June 26, 2013
Psalm 1:1-6
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will 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 wicked will perish.
Have you ever heard the expression “You only go around once in life, so you’ve got to grab all the gusto you can?” I remember seeing that commercial when I was younger. According to that commercial grabbing for all the gusto you could get, came from drinking a certain brand of beer. I remember seeing a billboard for an Internet job search company called, monster.com. It said, “Better job, better life.” Really? Is that a guarantee? We definitely want a better life, but will a better job get me there?
The dictionary defines gusto as “vigorous enjoyment or zest.” We’re all on a quest to get all the gusto we can, but true gusto will never come artificially. It won’t come from outside sources. It won’t come from what the world offers us. That will never lead to a life of joy. The dictionary defines gusto as “vigorous enjoyment or zest.”
Most of us can find brief moments of happiness, but that happiness tends to be shallow and fleeting. Not too far below the surface we struggle with boredom, disenchantment and loneliness. I can’t tell you how many times I saw posts on Facebook within a few days of school ending, saying “I’m bored!”
Even our great achievements seldom bring total satisfaction -- straight A’s on a report card, hitting the game winning home run, buying new clothes, or getting a promotion at work, all make us happy for a few hours, maybe even a few days, but that feeling doesn’t last. So where do we go to find gusto, to find real joy in life?
I believe Psalm 1 answers that question. Its answer may be a bit unnerving, but Psalm 1, clues us in on the answer. Here we find a description of the BLESSED individual. In a sense this passage teaches that true gusto is found in godliness.
I find it interesting that this psalm begins by telling us that our approach to being blessed begins when we stay away from the ungodly. Those are the people who are considered wicked, sinners and scoffers (pessimists / cynics). I believe the psalmist begins this way, because we find it too easy to join in with the crowd, even when we know it’s wrong. When push comes to shove we seem to knuckle under the pressure of others and join the gang. Too often, it’s because we’re already unhappy or lonely, and we want to be included, yet, being included here works against us.
Initially it may look like the right road to take. There are signs that say, "This way to gusto," these roads are paved with money, sex, power and control, but they’re really dead ends. They’ll always end in disaster. Turning from God will not bring happiness in this life and certainly not in the next. This is not the path we want to take if we’re looking for gusto.
So, where do we find true gusto? Well, interestingly enough, the road to joy is God’s Word, the Bible. Verse 2 tells us our delight should be in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
What delights you and gives you a real thrill? Is it having that drink? Shopping at the mall, or seeing one of the stocks you own went up three points Friday? Maybe it’s getting a phone call from that special person you like? In Psalm 1 we learn that a person who experiences real gusto is someone who is thrilled and delighted . . . when?
When they read God’s Word. Now, that may seem strange. After all, what can be so exciting about sitting around reading the Bible all day? For many of us 15 or 30 minutes of Bible reading or prayer seems like an eternity.
I don’t believe the psalmist read his Bible all day long. He read the Bible often, but what he constantly did, day and night, was think about what the Scripture says, what it means, and how it should be applied in life. He meditated on the Bible. In eastern religions, TM, yoga, etc., meditation involves emptying the mind. Biblical meditation is about filling the mind with the truth of God’s Word. Are you filling up on or emptying your mind of God’s Word?
The gusto and joy comes not just when we read or memorize Scripture, but when we put the Bible into practice. When we’re younger, it’s fun to learn how to read a clock. The real thrill is to be able to walk into the kitchen and tell mom what time it is, to apply what you’ve learned. Of course there are all sorts of interesting facts we can learn from the Bible, but the thrill is when we begin to apply it. As James says, we are to become doers of the word and not just hearers. And the greatest thrill of all is when we really get to know God through Jesus Christ.
When the psalmist says we should meditate on God’s law, what’s His law? For many people God’s law is the rigid set of rules and regulations we find in Leviticus and elsewhere in the Bible. And we become stuck trying to follow them. There’s just too many. There are 613 laws the Jewish people were supposed to follow? 365 “thou shalt nots” and 248 “thou shall.” I can certainly see meditating on the law, in order to memorize it, but that isn’t the point of scripture. Once we understand what the law of the Lord is, we won’t get so hung up on the trivialities.
In Matthew 22:36, Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” How did He answer? He didn’t recite all 613 laws or the 10 commandments. Instead, He broke all the laws down into two.
37 Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus has answered our question, the law of God means you love God with all your heart, soul and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s it. Notice, Jesus said in verse 40 . . . ALL the law hangs or hinges on these two. If you can’t fulfill these two, don’t worry about the rest, because you’ll fail the test.
On the surface that would seem pretty simple, but we only learn how to love God and our neighbor by reading the Bible, and then following what the Bible tells us to do. Again, there is a prerequisite, you must be reading your Bible. How many of you have read or listened to the Bible from cover to cover? Or have you read the New Testament? You don’t have to raise your hands, but I would guess there are more people who haven’t read the Bible than who have. You see, how are you going to know how to love God or love your neighbor if you don’t read the Bible?
When we don’t read the Bible, when we don’t grasp what love is all about, we get caught up in all the extraneous events that really have no bearing on loving God and our neighbor. We fall into our comfort zone and aren’t willing to be challenged. We don’t want to change, even though change would bring growth, but change can be painful and threatening.
So, we find it easier to remain the same, that takes less effort and allows us to control our situations. However, when we embrace a spirit that says God I want you to come into my heart, I want you to change my soul; then you better be prepared to change. If you say those words but don’t mean them, you never will change.
It’s easy to say I want to have a more vital prayer and Bible reading life. But that’s not good enough. Simply thinking and wanting to do it won’t get me anywhere, other than frustrated that I am not doing it. Yesterday I put on some dress pants, and I found out they were tighter than the last time I wore them. If I want those pants to be comfortable, then I need to do more than think about it, then eat another cookie. We must take the Word of God, His law of love and know it intimately and put it into action.
We run the risk of being sidetracked by satan, who wants nothing more than to lead us off course. And it’s easy to get off course by what we think is a rule or tradition, but is nothing more than our wants which make us feel comfortable.
We get stuck trying to control so many of our relationships, by threats, by scare tactics and by demands which don’t follow the power of grace and love.
When we base life according to all the assumptions we make on the Bible, we get lost and miss the true meaning of God’s law. It’s a law which is based solely on love. Loving God and loving your neighbor. When your heart, soul and mind are filled with love, then the petty things in life won’t matter to you. I’ve always said, “major in the majors and minor in the minors.” What does that mean? Dwell on the things which are really important and vital. What is more important, trying to figure out when Christ is returning or just being prepared for His return? Be prepared! I don’t know when He will return, it will happen when it happens.
Our greatest desire should be to fill our lives with God’s love. In fact, we read in 1 John 4:20 that if we say we love God, but don’t love our neighbors then we are liars and we really don’t love God. If you don’t love your brothers and sisters in Christ, then John is asking you, ‘how can you say you love God?’
Folks, now is the time to experience His presence, now is the time to return to His Word, to learn it, to know it, to live it. When we live by His Word, the psalmist tells us we will be like a tree planted by a stream of water. We will flourish in all seasons and we will yield fruit, fruit that comes from God. Fruit is the powerful evidence of our love for God and love for our neighbor.
Its roots sink into the river bank and no matter what the weather is like, it produces fruit. Even if there’s a severe drought, its leaves don’t wither. They remain green and fresh because the tree is receiving nourishment from that stream, which is a symbol of the power of God’s love flowing and nurturing into the tree. At one time or another we will all have to face adversity. Whether it’s family, work, an illness or death, we will be confronted with disappointment and tragedy.
When we’ve been holding onto God’s law of love, when we’ve accepted His grace and cling to it, we will not only survive, but we will thrive. We will thrive because our roots are deep in God. And the Bible is one of our sources of spiritual nourishment and we feast on the great promises of God. God’s presence, through the Holy Spirit will help you to endure the trials of life. Stuart Briscoe says that Psalm 1 describes "a man who is happy even when his happenings don’t happen to happen the way he wants them to happen."
Friends, the message today is simple. Real gusto, true joy, is found in godliness. If we’re looking for it somewhere else, we’re making a mistake, we aren’t going to find it. So what do we need to do?
First, we need to realize we will only find gusto in Jesus Christ. If you aren’t a Christ follower, not a believer in Jesus, stop and turn towards God. The good news, is that no matter who you are, no matter what you have done, no matter how ungodly you have been in the past, it is not too late. As God enables you, what you need to do today is repent. That simply means to turn away from trusting in yourself and putting your faith in Jesus Christ. Ask God to forgive you and to release you.
We also need to open our Bibles and learn the Word of God. We hear about a judgmental God, but in reality, you will find a God who is abounding in love and compassion for you and I. Don’t follow the advice of the Oprah’s and Maury Povich’s of the world, don’t take it to heart what your neighbor is saying, beware of what you read on the Internet, there’s only one book that has total authority in your lives, the Bible.
Of course, others may have good things to say, but make sure the source of your information is a godly source before you allow it to shape your attitudes and actions. If you are in need of a Bible or tapes to listen to, please see me and we will make sure you have a Bible. Begin reading the New Testament. Read the gospels of Mark, Luke and John. Then read Acts.
Go to God in daily prayer, be diligent about it, set time aside for your quiet time with the Lord. Ask God how you can show more of the fruits of the Spirit.
So the next phase comes as we live the Word. We must show others that we are living according to God’s law of love. Are you really living according to His love? Are you loving God with all that you have? Are you loving your neighbor, even if they are unlovable? Friends, the only law you ever need to follow can be broken down into one word — LOVE.
Love God and love one another
