All In

Psalm 1: 1 - 6

All In

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Today’s topic is ‘All In’. I learned this phrase personally by observing a young lady who served in the ministry I was overseeing. Our Holy Lord God Yeshua had allowed me to oversee the Children Ministry at my church.

I didn’t know what I was doing but I was game to serve. When I took over the responsibility for ministering to children from new born through 5th grade the fellowship had about 20 kids. Over the years the Lord brought a significant increase of kids my way which grew to about 8,000 children in these age brackets.

Now, up front, I want you to know that this growth was not because I am this super minister. It was the doing of our Holy God El Shaddai in response to the faithful calling of the man who He chose to shepherd the flock of our Lord Jesus Christ. In kidding I use to say how someone could tell the difference between me and the Senior Pastor. He is the ‘anointed’ one and I am the ‘annoying’ one.

Anyway, to minister to this large of a group the Lord sent some excellent volunteers. We had about 500 servants who did not just baby sit the kids but played an active role in teaching them about our Great and Mighty Master Jesus Christ.

When you oversee volunteers, you get to appreciate their sacrifices. Within each group you come across some who excel in their willingness to do whatever area is in need.

Out of all the wonderful volunteers one person caught my attention. She was just out of high school. As I made my rounds during services making sure every area was operating smoothly, I always happened to spot her in different services doing different ministries for the children.

I pulled her aside and thanked her for doing so much for God’s kids and then I said that there are some high school youth helping in serving but she stood out far and above everyone else. What was the factor in her life that caused this great service? Her answer is what our first chapter in Psalms teaches. She told me that she had come to the conclusion that if Jesus Christ is all that is said about Him, then she felt that she must be all in to whatever He desires for her life. All I could say to this comment was, ‘Wow!’

I once heard someone say that the book of Psalms represents us human’s prayers to Jehovah Elohim – The Lord Most High. The book of Proverbs is El Shaddai’s words back to us.

This psalm is introductory to the whole collection. The entire psalm extols the blessedness of the one who avoids the path of the sinful people, and delights in the instruction or Law of our Adoni Yahweh, walking in its truth. Such a person chooses the way of righteousness.

The Psalm initially declares what the way of the righteous is by describing what it is not. We will note that the book of Psalms is filled with opposites.The ‘in’ choices are what we all need to allow our Precious Holy Spirit do in our lives. He must be the One Who transforms our minds;

. Love and hate

. Joy and sorrow

. Hope and fear

. Peace and strife

. Faith and unbelief

Let’s look now more closely at what our Great and Holy Lord wants to teach us.

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.

To begin with the Christian man and woman’s path is separated from the world. The Christian follows our Lord Jesus Christ by communicating with our Adoni Father God on a continuous basis; finding out His Wisdom and Direction from reading our Precious Holy Spirit’s written Word; and by hanging out with other believers.