Psalm 1 – This Way And That Way – Which Way Are You On? Part 2 Series

PSALM 1 – THIS WAY AND THAT WAY – WHICH WAY ARE YOU ON? PART 2

PSALM 1 – THE TWO WAYS

This message continues on from PART 1

THE TREE OF VALUABLE BLESSING

VERSE 3. {{Psalm 1:3 “and he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does, he prospers.”}}

Now a comparison is made. The concentration is now on that righteous man of verse 1 who does not follow the wicked, the sinners and the scoffers. A simile is given, a very appropriate one indeed. This righteous man is likened to a tree. This tree is firmly planted the word says. A Christian is firmly planted in Christ and nothing can remove us from His hand. It is God’s doing – “rooted and grounded in Christ” Paul says. That is a wonderful position to be in for it is not the tree that has to worry about being established – for us, that has been done for us. All we have to do is rest in the fact and trust fully in the Lord.

Jeremiah wrote somewhere around 500 years after the Psalms but he chose to use this same image, but he put it in a wider context. Here is that passage – [SECTION 1] {{Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD, Jer 17:6 for he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.”}}

[SECTION 2] {{Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD, Jer 17:8 for he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes, but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.”}}

[SECTION 3] {{Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it?”}}

Jeremiah also makes this contrast of The Two Ways. In verses 5 and 6 he declares the man who does not follow God to be cursed. The curse of God rests on him and the verses say why. That cursed man trusts in mankind and makes flesh His strength. In other words, he utterly rejects God because he adheres to humanism and the strength of the human nature. God is dismissed. This is just like our world. Nearly all reject God and put their trust in human nature and human achievements and human wisdom that God calls foolishness as Paul explained to the Corinthians. That means nearly all the world today is cursed.

SECTION 1. The image Jeremiah writes of is a stunted bush growing in the desert. In fact such bushes struggle to grow. They fight for their existence all the time. I saw lots of that in outback Australia when I lived there. The prophet’s description of desert conditions is so accurate – stony wastes, salt deposits, and isolation with no inhabitant. That is a miserable existence. That man will never enter into prosperity but will know the poverty of hell for eternity. O, be saved if any of you have not given your lives to the Saviour. Don’t stay in your desert place. It will lead to a Christless eternity.

SECTION 2. The way of the wicked is done, and Jeremiah speaks of the way of the righteous man, the same one as Psalm 1. He says this that may seem like a repeat in the words but is not – {{“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD.”}} He trusts in the Lord in all situations; lives a life of trust. As well the Lord is his trust. The Lord is the object of trust, that Rock to which he can flee. That is the man who will not succumb to the wicked, the sinners and the scoffers.

Jeremiah says of him, his roots are extended, and the roots of faith anchor him by living water so that when the summer heat or drought comes, he will not wither but will continue to prosper. There will be no anxiety, no ceasing of bearing fruit and the leaves (outward appearance) will always remain green.

SECTION 3. By way of summary, the overall view is that of the nature of man. Man is deceitfully wicked. In the heart of man there is not one good thing. The KJV says “desperately wicked” while the NASB says “desperately sick”. In fact it is so sick it is dying and nothing but the blood of the Lamb will ever be able to cure it. Only the Lord knows the heart and will faithfully render to every man.