Articles
Psalm 1
PSALM 1
Over my years of preaching, it has been my pleasure and joy to often conduct what we used to call “bible drillclass” with young people. In those classes there have been many revelations, like the little girl who told me she wasnot ready to go to heaven. Puzzled I asked her was she sure and she confidently said, yes. I asked her why and sheplainly said “I have to go see my grandma first.” This among other things makes these sessions so worthwhile forme, perhaps more than for the young people. I have noted that over the years these classes have attracted those whoare new converts or those who obeyed the gospel late and never learned the memory exercises we go over and the“kid’s songs” that help us to recall things like the books of the bible, the apostles, the 10 commandments and the 10plagues along with the 17 divisions of the bible and the judges. If you do not currently have a class like this going, Irecommend you do so, it is very profitable.
Psalm 1 has been one of the passages I have asked the students to commit to memory. It is my belief that in thisPsalm is contained everything a person needs to develop and keep the right heart. The heart of the Christian is avery personal thing. No one can change a heart except each one of us. No friend, preacher or even Christ himselfwill intervene in the changing of your heart. The Lord only changes a heart when it is submissive to His will. Ifsomeone will not accept the Word, which is God’s power to save (Rom. 16:16) then his heart will never undergo thechange needed to be committed and to stay committed to the Lord and be saved.
Think of Psalm 1 as an admonition by a parent to their young child as they go out into the world. The parent warnsthe child as they leave the house of the danger of going down a certain street. If the child heeds the advice of theparent, he will not go down that street, but if he does it consistently then the walk down the street will end up withthe lingering in places, he has no business being close to and eventually as he becomes deceived and complacent, hewill end up actually sitting in the middle of people he has nothing in common with. As long as he lingers there themore comfortable, he will become and the more numb to the danger he is in.
Please take note that the departure from the rules of the parent is the beginning point of the young person’s demise.If he never “walks in the counsel of the ungodly, he will not pause and be fascinated by it, nor will he ever sit in themidst of sin and be comfortable doing so.
Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8- “beware, your adversary, the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he maydevour” James gives us the same progression of pursuing sin in chapter 1 :14ff-each one is tempted when he isdrawn away of his own lusts and enticed…” As is verified by numerous other passages, if we do not take the firststep in sin, we will never end up somewhere we never wanted to be. As I heard RJ Stevens say in a sermon- “sinwill always take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than arewilling to pay.” Wise words, indeed.
If we will heed the first three verses we will be blessed. The term blessed is sometimes rendered ‘happy’ but is goesmuch deeper than that. As a matter of fact, a righteous person will not always be thrilled as the world looks at it, buthe will be full, rich and blessed as he walks in the law of God and meditates on it daily. His direction has changed,he has become wise and what makes him content has changed, all of this leads to what truly “makes him happy” asthe Lord would have him to be.
The picture of this type of person is that he is settled, productive, lively and active in his efforts to be pleasing toGod. Note that all of this comes by his efforts to listen and heed what God says in His word that he meditates onday and night. Being a child is God is not something he does but it is truly who he is. He has made the Lord HisShepherd and he hears His voice. He is tuned to that voice.
The sad alternative of the joy of a righteous life with the Lord is not a pretty picture, it is described very succinctlyin the last 3 verses. The ungodly are not like the righteous. They are unstable as the wind; they are unsettled andunhappy because they have chosen to tune their heart to the things of the wicked. If they continue this path, they
will find nothing that is as full of joy as what the righteous does. Their end will come to doom. Because God isholy and will not dwell where there is unholiness, this person will never be owned by the Lord and will be sad hereand lost in the world to come.
Please read Psalm and commit it to memory, it will serve you well as you walk each day, and when you have itcommitted to memory it will come in handy when you are tempted. Read Isaiah 1:30; Jeremiah 17:7-8 and Proverbs12:3 along with Psalm one and these passages will help you see the wisdom of establishing your heart in the ways ofthe Lord. Look at your life and see what kind of fruit it is producing (Mark 4:20). Remember also what Jesus saidin Matthew 13:43- “then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears tohear, let him hear.” Choose the right road to walk down daily- the narrow one is the only one that pleases God.
