The Good Life
(Psalm 1)
INTRODUCTION
A young man was learning to be a paratrooper. Before his first jump, he was given these instructions:
1. Jump when you are told.
2. Count to ten and pull the ripcord.
3. In the unlikely event that your chute doesn’t open pull the emergency ripcord.
4. When you get down, a truck will be there to take you back to the airfield.
The young soldier memorised these instructions and climbed aboard the plane. The plane climbed to ten thousand feet and the paratroopers began to jump. When the young soldier was told to jump, he jumped. He then counted to ten and pulled the ripcord. Nothing happened. His chute failed to open. So he pulled the emergency ripcord. Still nothing happened. No parachute. “Oh great” he thought, “And I suppose the truck won’t be there when I get down either!”
Have you ever felt like that? Have you experienced failures and disappointments to the point that you just don’t expect anything to go right for you? Sometimes the whole world seems to be against us.
But then there are some people who seem to just breeze through life. They always land on their feet. And success always seems to come their way - almost to the point of being unfair.
What does it take to be a person who always lands on their feet? Well unlike the situation of the young soldier in our story there is hope.
Psalm 1 offers us an understanding of “the good life” that differs enormously from the way these things are usually understood in Australia today. It turns the common perception of reality on its head and suggests a life of blessing that is so radical that it’s remarkably appealing.
1. Blessed by God (v1)
It begins,
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in he way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (v1)
The leading thought here is that the believer is blessed by God. God is the one who blesses people who “do not walk in the counsel of the wicked,” who refuse evil advice. It is in God’s law that this person finds their delight. It is the sound of God’s voice and through God’s direction that this person finds “happiness.” In short, the understanding of how life works in this first Psalm is thoroughly God centred.
Isn’t this so opposite to the way we often think. Almost without exception we find humanity today centring fulfilment upon itself. Think about it - to “have a good time” in our society almost always means to go out and “enjoy yourself.” Not God, but yourself! Not others, but yourself. We can be an extremely self-centred bunch can’t we?
We innocently tell our hosts that we “enjoyed ourselves tonight” and think that that is being polite! It’s less often that we heard it said, “I enjoyed your company tonight.” In our generation, life’s goal is to reach self-fulfilment.
In the Psalms, true satisfaction involves not enjoying oneself, but taking delight in a real and living relationship with God. This is the secret of lasting Christian joy. This is important so please listen - the goal of the Christian life is not to enjoy oneself, but to enjoy God - and this is what brings that deeper joy. Far more permanent than mere happiness.
Let me explain this a little bit further. The goal of life for the writer of the Psalms, and for every believer today, is not found in self-fulfilment but in praising God.
For the person in the street “well-being,” or energy for life, comes from within us. But for the believer, “well-being” in life comes from their connection to the source of life - God.
What’s so unsettling about all of this is that what the Psalmist calls “wickedness” is what many Australians today see as life’s idea goal - i.e “independence.” What generally marks success and maturity in Australian culture is self-sufficiency - being a self-made success.
Wanting or needing help, whether from others or from God, is taken as a sign of weakness or instability. What is so stupid about this is that we crave to be accepted and admired by others and yet seek it by attempting to “stand on our own two feet.” This independence effectively cuts us off from the very people whose friendship and acceptance we ache for!
Jesus spoke about this when he said,
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:35)
What he is saying is that when we place God at the centre of our lives, we risk losing every physical thing - maybe even life itself. Yet true happiness is only found here - and the loss involved is trivial when we compare it with gaining a new and eternal life.
Illustration: Some research published last year suggests that postnatal depression has been overplayed as a health issue. Apparently the research shows that mothers of five year olds are statistically more likely to suffer from depression than mothers of new borns.
Now I don’t know about the accuracy of those statistics, but we do know that depression is not just confined to new mothers. The point is, our self-sufficient society has failed to produce people who can be consistently “happy.” And this is the case even though we rank among the wealthiest, healthiest and most educated humans in history!
By failing to trust God and make connections with God as the source of life, we can’t be truly happy. To be independent, self-sufficient and so alienated from God and others, in biblical terms, is to “perish.”
Yet the believer is different. The believer is connected to God and therefore blessed by him.
2. Blessed in Christ (v3)
Like this first Psalm, Jesus also promised that his followers would be blessed. His famous Sermon on the Mount begins with that promise - “blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, etc.
In our Psalm the blessed life is described as a tree planted by a stream. A fruitful tree which provides shade to all who come under it. We read that the righteous person:
….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. (Psalm 1:3)
Jesus also drew upon the imagery of a growing plant to describe how his followers are blessed. He said,
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
The next thought then is that everyone who “remains in” i.e. “follows” Christ is blessed. Take note of the place where the tree has been planted - by streams of water. Jesus and all that he taught us is our life giving stream. People who are open to Jesus and his instruction are like trees transplanted beside a source of water; they are never without a resource to sustain their lives under any circumstance. No matter how tough life gets; no matter how insurmountable the problem may seem; Jesus provides the source of new life.
Now I don’t know about you, but even though I am convinced that I am firmly planted in Jesus Christ, whatever I do does not “always prosper” - as the psalm suggests it should. My life is not always fruitful and as a result my joy fluctuates.
Maybe today you’re circumstances have robbed you of your joy. Let me point you back to the voice of God as we hear it in these verses. Let his compassionate word to you today penetrate your mind and heart. Hear his answer - it may not change your circumstances but it will change you. Listen.
“Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked” (v1). What robs us of our Christian joy? Listening to the lies of the world around us. Have we given credit to the advice of the world over the voice of God?
Listen to His voice.
“Blessed is the person who has not stood in the way of sinners.” It’s one thing to hear the advice of the world - it’s quite another to get up and stand in it - i.e. to accept it and act on it. After we have heard it, have we accepted worldly advice to be true and then acted upon it? Maybe this has robbed you of your joy.
Listen to His voice.
“Blessed is the person who does not sit in the seat of mockers.” Are we settled in the rocker recliner of worldly wisdom? The first step away from the blessing of Christian joy is to listen to worldy advice. The next step is to act on worldly advice the final step is to own it as the ultimate truth. To sit in it – to rest in it. That is, to adopt a hardened and ungodlike (or unbiblical) attitude?
The progression from walking, to standing to sitting reminds us that even to take that first step away from Godly, Christ centred thinking will rob us of the blessing of lasting Christian joy.
That is why Jesus says, “remain in me.”
Jesus and all that he taught us is our life giving stream. People who are open to Jesus and who are willing to follow his instruction no matter what the cost are like trees transplanted beside a life giving stream; they are never without a resource to sustain their lives under any circumstance.
Illustration: I like ferns - I think what it is about them is that they are so easy to grow and that when they sprout a new frond you can see it open up over a period of a few days - you can watch its progress. I actually get excited when I see a new frond appearing.
You may be going through a time like my fern has gone through. My fern was rejected by its previous owner, he said if I could be bothered nursing it I was welcome to have it for nothing. When I first saw it, it was uprooted from the ground and sitting out in the scorching sun without a pot. Most of its fronds were burnt brown - its previous owner didn’t hold out much hope for it - it was worth nothing to him. But I like ferns and I could see the potential in this one.
So I took it home, re-potted it (I bought a pot especially), trimmed all it’s burnt fronds back leaving it with only two (and those weren’t too healthy - show example), gave it some quick release fertilizer, placed it in a nice shady spot (They love the shade), and gave it a big long drink. I’ve been watering it about every other day since. In just four weeks it grew three new fronds, and soon after that I cut off the last original frond (Show it). It didn’t need that frond any more - the new growth was providing the life it needed now.
I like ferns, how much more does your heavenly Father love you? Maybe you want another chance at life – then you need to be transplanted into his Son. Maybe you have been transplanted but you your faith is a bit like this burnt frond - only just alive. You need to trim some old ways to make way for new growth and kingdom fruitfulness.
Notice that the blessed person is “like a tree planted by streams.” This is no wild bush - it was planted intentionally and it has an owner who wants to lovingly tend it - and so your heavenly Father wants to lovingly shape you for the best possible life.
3. Blessed with all blessings
“Whatever he does prospers” (v3b)
And what a life it is! Not only is the believer blessed by God, in Christ but also with all blessings. Because, “Whatever he does prospers” What an awesome promise! It’s almost too outrageous to believe it. At least it would be if we were to look for the fulfilment of such a promise with our own eye-sight.
This final line of v3 has often been interpreted to mean that following Jesus is materially rewarded in the here and now. Instead to “prosper in all they do” should be viewed through the eye of faith. It’s not outward prosperity that is most valuable. It’s the prosperity of the soul.
Often it is for the health of the soul that we find our income inadequate; often it is for the health of our soul that we suffer grief; often it’s for the health of the soul that our family life is in upheaval; often it’s for the health of our soul that we are harassed by life and circumstances. The worst things that can happen to us are often the best. There are often blessings wrapped up in the misfortunes of a righteous person.
The prosperity that the Psalmist is speaking about is this: “that people who trust God have discovered the resource for sustaining their lives under any circumstance.” They are experiencing life the way it was meant to be. On the surface it may look like the world is falling down around our ears, on the other hand, the believer is blessed with all blessing.
For a start they are blessed through time and into eternity.
4. Blessed through time and into eternity
Listen to God’s voice once again,
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
(v4-5).
A godless, self-sufficient life is like chaff, it can be blown away at the slightest breeze. On the other hand a righteous life that relies on God for everything, is like a well placed tree whose stability allows it to live and bear fruit.
Those who honour God and order their lives in all things according to his will are the “assembly of the righteous” which the Psalmist identifies in v5. They have a relationship with God. And they alone experience his presence both now and in the life to come. They alone will be able to stand under the weight of his judgment.
But the self-sufficient life only has itself to rely on - it will have to sustain itself on the Lord’s day - and it won’t be able to.
5. Blessed to the highest degree.
And the Believer receives the highest grade blessing.
“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous…” (v6)
It’s a high calling, to order you life according to the will of God - in fact it’s the highest calling! But to this highest calling is attached the highest blessing (v6)
“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous
but the way of the wicked will perish.”
This tells us that the righteous are at the centre of God’s attention. The Lord knows his people intimately, not just intellectually, but through a personal relationship. And the blessing is the assurance that God cares for his own, protects them, and will reward them. As Psalm 37:18 reminds us:
The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever.(Psalm 37:18)
(Pause)
CONCLUSION
What is praised here in the first Psalm is a complete commitment of the whole self to God. It calls us to make that decision. And it is not unlike Jesus’ call to turn around, believe the good news and enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15) - that is to give up self-sufficiency and to live under the sufficiency of God. Jesus said, If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34).
And like our Psalm, Jesus also promised that his followers would be blessed (Matt 5:3-11), despite what trouble the world can throw at them. There’s something appealing about that kind of blessing. It’s supernatural and it’s refreshing in the face of the world’s view of success. I want to encourage you to seek it, to turn away from self-sufficiency and to open yourselves up to God’s teaching, to sink your roots deep into Him, His instruction and His direction.
