Psalm 1[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, December 5th, 2010
Get a look at this tree.
Britain's oldest oak tree is the Bowthorpe Oak in Bourne, Great Britain with an estimated age of over 1,000 years old. The tree is located on Bowthorpe Park Farm and visitors are welcome throughout the year. The Bowthorpe Oak is also featured in the Guinness Book of Records and was filmed for a short TV documentary about its size and astounding longevity.
Here's another tree.
This is the King Oak, an oak tree in Denmark. It is 1,500 – 2,000 year-old. It grows in on the island of Sjaelland. It may well be oldest living organism in northern Europe. It probably originally grew in an open meadow, to account for its short trunk and low branching, with other taller forest trees growing up around it subsequently. The taller trees around it are now shading it and slowly killing it[2].
Now let's take a look at this…
This is the modern-day version of chaff. Not the stuff in the field being combined and saved – that's wheat. The chaff is that dusty, tiny stuff blowing away to the right of the machine. How would you like to go and find that to save it? Here's another picture of wheat being harvested with a combine, this one somewhere in North Dakota. Nice, huh?
The difference between these oak trees and this chaff blowing in the wind is that one is lasting, fruitful; the other is fleeting, gone quickly. The oak is living, strong, and lasting; but the chaff is useless, brief, and dead.
So let's turn to Psalm 1. Psalm 1 is introductory, and it is a vast, panoramic generalization of all the Psalms. The main theme is simple; the righteous man is blessed, the wicked man is not. The writer beautifully contrasts these people in powerful, simple prose. Let's read it.
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
This Psalm is more like a Proverb, really; it smacks of wisdom literature. The Proverbs are not a book of promises to be claimed, church, as much as a set of general observations about life, good and evil, wisdom and folly. Want to be wise with your relationships, family life, finances, work-ethic? Then get to these wisdom books.
Two types of people contrasted here in this Psalm: the righteous and the wicked. The righteous, in a big-picture, grand-scheme of things kind of way, leads a God-ward life. The wicked, in the same big-picture, grand-scheme of things kind of way, leads a godless life.
We can see the message of this Psalm and the contrast by reading the first and last verses.
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Let's consider the description of The Righteous Man.
The righteous man is blessed. Life is good. He is made joyful, happy, and pleasant.
This righteous man is wise. He is purposely pursues God by filling His mind with God's law and dwelling on it. He purposely avoids some people – the wicked, sinners, and scoffers. He is intentional to gain and maintain and live off of God's wisdom; he is intentional to avoid the folly of the wicked. He doesn't walk, sit nor stand with those folks. That is a wise man.
The righteous man is fruitful. He is like a tree planted by streams of water. A fruitful tree is a pleasant tree, a useful tree.
The righteous man is successful. He prospers at his work, and in his life. He takes the high road and generally that pays off.
The righteous man is permanent. He believes God, seeks God, and obeys God, and he will face the judgment of God with pardon and acceptance.
Doesn't that sound like a good life? Blessed, purposeful, fruitful, successful, and permanent?
Now let's turn to The Wicked Man. This won't take long; you'll notice that the wicked have no such description here in this overview Psalm.
The wicked man is simply… not. "The wicked are not so", the ESV says; the NASB is more ominous; "Not so the wicked". Those are descriptive, strong, weather-changing words. That's like describing a sunny, perfect, pleasant day, then turning your head to see the dark, nasty clouds rolling in with high winds and hard, cold rain. It's like introduced President George Bush and listed off his accomplishments, then turned to Lil' Wayne!
The wicked man is not blessed, is not wise, is not fruitful, is not successful, and most important of all, he is NOT permanent. When the wicked stand before God in His judgment seat, they will be blown away like chaff; they will be destroyed! "Not so the wicked". The useless, fruitless, and godless will not make it through the judgment of God. It is good to note here that both the righteous and the wicked will stand before God's judgment throne. They walk on two different paths; God knows the path of the righteous (He approves, applauds that path): the path of the wicked ends in death.
All through the Psalms you'll read more about the righteous and the wicked. What we must consider here today in Psalm 1 is the judgment, and this is the question you must answer…
Will you stand in the judgment? Don't think God isn't watching and will not judge: He is and He will!
Have you meditated on God's law? Let me take this a step further for you: have you received the grace of God? Here is the only way prescribed for us to get through God's judgment alive, church: faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is foreshadowed in the Psalms; He is prophesied in the Psalms. He fulfilled those prophecies and has indeed become the Cornerstone, and will make righteous once and for those who have believed in Jesus Christ and turned from their sin to follow Him. Those who are in Christ are like trees planted by water; bearing fruit and lasting.
Those who are not in Christ are like the chaff; they won't stand in the judgment.
[1] All Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved
[2] Information on these incredible trees – including the photographs – was found at this website, http://purpleslinky.com/trivia/history/famous-oak-trees-in-the-world/
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