Introduction: In 1923 at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, several of the most powerful and wealthy men in the world gathered together for a meeting. These men, if they combined their resources and assets, controlled more money than the U.S. Treasury. In the group were the following: The President of the largest independent steel company; The president of the largest utility company; The president of the New York Stock Exchange; The greatest wheat speculator; A member of the President’s Cabinet; The president of the Bank of International Settlement; and The greatest bear on Wall Street. Quite an impressive and ambitious group of people! But let’s consider for a moment the individual fates of each of these men later in life. Charles Schwab, the president of Bethlehem Steel, died penniless; Samuel Insull, the chairman of Commonwealth Edison, was acquitted on embezzlement and mail-fraud charges, retired to France and died penniless, of a heart attack, in a Paris subway station; Richard Whitney, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, spent time serving a sentence in Sing Sing Prison for grand larceny; Arthur Cutton, the greatest wheat speculator, died abroad insolvent; Albert Fall, a member of President Harding’s Cabinet, was pardoned from a federal prison so he might die at home. Leon Fraser, the president of the Bank of International Settlement, committed suicide; the greatest "bear" on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore, also committed suicide. While few would argue that each of these men learned well the art of making a living, most would question whether or not they learned anything about life in the process.
Today, we have the second message in our series, "The Disciplines of a Disciple." The Psalm that we’re looking at starts out with the phrase, "Blessed is the man." The best translation of the word "blessed" is "happy." Not unlike the men I just mentioned, we all want happiness. I know of no one who has acquired so much of it that he or she has given up all pursuit of further happiness for the future. It is, also, worth noting that according to the Psalmist it is not wrong to seek after happiness. In fact, the whole point of the Psalms is to lead us to true happiness. Why is it, however, that so many people fail to find it? I would propose that many of us look for it in all the wrong places. Let’s take a few minutes this morning and see what the Bible has to say about the source of happiness as it comes from the very hand of God.
I. The distribution of God’s blessing. To what kind of person does God distribute His blessing? The first two verses of Psalm 1 answer this question for us. It is the individual who is identified by two outstanding characteristics:
A. The first relates to what he doesn’t do (See Psalm 1:1).
1. He does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. The word "wicked" is the Hebrew word "rasha." Its root idea is "turbulence or restlessness." It refers to the tossing and confusion in which the wicked constantly live because they can find no rest (See Isaiah 57:20-21). Illustration: Certainly we have a current example in Ralph "Bucky" Phillips, the 44 year-old fugitive from justice that was captured by authorities this weekend in a farm field in Pennsylvania. He’s been accused of murdering a N. Y. state trooper and wounding two others in June of this year. He has been on the run ever since. There really is no rest for the wicked.
2. He does not stand in the way of sinners. As I’ve said before, a sinner is someone who misses the mark of perfection. While this is true of all of us (See Ecclesiastes 7:20), the Psalmist is speaking of the person who deliberately chooses a way of life that is sinful and contrary to the will of God. Obviously, the person who seeks God’s blessing does not choose this lifestyle.
3. He does not sit in the seat of mockers. Mockers have no respect for authority, particularly God. They stir up trouble (See Proverbs 29:8) and do not listen to anyone else (See Proverbs 9:8). They flaunt their disrespect for others. Illustration: Do you remember the story of the young boys who mocked Elisha, the prophet of God (See 2 Kings 2:23-24). They came from Bethel, a town that was more than willing to worship one of the two golden calves made by Jeroboam (See 1 Kings 2:12:28-29). They treated the prophet with disrespect which was akin to treating God with disrespect and received immediate retribution as Elisha proved he really was a prophet of God! THE KIND OF MAN GOD BLESSES WOULD NEVER DREAM OF MOCKING GOD AND HIS SERVANTS.
B. The second relates to what he does do (See Psalm 1:2).
1. He delights in God’s instruction. The "law" in this verse refers to all of God’s instruction. We are called to delight in it. It is to be our chief desire (See Psalm 119:16).
2. He meditates on it continually. It becomes obvious to everyone that our chief desire is God’s word when we meditate on it day and night! The word "meditate" means to "murmur." It seems to be a term that reflects the sighing and low sounds a person makes while thinking something over, I liken it to the kind of what we do when we walk around talking to ourselves about something. You may have driven by the church and noticed me with a golf club in my hand walking around in the field to our immediate west. If you looked closely you probably saw me talking to myself. What I was most likely doing was rehashing the text I was studying and planned to preach on the following Sunday. Application: Meditation can make some believers uncomfortable because we tend to think of it as emptying our minds so that can open ourselves to any message from anyone. But meditation in the Scriptures is always associated, not just with emptying our mind of distractions, but filling our minds with God’s Word. That’s what the Psalmist is arguing for in this passage! Sure, reading the Word is important; Studying it is great; Memorizing it is instrumental to our spiritual development. Meditating on it, however, is what brings true transformation to our character. Illustration: One man likens it to the difference between dipping a tea bag in a cup of hot water so that some of the tea finds its way into the cup and immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until all the rich tea flavor has been extracted. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, "I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters."
II. The description of God’s blessing (See Psalm 1:3). To the person who embraces the discipline of meditating on God’s Word, He grants the following:
A. Nourishment. "He is like a tree planted by streams of water..." Unlike trees growing wild where the amount of rainfall varies, the tree the Psalmist has in mind has been intentionally planted by a constant flow of water, guaranteeing its survival and growth.
B. Fruitfulness. "...which yields its fruit in season..." Proper care and nourishment always results in fruit at the right time (in season). As we contemplate and chew on the word it cannot help but produced God’s desired effect on us. Our lives our changed and we manifest the fruit of the Spirit (See Galatians 5:22-23). The one, however, who professes to be a man of God, yet bears no fruit should beware (See Mark 11:12-14)!
C. Perseverance. "..and whose leaf does not wither." The person who meditates on Scripture shall have an enduring testimony, his faith consistently being shown by his works. Just as the leaves and the fruit are the evidences of a tree that is alive and well, so a mind filled with God’s Word gives evidence to everyone around that the individual is spiritually healthy.
D. Prosperity. Obviously God’s concern is not our wealth (See Ecclesiastes 5:10) but our success in living the life to which we’ve been called (See Joshua 1:8). Application: If I were to ask for a show of hands as to how many would like to be the guarantee of nourishment, fruitfulness, perseverance and prosperity in your spiritual lives, I suspect that most if not all of you would raise your hands. I would too! The source of these blessings is disciplined meditation on the Word of God. Don’t underestimate its power to transform human lives! Illustration: Meditation can make us wiser than our teachers (See Psalm 119:99). That was the experience of one of college students recently. While in a class he heard his professor say, "There is no such thing as absolute truth." This young man who has been a student of the Scriptures for several years recognized an untruth when he saw it. He raised his hand and asked, "Sir...isn’t your statement making the claim that there is at least one absolute truth?" The implication is, of course, that if there is one absolute truth then isn’t it possible there are others? That is the value of meditation and to the person who practices it goes the blessings of God.
III. The denial of God’s blessing (See Psalm 1:4-6). The first three verses focus on the individual who receives the blessings of God. The last three address those who do not, i.e. the wicked.
A. They are like chaff (the husks that remain once the grain has been sifted). Chaff was useless and easily removed by the winnower (See Matthew 3:12).
B. They will not stand in the judgment. The wicked will not stand with the people of God in the final judgment (See Isaiah 3:10-11). They will be removed according to God’s righteous verdict. Application: This doesn’t paint a very happy picture does it? Still the Psalmist realizes that we all have a choice. To those who value God’s Word enough to meditate on it and find their delight in it, there is blessing (happiness). To those who deny God’s Word there is insecurity and impending judgment.
Conclusion: What choice will you make today? It is my prayer that you will place such value upon the Scriptures that you will discipline yourself to meditate on it day and night. The result will be life-transforming! The story is told of a young man who came to a renowned doctor in Paris complaining of depression. He asked what he could do to get well. The doctor thought of another well-known young man named Grimaldi, a leader of café society who cut a wide and lighthearted swath through Paris nightlife. The doctor told the young man, "Introduce yourself to Grimaldi. Let him show you how to enjoy yourself and you will get well." The downcast young patient looked up with a hopeless expression and said, "I am Grimaldi." The Psalmist reminds us that happiness comes, not to those who seek it through the gratification of the flesh, but to those who delight in and meditate on God’s instruction. May you find true happiness in the pursuit of the things of God.
