Two Destinies Series

Summer in the Psalms

Psalm 1

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

06-09-2024

The Good Life

What is the “good life?”

For some, the good life would look like this. [beach]

Many people name their boats “the Good Life.”

Or this. [Mountain]

Or this [Fishing]

Or this [family]

Or this [foodie - Disfrutar in Barcelona Spain - caviar filled Pacino donut. A meal there will cost you $315.]

Or being brave for your grandchildren to see [Maxine with snake]

Or this [Front row at Barry Manilow]

I asked people what the good life looks like. Here are a few responses:

Relaxed and carefree

Having peace and love in my life

Having family close by

Comfort, peace, happiness

Does the Bible say anything about the good life and, if it does, how can we find it?

Introduction to the Psalms

This morning we begin our series, “Summer in the Psalms.” The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 Hebrew poems written by multiple authors

David wrote 73

Asaph - 12

Sons of Korah - 11

Heman and Ethan - 2

Solomon and Moses - 2

Anonymous - 49

These poems/songs were written over 1,000 years and collected into what would be Jesus’ Spotify playlist.

There are different types of Psalms: Psalms of praise, psalms of lament, imprecatory psalms, Temple psalms, songs of ascent, Messianic psalms, Royal psalms, and thanksgiving psalms.

They are divided into five books with a conclusion, Psalms 146-150, and an introduction, Psalms 1 and 2.

If you were to read the scroll of the Psalms the first Psalm would be unnumbered and written in red.

Psalm 1 wasn’t written first. It was written as an introduction to the entire Psalter. It contains one of the main themes of the whole book of Psalms - two types of people - righteousness and wicked, two paths - blessings and curses, and two destinies - heaven and hell.

Please turn with me to Psalm 1.

We can divide the Psalm into two parts:

The righteousness will prosper 1-3

The wicked will perish 4-6

Prayer

The Righteous will Prosper

* Blessed

We will see three things the blessed person doesn’t do, then two things they prioritize, and then a beautiful word picture of what their lives look like.

“Blessed is the one…(Psalm 1:1a)

The very first word of the entire book of Psalms introduces us to a type of person - the blessed one.

The word “blessed” means “Oh how happy!” Or a deep contentment in the Lord. It’s actually in the plural so it reads, “Oh the happiness.”

The number-one song of 2014 was a song called Happy by Pharrell.

The chorus says it all:

Because I'm Happy

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

Because I'm Happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm Happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm Happy

Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do

It’s an earworm and you will probably be humming it all day. But more than that, there’s a reason why this song was such a huge hit.

We all desire happiness but, for many people, it’s hard to find.

On the 2021 Happiness Index, the happiest countries were Finland, Denmark, and Switzerland. The United States was 18th on the list.

2020 was a particularly rough year for happiness in America. In a poll, only 14% of Americans said that they were very happy down from 31% in 2018.

The Barna Group recently tweeted,

“51% of Gen Z say happiness is their ultimate goal. "Social media tells them how to be happy, but then reminds them that they aren't happy."

Thomas Jefferson believed that happiness was an American right:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I asked friends on Facebook what made them happy. Here are some of their answers: family, coffee, nature, mountains, hobbies, babies, sunshine, campfires, cool breezes, stars, good sleep, watching movies, good weather, checking things off my to-do list, being creative, rescue work, gardening, home-cooked meals, baptisms, learning about the Bible, vacation, grandchildren, and Jesus.

The psalm writer will begin the entire book by driving home the point that true happiness is a byproduct of seeking God.

It’s used 26 times in the Psalms and always points to a deep-seated joy in the Lord:

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.” (Psalm 32:1-2)

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8)

Blessed is the man (one). Calvin makes the point that it doesn’t say that blessed is the scholar, the doctor, the professor but the man. Any ordinary man can live out this blessed life in the face of extreme adversity.