While there usually have been scholarly works available to advanced students of Scriptures, now the shelves of Christian bookstores are unable to keep up with the flood of books that are coming on the market, targe… Under this head may also be set those calmly and sweetly meditative psalms, such as Psalm 23., 32., in which God's revelation of his works and ways gives its own hue to the musings of the saint. 3. And it’s always appropriate to be concerned with these things. “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” There are two series of judgments into which both the wicked and the righteous will enter — into which we all enter. That’s the difference between the natural man and the man of the spirit, the person who is “born of the spirit.” That which is “natural” isn’t always what God intends. For the purpose of seeing and showing this, it may well be carefully studied. Eventually this person will find himself not only behaving that way but encouraging others in that lifestyle. (Psalm 103:19-22) What God Remembers That We Forget (Psalm 103:6-18) The Blessed Benefits (Psalm 103:1-5) God Is So Good! The Bible says that’s what the wicked, or ungodly, person is like. One’s God might turn out to be the appetite instead of the God of heaven, the God of the Scriptures. Laudemont Ministries 1. So there’s this danger, in your life and mine, that we may be found to be “enemies of the cross” despite our Christian profession. If we have invested our life in that relationship, when the judgment comes He will see us where we need to be, and we will stand. 3. What’s will happen to the solar system, the galaxy, the universe? But we must move on in our study of Psalm 1. Some psalms point to the era rather than to the Person of the Messiah. Such a one is the twenty-second psalm, in which the writer bemoans his own sufferings and (according to the LXX. Its leaves are shiny and smooth — not withering, not drooping, as the Hebrew says. Wickedness, then, begins with the adoption of a “no-God” philosophy. And, when you get right down to it, Psalm 1 says something very important about the destiny of the righteous man. Many of these private prayers bear marks of limited knowledge and imperfect conception, and are by no means to be taken as models for us. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. And this tree is bearing fruit when it’s time to bear fruit — bearing fruit “in its season.” That’s the picture of the righteous man. Psalm 1:1,2 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. He will consider the nature and tendency of the instruction or advise given. According to Scripture, two things are going to last. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Is that football game you have to watch really so harmless, apart from all the sleazy ads? Another principle is the “law of reciprocity” which says, “The measure you give will be the measure you get” (Mark 4:24) — if you want to have the abundance of the Lord, you give. I want to speak to you about the first psalm, Psalm 1. Meditate on the Word of the Lord Day and Night. nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; My goal in this series is to help us learn how to better appreciate and praise God as that is what much of the psalms … One could even translate “congratulations to the man” — ashrei, “the happiness of, the blessedness of” that man. So I hereby appoint each one of you an honorary beadle. It’s where you send the scapegoat to get rid of your sins (Leviticus 16:22); the threat of “wild beasts” from the wilderness is part of curse upon those who turn away from the Lord’s covenant (Leviticus 26:22). Whoever collected the Psalms, under the guidance of the Spirit, added this introduction to show us what kind of person feeds on the Psalms, and worships through the Psalms, and is open to the Lord and allows Him to shape his life through use of the Psalms. The word “wicked” is the Hebrew word [rasha]. and on his law he meditates day and night. Yet we can go a step further, from our Christian perspective, to see that righteousness means that all of the sin and every shortcoming that are found in my life have been covered by the Son of God. It’s the philosophical position of our media. What’s going to last when the earth is burned up and the elements are dissolved? Eventually such a person’s life style sinks deeper and deeper into a morass of ungodly behavior, because behavior follows belief. Jesus talks about being happy, or blessed, in the Sermon on the Mount. While the football game is on, is your household being exposed to ads for alcoholic beverages or for every conceivable sort of pharmaceutical preparation, including those that supposedly augment a man’s sexual function? What kind of entertainment are you watching, and what sort of “no-God” philosophy does it reflect? I. But you see a progression of behavior. That child had not meditated; he had not allowed the principles of Christian living as set forth in the Word to change his responses and his behavior. But the chaff is being blown over to one side, because it’s good for nothing . We are the people, and He is the God. and its leaf does not wither. It’s not usual to begin a sermon with a disclaimer, but I want you to understand one thing. In their case it’s rebellion against the Lord, which is pointless and in vain. The brisk wind, as it sweeps over the floor, blows the chaff to one side and allows the wheat to fall to the threshing floor. Scripture I came across a poem that I believe is titled, “Don’t Grieve for Me.”. It’s a psalm of praise of that man, because the opening words in Hebrew could be translated “Hail to the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked” — ashrei ha-ish asher lo’ halach be‘atzat resha‘im. I’m not worried that you might fall asleep, but I might. Psalm 1:1-6 Children's Sermon September 24, 2012 by Daniel Lowery The Psalms have always held a special place in the devotional lives of believers. So, first of all, Psalm 1 portrays what the righteous man does not do — he doesn’t expose himself to such influences. It’s not something we can shop for at the supermarket and pluck it off the shelf, pop it into our basket, check it out at the register and take it home and own it. What’s coming into your home through the Internet? And so the last two verses contrast the final end of these two types of people. There’s a natural law of the Lord as well as a revealed law. You laugh too soon — you will laugh later. Whether the soul was elated by joy or oppressed with care, whether bowed down with fear or rejoicing over a great deliverance, whether the presence of God was enjoyed or whether his face was hidden, whether the spirit was soaring in rapture or sinking in dismay, - amid all changes, from the overhanging of the blackest thundercloud to the beaming of the brightest sunshine, all is told to God in song, or plea, or moan, or plaint, or wail, as if the ancient believers had such confidence in God that riley could tell him anything! But it’s not enough to memorize the Scripture, if we then fail to apply it; that’s like being a hearer and not a doer, which the Lord’s brother James warns us against (James 1:22). nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; It’s worth investing my life in. Let’s study the first psalm together, verse by verse. There is the ultimate judgment of God; the wicked will not stand in that day, because he will not be found to have produced anything of enduring value since he has not invested his life in the Word of God nor in the service of the Lord. Studying for this message, I discovered an interesting fact: this word “meditate” doesn’t refer to meditation like transcendental meditation, in which you seek to empty yourself out. He will pray that God may give him to see what is most valuable, and that He may influence his heart to profit by what is good. None of them could possibly be accounted for by the psychology of the natural man; they accord only with the pneumatology of the spiritual man. But then the psalm goes on to portray what the righteous man does: “His is delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.” When we speak about the law of the Lord we mean, in a particular sense of course, the Books of Moses. First of all, I want to give honor to God in whose ways I am imperfectly trying to walk. With regard to the first group we may say, "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." Thus there is established a marvellously close sympathy between Jesus and his saints, since his temptations, sorrows, and groans resembled theirs, To this discriminating and believing study of the first fifty psalms, the writer ventures to invite the Christian student and expositor. Psalm 119:1-8 Sermon - Sermon outline by Kevin Cauley on the message of Psalm 119:1-8 and its directives regarding godly conduct, commands to live right, and the commitment to walk in the right way. Jan 3, 1999. I’m not used to preaching to Christian congregations. The wicked are not so, The Bible presents a human psychology of body, soul and spirit. He who proposes to himself some end in what he does, and pursues that end in a rational and dexterous manner. In the third chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians he wrote: Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. 3. High upon a windswept hill there is a threshing floor. We’re not going to sing — but this morning the pastor suggested that if anyone were to fall asleep a well-aimed hymnal might wake them up. God is the only true help of the soul. The Bible makes this clear in Psalms 14 and 53: “The fool has said in his heart, eyn elohim — ‘there is no God.’” The “fool” doesn’t deny that God exists — philosophical atheism is probably foreign even to the enemies of the people of God in the Bible — but he expresses a practical atheism that says, “There is no concern of mine into which the Lord fits, or in which He plays a part, and there is no concern of the Lord that touches my life.” So in his “heart,” in the seat of his decision-making, in the practical day-to-day direction of life, the “fool” is saying, in effect, “There is no God.”, Sadly, that’s the philosophical position adopted by many in our culture, whether by design or by default. Then, through other cosmological forces, eventually the universe itself will collapse. Whom have I in heaven but You? HIS ATTITUDE. It reads as follows: When I’ve been to my last service, / And … The delight of the righteous man is portrayed here, first negatively in terms of what he does not do and then positively in terms of what he does. I would like to thank the Pastor and all the leaders of Alpha for this opportunity to speak before you all today. The apostle Paul was certainly concerned with how Christians should exhibit their personal walk with the Lord. What are the influences to which we’re exposing ourselves, as Christian people? Such are the fiftieth and the eighty-seventh psalms. One day somebody woke up and heard what I was preaching, and that’s why I’m not preaching there any more. 2. The farmers are bringing their grain in from the field in baskets, and as they reach the threshing floor they lift their baskets and toss the grain high into the air. It is in these that we get a priceless glimpse into the heartwork of Old Testament saints, and see how constant was their habit of pouring out their souls to God. Its theme is as big as the whole Bible because it tells of people, paths, and ultimate destinations (for a significant parallel, see Jer. No truly wise man will account it impossible to make accessions to his wisdom. Then we began to deliberately look at it, notice it, survey it and gaze upon it. These, and others like them, are principles of the kingdom of God, and we can live by those principles because Jesus Christ lives. So please keep your eyes open and make sure that I stay awake. Sermon. These principles include the “law of use” — if you use something you’ll have more of it but if you don’t use it you lose it, as in Jesus’ parable of the talents. There are those directly and exclusively Messianic, such as Psalm 2., 45., 47., 72., 110. What kind of magazines are in your house, and what’s in the advertisements in those magazines? For that matter, what’s going to happen to this world? The Lord has principles which are firm and fixed, in which His creation is grounded, and to which the creation itself testifies. Of course, it’s the very opposite of righteousness — a total disregard for any covenant relationship we might have with the Lord. . It’s root idea is … 1 Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, Are you a close associate of somebody who doesn’t know the Lord, and not only do they not know the Lord but they’re indifferent to Him, and may even be dispensing all kinds of filth and garbage into your life through their speech or practices? But when he discovered Christians who had “set their minds on earthly things,” that was another matter. That relationship in which you and I find ourselves is the covenant relationship: “I will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Jeremiah 7:23). He’s walking into the territory inhabited by the wicked — an area of a town inhabited by, or ruled by, ideas, principles and practices that are not of the Lord, not “godly.” And this person is deliberately exposing himself to those influences. Physical appetites can tyrannize us, but here Paul means here the emotions and overbearing personal desires. Older translations read “the ungodly” instead of “the wicked.” That’s a good place to begin our analysis, because wickedness begins with ungodliness, a lack of regard for the Lord and His principles. That’s a good thing to do; it helped me, in preparing for this message, to memorize the first psalm; and since I’d already memorized it in English I learned it in Hebrew this time. The seventeenth chapter of Jeremiah either borrows this image, or was known to the composer of the first psalm. Such a person is indeed blessed and happy, praise the Lord. That is being righteous in Biblical terms. Congratulations — hail to the man or woman, hail to the young person or child who invests a life in that value! I’ll come to that in a moment, but first I want to ask this question: What’s going to happen to your life and mine? In all that he does, he prospers. Go, then, to the second picture. The Sunday school teacher discovered that someone was pilfering the collections during the class. Psalm 19:1 states, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” From this fact the psalm draws this conclusion: “The law of the LORD is perfect” (Psalm 19:7). Psalm 1 is an introductory Psalm, a kind of gateway to the rest, where all kinds of qualities are mentioned. Is your television set always on, and when it’s on, what’s being broadcast? Because our Lord said that all things must be fulfilled that were written in the Psalms concerning him, we may not infer that words which were written concerning him filled up all the Psalms; nor, with the unbeliever, may we regard the claim of prophecy as invalid through any repugnance to the supernatural. MANY OF THE PSALMS ARE THE OUTCOME OF PRIVATE OR PUBLIC DEVOTION. but are like chaff which the wind drives away. Every verse, every phrase, every word, tells; in fact, even the glorious fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is scarcely more clearly Messianic than the second psalm. But the righteous person, the one who conspires to apply the principles of God’s law, bears fruit in season. 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