Psalms 1 & 13
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
1 John 1:5-7
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Please open your Bibles to Psalm 1
I know I’ve told you this before but I was raised by my Mom and Great Grandma Mary with anywhere between 3 (I was the third born) and 12 kids in the family. And I remember we would have a short devotional each night from a series of illustrated Bible story books. Then we would recite Psalm 1, Psalm 23 or the Lord’s Prayer and have individual prayer times.
They were wonderful teaching times and I remember them with great fondness.
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read Psalm 1
Now, the Psalm 1 that I remember is some sort of mixture of the King James translation and the NIV translation, but the truth is still there.
Let’s work our way through the first Psalm …
Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the company of mockers,
(NLT: Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.)
- Do you want to be blessed?
- This is much more than simple happiness.
- Blessed = Holy contentment
- I Timothy 6:6; “Godliness with contentment is great gain!”
- So if the “blessed” person is not taking advice from the wicked or hanging out with those who oppose the Lord or sitting around with scornful mockers where DO they get their advice???
--------------------------------
Psalm 1:2
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
- “the law of the LORD” = the Holy Bible
- He knows the Bible
- He loves the Bible
- Meditate does not mean to sit around in a yoga posture humming to yourself
- He “chews on” the Scriptures until he can digest it and make it a part of his being; the way he sees and interacts with the Lord and with the world
- Continually …
Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.”
--------------------------------
Psalm 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
- The godly person described in verse 2 will thrive spiritually
- He will prosper because his desire is to do the will of the Lord!
- When your desire is to do what the Lord desires you will never have to do it alone!
--------------------------------
Psalm 1:4
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
- This is an agricultural metaphor. On wheat there is the kernel of grain and the chaff surrounding the kernel of grain. At the time when the Psalms were written the threshed grain would be tossed up into a light breeze. The breeze would carry away the worthless chaff and the kernel of grain would fall back into the basket.
- The wicked are spiritually useless
---------------------------------------
Psalm 1:5
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
(NLT: The wicked will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.)
- Why is that?
- Because they, followed the advice of the wicked, stood around with sinners and joined in with mockers.
------------------------------
Psalm 1:6
For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
(NLT: For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.)
- To explain why the LORD watches over the godly we can just look at one of our new memory verses, 1 John 1:7, “If we walk in the Light as He is in the Light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
- To explain why the way of the wicked will perish, or, why the path of the wicked leads to destruction we can just look at another one of our new memory verses.
1 John 1:6, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the Truth.”
- The wicked may not claim to have fellowship with the LORD but they certainly do intentionally walk in the darkness and they do not live by the Truth.
Please turn in your Bibles to Psalm 13
From reading Psalm 1 you might get the impression that life for a Christian who is living in the Light of the LORD is all pleasant with no “bumps in the road”.
Now, remember Psalm 13 was written by King David, a man after God’s own heart.
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read Psalm 13.
--------------------------------------
Psalm 13:1
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
- Have you ever felt like that?
- We know that the LORD does not forget us, especially His children.
- But, sometimes it seems like we are facing a time of testing like Jesus faced in the wilderness
-------------------------------------------
Psalm 13:2
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
- Wow! Is there anyone who cannot identify with wrestling with their thoughts?
- You try to sleep but the thoughts keep churning around in your head?
- You want to retaliate but you know from the Holy Word that you meditate on day and night that that is NOT what the LORD would have you do …
- Those who oppose you seem to be getting the upper hand even though you are trying to walk in the paths of righteousness.
- At the end of a sleepless night it is easy to ask, “How long will my enemy triumph over me?
-------------------------------------------
Psalm 13:3
Look on me and answer, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
- Now, one thing we know is that we should not demand answers from the LORD but in our frustration it could happen.
- Of course, we would always repent of this and ask forgiveness but in the heat of the moment, in the midst of the trial we might ask this question out of frustration.
- David is so desperate that his is saying, “Help me to see what You are up to, LORD, or I will die!”
--------------------------------------
Psalm 13:4
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
- “How is it going to look, LORD, when Your servant is defeated by these evil men?”
- You can just feel the frustration, can you?
BUT ……..
I love this part!
Psalm 13:5
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
- Things may look out of control but I know that You have got me in the palm of your hand!
- My heart, my soul rejoices because Your great salvation has rescued me from more than the plans of these wicked people! Your great salvation has rescued me from the clutches of the devil and an eternity in hell! Praise The LORD!
-------------------------------------
Psalm 13:6
I will sing the LORD’s praise, for He has been good to me.
- So, we HAVE to answer this question!
- How did David get from, “How long, O LORD, will You forget Me forever?” to “I will sing the LORD’s praise, for He has been good to me?”
- How did he get there?
- Proverbs 3:5-8 (recite or read)
- Trust in the LORD with all your heart
- Don’t rely on your own understanding
- As best as you can, know God’s will, and acknowledge your commitment to fulfilling his will
- He will show you which way to go
- Don’t think your brain is so big that you can handle it on your own
- Fear the LORD and shun evil
- Life will be a lot less stressful!
- THAT is how David got from, “How long, O LORD, will You forget Me forever?” to “I will sing the LORD’s praise, for He has been good to me?”
- I remember hearing the testimony of a man who was in prison because he was a Christian. Nearly every day he would be taken out of his cell, tied to a rack and they would beat the soles of his feet with rods until he was eventually crippled.
If the guard caught him praying he would get a more severe beating. The guard caught him praying a lot. Finally the guard asked him why he was praying; was it to be released from prison, was it that he would not be beaten anymore? And, the prisoner answered, “No, I am praying for you.”
Do you need to make that move yourself?
Closing comments and prayer …
