The Blessing Of The Word Series

INTRODUCTION

• TODAY AS WE DIVE INTO THE SECOND MESSAGE IN OUR SERIES, “THE BIBLE: PRIORITIZING GOD’S WORD IN OUR LIVES,” WE WILL FOCUS ON THE BLESSING OF THE WORD.

• LIFE OFFERS SO MANY OPTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES.

• WE HAVE TO EVALUATE WHAT WE WILL RECEIVE BACK WHEN WE INVEST OUR TIME, TALENTS, AND TREASURE INTO ANY OPTION IN LIFE.

• MANY INVEST THEIR MONEY IN STOCKS, BONDS, AND OTHER MONEY-MAKING OPPORTUNITIES.

• WHEN CONSIDERING ALL OF THE INVESTMENT OPTIONS AVAILABLE, ONE HAS TO LOOK AT MANY FACTORS BEFORE PULLING THE TRIGGER ON TAKING THE DIVE TO MAKE THE INVESTMENT.

• ULTIMATELY, WHEN ONE INVESTS, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENT.

• THE SAME PRINCIPLE IS TRUE CONCERNING THE INVESTMENT ONE MAKES IN THE PATH ONE CHOOSES TO FOLLOW.

• HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE COST AND RETURN OF WHERE YOU ARE INVESTING YOUR LIFE?

• HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE PATH YOU ARE CURRENTLY INVESTING YOUR TIME, TALENT, AND TREASURES IN?

• WHEN IT IS ALL SAID AND DONE, WHAT WILL THE RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT BE?

• TODAY WE WILL DIVE INTO PSALM 1:1-3.

• WE WILL EXAMINE TWO INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR LIFE AND THE RETURN YOU CAN EXPECT ON YOUR INVESTMENT.

• THE FIRST PSALM IS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ENTIRE BOOK OF PSALMS.

• IT CELEBRATES THE “PERSON WHO IS ‘BLESSED’ BECAUSE THEY MEDITATE ON THE TORAH, PRAYERFULLY READING AND OBEYING IT.

• THE HEBREW WORD ‘TORAH’ SIMPLY MEANS ‘TEACHING,’ BUT IT ALSO CAME TO REFER TO THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE THAT CONTAIN THE FOUNDATIONAL LAWS OF JUDAISM.

• IT SEEMS THAT THE WORD HAS BOTH OF THESE MEANINGS IN PSALM 1.

• THE BOOK OF PSALMS IS BEING OFFERED AS A NEW TORAH THAT WILL TEACH GOD’S PEOPLE ABOUT THE LIFELONG PRACTICE OF PRAYER AS THEY STRIVE TO OBEY GOD’S COMMANDS IN THE FIRST TORAH” (THE BIBLE PROJECT, READ SCRIPTURE: ILLUSTRATED SUMMARIES OF BIBLICAL BOOKS [PORTLAND: THE BIBLE PROJECT, 2017], 36).

• PSALM 1 IS A WISDOM PSALM, MOST LIKELY WRITTEN BY DAVID.

• THE AUTHOR OF THE PSALM ENCOURAGES THE READER TO FORSAKE THE LIFESTYLE OF THE WICKED AND INSTEAD BE LOYAL TO GOD AND HIS WORD.

• WHAT WE FIND IN PSALM 1, IS A CONTRAST BETWEEN THE DESTINY OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED.

• THE PSALMIST OFFERS A PROSPECTUS ON THE RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT ONE CHOOSES TO MAKE IN LIFE.

• LET’S TURN TO PSALM 1, AND WE WILL BEGIN WITH VERSE 1.

PSALM 1:1 (NET 2ND ED.)

1 HOW BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO DOES NOT FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF THE WICKED, OR STAND IN THE PATHWAY WITH SINNERS, OR SIT IN THE ASSEMBLY OF SCOFFERS.

SERMON

I. THE PATH TO RUIN.

• WHEN YOU LIVE LIFE, THERE COMES A POINT AT WHICH YOU REALIZE YOU MUST DECIDE HOW YOU WILL LIVE THAT LIFE.

• AS YOU WALK THE PATH OF LIFE, YOU INEVITABLY REACH THE POINT WHERE YOU MUST CHOOSE A PATH.

• VERSE ONE DESCRIBES THE PATH THAT LEADS TO RUIN, OR PUT ANOTHER WAY, THE PATH THAT, IF WE CHOOSE TO INVEST OUR LIFE, WILL OFFER A HORRIBLE RETURN ON OUR INVESTMENT.

• NOTICE IN VERSE 1, THE PASSAGE BEGINS WITH HOW BLESSED.

• THE PALMIST TELLS US THAT IF WE FOLLOW THE PATH IN VERSE ONE, WE WILL NOT BE BLESSED.

• THE WORD BLESSED REPRESENTS THE HAPPINESS THAT GOD-GIVEN SECURITY AND PROSPERITY PRODUCE.

• THE TERM “BLESSED” DOES NOT IMPLY THAT GOD HAS GIVEN SOME PARTICULAR FAVOR; A DIFFERENT HEBREW TERM IS USED TO INDICATE THAT.

• INSTEAD, IT MEANS THAT THE PERSON HAS SO CONDUCTED HIMSELF THAT A CONDITION OF BLESSEDNESS HAS RESULTED.

• “OH, THE HAPPINESS THAT MAN EXPERIENCES,” THE PSALMIST SAYS.

• AND IT IS A HAPPINESS THAT IS VERY DEFINITELY RELATED TO CONDUCT.

• THE GOOD LIFE IS ATTRACTIVE AND BRINGS REAL, NOT SUPERFICIAL HAPPINESS.

• WHEN YOU DIG INTO VERSE ONE, WHAT YOU SEE IS A PROGRESSION.

• THE PROGRESSION IS FOLLOW, STAND, SIT.

• WE WILL EXAMINE THE DOWNWARD COURSE AND THE DEEPER LEVEL OF INTIMACY WE FIND AS ONE STARTS DOWN THE PATH OF RUIN.

• THE FIRST STEP ON THE PATH TO RUIN IS TO

• VERSE 1 SAYS HOW BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO, FIRST OF ALL, DOES NOT FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF THE WICKED.

• THE WORD FOLLOW DENOTES WALKING ALONGSIDE, GOING THROUGH, AND GOING WITH.

• ONE OF THE FIRST STEPS IN WALKING ON THE PATH OF RUIN IS WHO YOU CHOOSE TO GO TO FOR ADVICE.

• WHEN YOU SEEK WHERE TO PLACE THE INVESTMENT OF YOUR LIFE, WHO DO YOU GO TO?

• IF YOU WANT TO SEE BLESSINGS FROM GOD, YOU NEED TO CONSIDER WHO YOU WILL FOLLOW.

• THE RIGHTEOUS PERSON DOES NOT SEEK THE ADVICE OF THE WICKED.