Psalm 1
Introduction:
1. This discussion catches heat from our peers, both religious and irreligious.
2. This is so because people in both camps have adopted the pluralist worldview.
3. The Bible consistently denies the concept of pluralism, and with it we agree.
Discussion:
I. Only Two Ways
A. From start to finish, the Bible offers two choices:
1. Adam and Eve could either eat or not (Genesis 3).
2. Pharaoh could release Israel or not (Exodus 4-14).
3. Israel had to choose life or death (Deuteronomy 28-30).
4. Joshua and Elijah made Israel choose to serve God or idols (Joshua 24:14-15; 1 Kings 18:21).
5. Daniel and his friends had to choose God or their safety in Babylon (Daniel 3, 6).
6. Jesus said we all choose one master (Matthew 6:19-24).
7. Furthermore, He said He alone is the way by which anyone may approach God (John 14:6).
B. This truth is unsettling to a society that prides itself on diversity of philosophy, morals, ethics, etc.
II. The Way of the Righteous (Psalms 1:1-2)
A. Blessed is equivalent to the term Jesus used in the beatitudes, meaning fortunate or favored.
B. Verse 1 highlights the blessed man’s refusals in:
1. Thought: he refuses to accept wicked counsel.
2. Behavior: he avoids the path of sinners.
3. Dwelling: he will not remain in the place of the scornful, those who decry God’s will and ways.
C. Verse 2 highlights his affirmatives as he:
1. Delights in the law of the Lord (Psalms 19:7-11).
2. Because God’s law is the delight of his soul, he meditates in it day and night (cf. Philippians 4:8).
III. Two Paths, Two Destinies (Psalms 1:3-6)
A. As with literal paths in this life, every path we travel leads to a different destination.
B. The path the righteous follows ends in security:
1. A tree planted by water is sure to be nourished.
2. Such trees are productive, healthy, and well nourished even if the land around runs dry.
3. The point of the analogy is that, if one pursues the Lord’s ways rather than the ways of sin, He will plant and nourish him/her securely.
C. The ungodly, says the psalmist, are not so.
1. Rather than the productive, useful, desirable product named above, they are like chaff.
2. The chaff is the undesirable waste products of harvesting grain.
3. As the winnower tosses the wheat in the air, the chaff blows away and is discarded.
4. This analogy speaks of their inevitable demise in the judgment (cf. Matthew 3:12).
D. Because the Lord knows the way of the righteous, he/she shall prosper (1:3; 2 Timothy 1:19).
E. Meanwhile the wicked shall perish.
Conclusion:
1. Nothing has changed since the advent of the New Covenant, other than the details of faithful service to God (cf. Romans 2:5-11; Romans 14:11-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
2. Therefore, the imperative of our lives on this earth are the same as we must:
a. Reject the counsel of the ungodly.
b. Never stand in their paths.
c. And certainly do not take our place amongst them.
3. Our choices are clear, and so are our destinies; let us choose wisely.
Further Food for Thought
1. Have you faced the world’s pressure to relent on the two ways teaching of the Bible?
2. How do you go about defending the truth in the ways that God expects in those circumstances?
3. What advice would you give the rest of us to fulfill the same ends?