The Blessed Man

Title: The Blessed Man Scripture: Psalm 1

Type: Series Where: GNBC 9-27-20

Intro: After getting out of the Army, my father went to college. One of the jobs he worked while in college was construction, helping to build a golf course. On a certain planned fairway there stood a massive tree, after the men came and cut down the tree, it was Dad’s job to remove the stump. For a couple of days he tried to dig out the tree and then pull out the stump using chains and a pickup. Wouldn’t budge. Boss came and chewed him out. Told him to get dynamite. Went to the hardware store and purchased a stick of dynamite. Buried under the stump. Rolled out the wire for the charge. Muffled Thump. Didn’t even budge the stump. Boss came and chew him out again! Stump out or fired. Went back to the HW store and purchased 12 sticks of dynamite. Dug hole under the stump. Tamped down tight. Rolled wire back from it to behind the pickup. Plunged the plunger. BOOM! Parts of tree went 100s yds. Dived under truck so not hurt. Stump gone! Crater! And you guessed it: Boss still cussed him out! Now, point of story is not my father’s penchant for explosives, but rather, the reason stump was so hard to move and took so much effort was the size and depth of it’s roots. Psalm 1 paints a picture of the blessed man as a tree firmly planted. Strong roots.

Prop: Psalm 1 presents us with a picture of how a man is blessed in the site of God.

BG: 1. Psalm 1&2 different from all other in 1st Book of Psalms (1-41) no superscription of David.

2. Psalm 1 is very similar in form and content to Proverbs.

3.

Prop: Psalm 1 presents us with a picture of how a man is blessed in the site of God.

I. The Practice of the Blessed Man. Vv. 1-2

A. What the Blessed Man Does Not Do: Negative. V.1

1. The Blessed Man Does not Participate in Sin.

a. We see in this passage that there are 3 classes of or steps in sin pictured in this Psalm: walking, standing, sitting. The blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. Notice there is a progression that takes place: walk, stand, sit. Walking and come in contact with, stand you stop and take time, sit, you enjoy the company of the ones you are with.

b. Who make up these three classes of sinners today? 1. “wicked” are merely the ungodly, they leave God out. They leave God out of life. Out of school. Out of the workplace. Out of their family. Out of their marriage. Out of their business practices. They leave God out. There’s no time for church, Bible reading, prayer. 2. “Sinners” are actively sinning. Sinners aren’t sinners because they sin, they sin because they are sinners. Can’t help themselves. Natural inclination is to sin. They don’t consider how their lives may offend God because they don’t care about God or His law. 3. “Scoffers” are the 3rd category. Scoffers look down on God. They mock God and His word and His Son and those who believe in Him. Illust: Last week pictures appeared of Des Moines Community School Superintendent Thomas Ahart ( Which were taken 2 years ago.) openly mocking Christian faith, and prayer in a picture with his vulgar wife. He’s a mocker. He’s scoffing at the beliefs of 1000’s of the children and parents he is supposed to equally represent. (What would have been the outcome had been Islam, Judaism, Black Lives or LGBTQ movement?) Outrage!

2. The Blessed Man Does Not Listen to the Counsel of the Wicked.

a. In this passage we see regression, deterioration, and degeneration take place. Young people, many of you here today are college age. All of a sudden you have been transported from your tiny Iowa or Illinois or…town and sent off to the U of I. You are separated from your parents/grandparents and their faith and you are plopped down in the middle of Godless Central. Surrounded by people who simply leave God out of life. Surrounded by people intent on sinning. And, you probably have a professor or two who will actively mock your faith, your parent’s faith, your upbringing, etc. What are you supposed to do? They look so smart on paper. They sound so wise in their counsel.

b. As long as people have a low view of sin and the law of God, they will be unable to grasp their enslavement to the darkness of rebellion against our Creator. Seeing the true glory of the gospel requires us to see the darkness through which it shines in all its fullness