The Good Or Not So Good Life Series

The Good Or Not So-Good Life

On the news this past week there was a report on the most expensive neighborhoods in the United States. I don’t recall all the neighborhoods it talked about so I looked it up. Here are some of them:

3. Beverly Hills – Cal. $22.8 million

2. Snowmass – Col 23.6 million

1. Manalapan – Fla 39.7 million

Why are these houses so expensive? Three reasons: location – location – location.

Today I want to talk about your location. I don’t necessarily mean your physical location. We all know that – we are right here in _______. But where are you spiritually?

I have found that down through the years that my location is very much based on the choices I have made. I have chosen to live where I live. Perhaps you have too.

But I have found that my spiritual life is also based on the choices that I have made. Some people make poor choices and others make good choices. Psalm one is about making choices. It talks about how some people are blessed – and some people are not. It talks about the “good-life” and the “not so good-life”.

Today I want us to look at Psalm One in detail and see if we can find any clues that would help us discover the “good-life.” Let’s go ahead and look at the Psalm together:

1 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!” 2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.” 3 “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” 4 “The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.” 5 “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” 6 “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”

Psalm 1:1-6 (NASB)

In verse one I see:

1. Things To AVOID

It begins,

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”

I have always been impressed how this verse uses the words: walk – stand – and sit. In my mind there seems to progression – or perhaps a digression going on here. Look where it starts. It starts with walking. Walking in itself is not bad. In fact we are instructed in the walk carefully. In Galatians we are instructed:

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

Gal 5:16 (NASB)

In Ephesians it says:

“Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise.”

Eph 5:15 (NASB)

John tells us:

“If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 (NASB)

It is not the walking that gets us into trouble – it is the location of the walk that leads us astray.

Do you see the three locations there – in verse one? The counsel of the wicked is the first. The path of sinners is the second. The seat of scoffers is the third. All of these lead to ungodly living. If I hang out with the wicked – with sinners – with scoffers – don’t you think I will become like them? How many of you know the ending of this statement?

“Birds of a feather flock ………..(together).

Someone has said, “It is hard to soar with the eagles when you are living with a bunch of turkeys.”

Some may say, “Tom – everyone is a sinner. All have fallen short of the glory of God.” That is true – but there are those who living in open rebellion. Those who scoff – those who mock – those who poke fun anything that is godly – anything that is holy – I plead with you – don’t hang around with them. Don’t become one of them. If you are with them now – don’t become comfortable sitting there. Strive to become more holy – strive to become more godly – strive to move out of the darkness and into the light.

Verse two tells us:

2. Things To PURSUE

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

The law of the Lord – God’s precepts, God’s teachings, God’s instructions (AMP)