, in the deepest, darkest moment of his life, prays the words of the Psalms and you know that God hears him. And he goes forth from that fish to preach in Nineveh. Jesus loved the psalms. He went from the upper room with the strains of the psalms in His heart and in His soul. You see, He had just come from the Passover, and then as well as now the Jewish people sing what is known as the great hallel, which are the hymns sung at the Passover. That hymn is found in our Psalter which is Psalm 113 through Psalm 118.

If And so Jesus has just gone through these psalms; these are the words of some of them:
Praise the LORD.
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
Praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
From this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its going down
The LORD's name is to be praised.

Thus, Jesus leaves that Passover event with these beautiful words of the Psalms still in His soul. They enabled Him to face Gethsemane, and He endured Golgotha quoting from the psalms. Psalm 22 -- the very first verse says, My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Thus, Jesus at his time of death from that cross quotes from the Psalm.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter turned instinctively to the psalms to find words to explain vital truth to the stricken Jewish people in Jerusalem. Paul, in summarizing the Holy Spirit's great indictment of the human race in Romans 3, found the language he needed for his sermon in the book of psalms.

Now there is a sameness about the psalms, as anyone who has tried to preach through them consecutively has soon discovered. Yet there is an astonishing variety in them too. The sameness is that of the waves rolling in from the depths of a vast ocean to break upon the sands of the shore--the same, yet each waves is slightly different.

It's not surprising that there is a similarity about them. They nearly all come out of a relatively few historical molds. Some of the Psalms were born during David's fugitive years in the days of Saul; others were wrung out of his soul during the Absolom rebellion. Some he wrote when he was firmly enthroned as Israel's king, reigning in the affections of his people. And some he penned in the terrible days that followed his sin with Bathsheba.

So what I'm suggesting is the sameness that we find so frequently in the Psalms comes because most of the Psalms are compressed into the lifetime of one man, into a historical setting. And as he goes through the experiences of life he shares them with us.

Now another very interesting thing about the Psalms, they are filled with many prophecies about the birth, life, character, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So you and I are in for a wonderful 11 weeks together as we explore these beautiful Psalms. They were the hymns sung in the ancient synagogues, and many of them are still sung today. These are the hymns of the Jewish people.

Now our Psalm begins with the word blessed. The Book of Psalms begins with a beatitude. Not a prayer or a hymn, but a statement about human existence. Here at the threshold of the Psalter we are asked to consider the teaching that the way life is lived is decisive as to how it turns out. This opening beatitude also serves as an introduction of the book. Its location as the first psalm is not accidental; the psalm is there to invite us to read and to use the entire book as a guide to the blessed life.

Now here's what the Psalm writer wants us to know when he opens this very first Psalm in the Psalter; he wants us to know that there are two ways. There's the life of the godly and the life of the ungodly. There are two kingdoms; there's the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Satan. There are two roads; there's the broad road which leads to destruction, and there's the narrow road that leads to life. And there are two destinies we're heading for, either of two, either heaven or hell. And the writer wants to begin this very first Psalm letting us know that the way we live has a tremendous effect on the way we die. There is the way of the righteousness, and there is the way of the ungodly, and it's for us to choose which way we're going to live.

I'm at the top of the page 3. Blessed means supremely happy or fulfilled. In fact, if we were reading the Hebrew text it's a word that actually appears in the plural, thus, denoting either a multiplicity of blessings or an intensification of them. And so the verse might correctly be translated, "0 the blessednesses of the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked."

That's why in the amplified text you have this expansion; "Blessed, happy, fortunate, prosperous and enviable..." you see, it's a word too big to say in one word, and blessed in the Hebrew text has all of those thoughts with it.

At first glance it might seem surprising that the idea of the blessed or the happy man is followed immediately by the description of the wicked man, particularly since the description of the way of the wicked also appears in verses 4 and 5. But it is actually an excellent device in writing. For by starting in this way the poet achieves three very important things.

First of all, he begins where we are. None of us automatically starts out being righteous. We start out being sinners. The Bible makes it very clear, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. And so our poet immediately identifies as to where we are, and only the difference can be made in our lives through trusting in Christ and receiving His grace and His mercy. There is no other way.

Secondly, the poet is able to introduce the doctrine of the two ways from the start. We don't have to wait until we get to verse 4 to read that there is a way other than the way of the godly. Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few..." That sentence has always bothered me. Jesus said there are few who find it.

John Oxenham, the great preacher of past, wrote: "To every man there openeth a way and ways and a way; And the high soul treads the high way, and the low soul gropes the low; And in between on the misty flats the rest drift to and fro; But to every man there openeth a high way and a low; and every man decideth the way his soul shall go."

There is always a certain dramatic quality of life, for, as it has been said, "all life concentrates on man at the cross-roads." For in every action of life man is confronted with a choice; and he can never evade the choice; and he can never evade the choice, because he can never stand still. He must always take one way or the other. As I wrote that I thought about, you know, every day is filled with a thousand choices.

When we awake in the morning we make the choice as to what our attitude is going to be towards the day. We make the choice as to how we're going to treat those in the home, and how we're going to set the environment for the breakfast table. As we travel to work we make up our mind how we're going to handle the frustrations of traffic. And when we get to the job site we have to make up our mind and to choose how we're going to react to the pressures of the job, for our choices determine the quality of life that we live, and every day is filled with a thousand choices.

Moses said that the end, as his life and ministry were almost over, he said; "See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil...Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live." David, the writer of our lesson today, wants us to know there are only two ways and life is filled with choices that we must make.

Then thirdly, the author says something very important about godliness. He is going to present godliness positively as the way of the one who delights in the law of the Lord. But by any positive affirmation to have meaning, must have a negative to go with it. Thus, in order to say what the way of the godly man is, we must also be able to say what it is not, and that is what the first verse of or psalm accomplishes.

Now again, one of the most striking feature of Hebrew poetry is what is known as parallelism. A Hebrew poet will say one thing, and then he'll come back and say the same thing with different shades of meaning, and then he may even come back the third time. The thought content is the same, but the way he says it is different, and that is known as parallelism. And we have that here beautifully in this psalm. That is what we have in this verse; there are three linked lines, and there are three parallel terms in each line: set 1, "walk, stand, and sit"; number 2 we have, "counsel, way, and seat"; and the third set of parallels is, "wicked, sinners, and mockers."

Now because of this common feature of Hebrew poetry, a number of writers are reluctant to see any special progression in these terms. But it is hard to believe that the phrases are not saying that the way of the wicked is downhill and that sinners always go from bad to worse. Now again I make the observation that some do not read that progression of thought, but it comes out very, very clear.

If you and I lived many, many years ago and we lived in London, we could go down to what was known as the Metropolitan Tabernacle and old Charles Spurgeon, with a voice that could preach to 5000 people without a microphone, and they could hear his whispers, when he preached on Psalm 1 this is what he said: "When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely WALK in the counsel of the careless and UNGODLY, who forget God-the evil is rather practical than habitual-but after that, they became habituated to evil, and they STAND in the way of open SINNERS who willfully violate God's commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they SIT IN THE SEAT OF THE SCORNFUL. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors of Damnation they are installed."

And old Spurgeon took the position that here we have a picture of the progression of what sin does to a human being. Now I have some extra notes, and these are not in your notes so just listen, because I got to thinking after preparing for notes -- we've got to take a little more time, what did David mean when he said, Blessed is the man that walketh not, standeth not, and sitteth not?

Throughout the Bible the word 'walk' is often used in Scriptures to denote a way of life, or our conduct in life. And since life is presented as a journey, and man is the traveler, so he's the man here who does not take his counsel -- the godly man is the man who does not take his counsel after the manner, or the principals, or the philosophy, or the world view of sinners. Now this would include he does not follow the advice of those sinners who think totally different than our self.

You say, Pastor, give us an illustration. Just in recent days I had a lovely couple who has been struggling with their marriage, it can be worked out. But they too quickly went to an ungodly psychiatrist or psychologist, and the first thing he told them was to get a divorce. I get angry. That's listening to the counsel of the wicked, the ungodly.

I had another family who came to me and said they had had an accident and their legal adviser advised them that they should intensify, and increase, and make themselves sicker than they are so they can get a bigger settlement. That's listening to the counsel of the wicked.

Or to sit in the classroom and listen to an ungodly professor teach what we know to be untrue. You can answer his questions the way he needs them on a test, young people, but don't walk in his counsel. Don't believe the lies that he teaches.

What our poet is saying to us today, is the godly man is the person who lives to find his advice in the law of God and not in the supposed wisdom of the world.

I had someone come to me, here again, as your pastor we have this frequently, it was an issue where someone had a claim against another person. It was a small matter, but if it wasn't resolved it was going to go to court. Their legal adviser told them just let it go to court. They came to me and I said, you've been listening to the counsel of the wicked. Because the Bible makes it very clear, Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount says, if there's a problem, a disagreement, before you get to the judge, you solve it outside the courtroom. It may cost you, but when you get to the judge you're going to lose everything and he may throw you into prison. So the wise, godly counsel is to resolve life's issues as quickly and best as you possibly can even if they become costly. Don't allow it to go on because it becomes more costly the farther it carries on.

Old David understood this. David said the righteous man is the man who will get his advice, his counsel, his guidance from the Book and not from sinful man. Amen?

Now, he takes it is step further. He said, Blessed is the man that standeth not. And this indicates more deliberation, a character more fixed and decided. The man that standeth in the way of sinners is the man who places himself in situations and places where the sinner's influence has taken over his own value system. He lingers and loiters where evil is in charge, and he has a desire to sin with the sinners to be a part of their plans and their activities. Now watch the progression -- he said, Blessed is that man who will not open his ears to the advice of the wicked. And blessed is that man who when temptation comes he turns his head and runs the opposite way.

He said, for to stand. It's like we're walking along and then we pause and we see something and we start to evaluate it. And sometimes you say, well maybe I'm missing something. The man who stands is the man who has stopped to contemplate and possibly anticipate participation. The righteous man he will not listen to the advice, and when temptation is before him he flees. He runs from it. The ungodly man stands there, contemplates it, and then becomes involved in it.

And then we go on, Blessed is the man that sitteth not. Now this implies still greater deliberation and determination of character than either of the other two words used in this verse. The man referred to does not casually or accidentally walk along with sinners nor listen to them, nor does he put himself in the way of standing where sinners normally stand, but he has become one of them by occupying a seat with them. He has established residence among the wicked, and he is permanently one of their numbers.

Watch the progression -- Blessed is the man that's not going to listen to the world but he's going to listen to God. Blessed is the man that when temptation comes he's going to turn his face and run. Blessed is that man that will never deteriorate spiritually to the point where he becomes a mocker and a scoffer of the sacred, and where always the eternal values are supreme in his life. The wicked man is the man who listens, observes, becomes involved, and then joins their company. Do you see the progression?

Go with me to page 6. Our Psalm describes for us the markings of a righteous man. He likens the righteous man like a tree -- he's like a tree planted by the rivers of water. And that's interesting in the Hebrew because what it paints is a very beautiful picture. In those ancient lands they would find the main stream or the river and then they would form rivulets or canals and bring water to their gardens and their orchards and so forth. And so he's painting the picture of blessed is that man who has been intentionally placed where the waters are directed, where nourishment is always there. Blessed is that man.

Now look at what he says about him. First of all, his prominence; he is like a tree not like a weed. Now when I go home to visit my mother I go by old Bidwell Park, and in the center of Bidwell Park is what is known as Bidwell Oak. It's an oak tree that has stood there for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. It's a massive, glorious creation of God. It shows character. It has withstood the storms of the centuries. It's not a weed; it's a tree, thus the prominence.

Look at his permanence. He is like a tree planted. Unlike the grass, which is mowed down in the successive harvests, a tree sends its roots deep down into the soil. It has a deep, hidden source of life.

Notice his position. He is planted by the rivers of water. The droughts which bring bleakness and barrenness to others do not affect him. He has an unfailing source of life. The righteous man is that man whose relationship with God, even through the tears and the trials, holds him steadfast, firm. He's like a tree.

Notice his productivity. He brings forth fruit. His branches run over the wall, he is a blessing to everyone. The man who's living to please God and to live righteously is a man whose life will bless many around him because that love will flow from his life.

Notice his propriety. He brings forth fruit in its season. He is not a freak. There are times for fruit-bearing just as there are times for growth and times for rest. So long as we are abiding in the Spirit, we need not worry about the fruit. It will come in its season. I heard a sermon the other day and they were talking about the fruits of the Spirit, describing them and how to produce them; but he left out one major point, and that was the relationship. Because if the relationship is right the fruit always comes. A godly man has a relationship that's right with God, and because there is that craving desire, there is that passion to live righteously, that life will flow with the fruit of the Spirit. You don't have to worry about being fruitful. It flows because of a proper relationship with God.

Look at the next one. Look at the perpetuity. His leaf also shall not wither. There are trees whose leaves drop off in the winter, and there are trees who are green all through the year. That's what we are to be like--not affected by the winter or the weather of life-- we are always the same. We see that when a man's life is embedded deeply in God that there is that consistency. The world looks on and says, they've got something far better than I've got.

And then notice his prosperity. Whatever he does -- whatever he does -- his family life, his business life, his church life, his personal life, such is the godly man; he is like a tree. I like that description, don't you?

But he said the ungodly are different, they are like chaff. In the ancient times they would bring in the wheat and throw it on a very solid floor outside the barn. And then they would get a bunch of shovels and throw the wheat into the air and the wind comes along and blows always the chaff and the heavier wheat drops down and they've got the wheat. The chaff blows away; it's burned. He said the man, the ungodly man, the wicked man is just like the chaff; all he's worth is being blown away and burned.

Now he ends this beautiful Psalm with this conclusion; The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. That is, God's got it all figured out. One of these days heaven will open and because of his marvelous grace and love, he'll usher us into his presence and he'll say, well done, thou good and faithful, enter into the joys of the Lord. The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly he's going to perish and it's the picture of damnation and eternal separation from God.

Isn't it interesting that the old psalmist starts out the hymn book making life very clear, we are either serving God or we're serving Satan. No middle ground is between. We're either on the broad way that leads to destruction or on the narrow way that leads to heaven; we are either godly or ungodly, and we're either going to go to heaven or we're going to go to hell.

Boy, what a way to start a songbook. But ladies and gentlemen, that's the truth of God's word. This glorious book of Psalms is an invitation to pour our lives out living for God in righteousness and worship, praise, and service; so when the journey is over He'll welcome us home. My prayer is that you're on the right way today. Let's bow our heads.

Maybe you're here today and you say, pastor, I've never had it said so plainly. I didn't think it was that clear and I don't want to go the wrong way. I really want to live the right way, a way that pleases God, and I want my pathway to change with God's help today. I want this to be a day and I start serving Him and living a righteous, godly life a way that pleases God. I want to start that today. I want to turn my life over to Jesus. Would you just raise your hand to God; just tell Him by raising your hand that's what you want to do.

Dear Jesus, this day I give You my heart and my life. I want, by Your Holy Spirit, that You come live within my heart. Help me to turn from my sin. Fill me with Your precious Holy Spirit. And help me to know today that You have heard my prayer and You've received me. I want to serve You, Lord Jesus. And I want to love You with all my heart. Thank you dear Jesus.

Now Lord Jesus, Your word tells us that if we do come to You, You in nowise will cast us out. You've told us that if we believe in our heart that You came forth from that grave, and if we give testimony with our lips that You are the Lord and believe that with all of our hearts, we're going to be saved. And I pray the many who raised their hands today, as they leave the sanctuary, may somehow Your Holy Spirit do a work so glorious, so wonderful, so blessed that these folks will know that on this Sunday morning, June 1, 2003, something very heavenly happened in their hearts. I pray this in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. God bless you.