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Blessedness: Psalm 1

by Lawrence Kelley

Here is the preface to the book of Psalms. It teaches us about a fundamental contrast that is assumed throughout scripture. The contrast is between the blessed and the ungodly. The psalmist tells us what each is like and explains, in part, why they are the way they are.


  1. The Blessed (VV. 1-3)
    1. Negatively Described (v. 1)
      1. There are people he will not go with.
      2. There are voices he will not heed.
      3. There are pits he will not drink from.
      4. Note the progression of sin (v. 1)
      5. Walk, Stand, Sit - Curiosity, Dialogue, Allegiance
      6. These are the voices of those who peddle alternative wisdom.
        1. Either denying the authority of God's word.
        2. Or else perverting its clear meaning.
        3. This includes: pop-therapy psychobable, darwinism, preachy sitcoms and a thousand other philosophical outlets operating under the general heading of "Who is God that I should fear Him?"
        4. Any so called wisdom that does not begin w/ the fear of the Lord is just so blather. The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but is very near to the gate of hell - Charles Spurgeon.
    2. It is not a mere "negative purity" we are after - I don't sit with the scornful, Good, but do you delight the law of God?
      1. He reads it in the morning.
      2. He chews on it in the evening.
      3. He can be heard muttering it as he goes about his work
      4. He thinks about how God's law could be applied in this situation and under that circumstance.
    3. Like a tree planted by the rivers of water:
      1. The rivers of pardon and the rivers of truth, the rivers of the promise and the rivers of the communion with Christ, are never-failing sources of the righteous.
      2. Importantly, this shows us that we are not dealing with a mere moralist, but a subject of divine Grace.
        1. There are two ways to be wicked:
          1. sit with the scoffers and hate God's law.
          2. sit with the saints, congratulating yourself on your doctrinal soundness, your moral perfection and your deeeep spirituality.
        2. The one way to be a fruit bearing tree is to be saved by Grace through faith so that faith working by love will bear the fruit of the Spirit.
        3. Jer 17:7-8 Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river.
        4. John 15:5-7 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
        5. My fruitfulness is dependant upon my being rooted in Christ, not in my autonomous ability to be a nice person.


  2. The Ungodly (vv. 4-6)
    1. Two things characterize the ungodly here:
      1. They are Rootless - Like chaff driven by the wind.
        1. Ps 9:5 You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
        2. Prov 10:7 The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot.
      2. They are Worthless - how much does a pound of chaff cost? How much weight is given to the vaporings of skepticism, unbelief?
        1. Voltaire said of Bible - 40 men to write it up, I will write it down.
        2. T. Payne said with the publication of his book the age of reason that within a generation bible relegated to museums.
        3. Same dead end awaits every vain thing that exalts itself.
    2. One thing characterizes the ungodly in the judgment:
      1. The OT Saints knew of a final judgment.
      2. Here is the great assembly of saints.
      3. The ungodly cannot stand there. They fall.
    3. The reason why they cannot stand is because God knows something.
      1. Here we find a motive for denying the omniscience of God.
      2. God knows the way of the righteous, therefore the ungodly shall perish.


  3. What Are We To Do?
    1. Listen to the Psalms
      1. Paul calls them the word of Christ (Col 3:16).
      2. Read, sing, meditate on them and all of scripture.
      3. Listen to the blessed, whose fruit proves them to be a tree planted of God.
    2. Ditch the counsel of the ungodly
      1. Do Not Listen to these people.
      2. If they reject the word of God, then there is no light in them.
    3. All of this points us to a fundamental antithesis.
      1. Fruitfulness / bareness
      2. Heaven / Abys
      3. Good / Evil
      4. Wisdom / Folly
      5. Beauty / Foulness
      6. These abstractions are incarnate in two kinds of people - Righteous / Wicked
      7. The fundamental difference between them all is where we stand in relation to The Blessed Man - Jesus Christ.

        8.  

        8-14-05PM



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This page was last modified on January 16, 2007

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