We Glorify God…

In this message based on Psalm 1, David Platt points us to three primary means of seeking God together––fasting, prayer, and the Word of God. 

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Welcome And Why We Gather

SPEAKER_01 0:00

You're listening to David Clatt Messages, a weekly podcast of sermons and messages of pastor, author, and teacher David Clatt. Today's episode is a rerun of one of our most listened to messages of all time.

What It Means To Glorify God

SPEAKER_00 0:15

So our mission statement here at NBC is we glorify God by making disciples and multiplying churches among all nations, beginning in Greater Washington, DC. And today I want us to think about what that first part means. We glorify God. Because glorify is a really a great word when you think about it. It means to praise or worship something or to represent something as admirable or awesome. And that is exactly what we want to do together as a church. We want to praise and worship God. That's why we've gathered together this morning. While we've come together on a Sunday morning and we're singing and we're praying and we're opening God's word because we want to worship him. We want to hear from him. We want to encounter God together. And we want to represent him as admirable and awesome to the world around us. Around the city, we want family and friends and neighbors and co-workers and people we meet on the street and kids and families and Title I schools to know that God is awesome. And far from the city to the ends of the earth, we want the nations, we want orphans in Ethiopia and trafficked girls in Nepal and unreached people in Yemen to know that God's power and love and healing and hope are indeed awesome. And that's what I want to show you this morning.

Lasting Happiness And Psalm 1

SPEAKER_00 2:07

I want to show you that happiness in life, like true, deep lasting happiness in life, is found in doing this, in glorifying God. So let me put it this way: if you have no desire to be happy or to experience deep, true, lasting happiness in your life, then the rest of our time together this morning will really not be helpful for you. So if you would prefer not to be happy in your life, if you would prefer to be miserable in your life, or if you like a happiness that kind of comes and goes based on your circumstances, then today will not be helpful for you. But if you desire happiness, like true, deep, lasting, permanent happiness in your life, I want to show you how you can have it based on what God says in Psalm 1, which is written out in the bottom of those notes that hopefully you received when you came in.

Fasting With The FAST Guide

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One, let's seek God together through fasting. Now, we've talked about fasting before. For those of you who may be new to Christianity or new to this concept, fasting is the practice of periodically putting aside food as a physical expression of a spiritual reality. So to say, more than our bodies are dependent on food, our souls are dependent on God. All throughout God's word, the Bible, God's people fast together. Jesus expected his disciples to fast, to set aside food. Maybe it's a meal, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, maybe it's a day not to eat, maybe it's longer than a day, maybe it's a few days or a week or more. And when we do this, what we're saying is what's most important in my life is not physical nourishment. My spiritual nourishment is much more important. More than I need food, I need God. And fasting is a physical expression and a physical reminder of that. So when you get hungry and you think I could really use a sandwich right now, you realize, no, more than I need or even want a sandwich, I need and want God and a closer relationship with Him in my life. And what I have in your notes there is an acrostic that we used last year that I want to remind you of when you think of fasting. So you might write this down, F-A-S-T, the F is for focus on God. Meaning the whole point of fasting is to honor God, not to look spiritual before others. Jesus warns against that in Matthew chapter 6. That kind of misses the point. The point of fasting is to say, more than anything I want in this world, even the basic daily necessity of food, I want God. I want to know and love and worship and walk with God. So it's a fixed focus on God in a unique way that involves A, abstaining from food. We abstain from food. So we put aside food. Now, the reason fasting and food go together all throughout scripture and practically is because food, if you think about it, is like a God-given addiction. Like we are addicted to food. We get up in the morning, we're like, I would like something to eat. If we don't have breakfast, at some point, a few hours later, we're like, I'd really like something to eat. We kind of miss that because we're really busy. We're like, I haven't eaten. I'm really getting hungry. And this is the way God has wired us. He's wired us to want food. And so the reason why we fast from food, why that's the picture the Bible gives us, is because it's setting aside something that we actually need to say we have a greater need. Now, for some who might have physical conditions that make fasting from food impossible or dangerous in some ways, obviously would not recommend that. So look for the closest substitute to a God-given addiction that you could set aside that would be a reminder to you that more than I need this, I need God. So abstain from food and instead of eating, we S. Substitute that time with prayer and God's word. So instead of sitting down for breakfast with a meal of food, you sit down for breakfast with extra time in prayer and the word. Instead of taking that hour for lunch, you take that hour and you set aside time for prayer and the word. And that concentrated time at a mealtime, whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever, then kind of fuels continual prayer all day because it's not just around noon that you get hungry. It's again at two and three and four and five. And those hunger pains kind of keep coming up. And every time they do, they are intended to drive you to say, okay, I'd really like some food, but more important, God, I want you. I need you in my life. I need your mercy, your guidance, your help, your strength. So it just drives us to prayer all day long, or drives us to time in God's word. And in the process, you begin to experience a depth of communion with God that God desires for you to have. And that leads to the T. You taste and see that God is good. It's a direct quote from Psalm 34:8. Taste and see the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. And then I love verses 9 and 10 right after that. They say, Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. God is glorified when we say, With you, even put aside food, with you I lack no good thing. So I want to call you, starting this week and for the next five weeks, to fast in some way. So maybe it's a certain meal or meals each week, maybe it's a day a week, maybe it's three or five or seven days at some point. Obviously, make wise decisions in light of what you doctors know about you, but I want to call us to spend these first five weeks of the year seeking God together in a concentrated way through fasting. You say, Well, I mean, what am I gonna do? But that time I'm not eating, like substituting time with prayer in the Word for an hour, what do you do? Well, that leads to the second call.

Forty Days Of Prayer Together

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During these first 40 days of the year, let's seek God together through praying, individually and together. So over these first 40 days of the year, I want to call us to spend extra time in prayer than we normally do. Obviously, that will mean different things for different people, but just think extra time in your life, in your family, so extra time with your wife or husband in prayer, or your kids in prayer. And then we're gonna spend extra time together in prayer as a church. Specifically, mark your calendar, Friday, January 17th. We are planning to have another all-night prayer gathering here at Tyson's. So we'll come together from all of our campuses and pray from 8 p.m. to about 6 a.m. And you can come the whole time, you can come part of the time, you can set your alarm for 2 o'clock in the morning and come up in the middle of it if you want. We did this for the first time last January. I am 100% convinced that that's why starting those prayer gatherings like that is why we saw 1,500 or so people baptized last year. And hundreds of people stand up and say, I'm considering going to some of the hardest places in the world with the gospel. And then so many other stories have changed lives. So we're gonna keep praying together. And last year I gave you an acrostic.

PRAY: Praise And Repent

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We talked about an acrostic for praying, P-R-A-Y, that we've used at many of our prayer gatherings. So let's see if anybody remembers it. Uh so call it out here in other campuses if you remember. So P stands for praise. Boom. All right, there's like at least like 10 strong ones. All right, so so praise. I'm sure it was like resounding in other campuses. So, praise. Worship God for who he is, thank God for what he's done, is doing, will do. This is how Jesus teaches us to pray. Our Father in heaven, prayer starts with fixing our eyes and our hearts and our attention, our affection on God. So, whether it's just your normal time in the morning or in the evening, or if you're setting aside lunch to fast, just start by just praising God. Just thanking God for all that he has done. Just start listing all the ways he has shown his grace in your life. Thank you for this. Thank you for that. Might even write that out. Maybe you just do this sitting there. Maybe you fall on your knees or on your face and just worship God. Praise God for his different attributes. Maybe turn on some music and sing. That's the beauty, especially when you're alone. Like you can sing loud and nobody else hears. I mean, unless you're like in your cubicle in your office. Uh but maybe that'll be a witness. It depends on how you sing. So, anyway, the whole point is like just spend time worshiping God for who he is. Sweet time before God, just exalting him, adoring him. That leads to R. R stands for repent. So confess your sin to God, acknowledge your need for Jesus. So as you come before God, just ask him, what in my life is not honoring to you right now? Just to ask him, he will show you. You begin to examine your heart, confess thoughts, desires, actions, words that are not most pleasing to him. Oftentimes I'll write this out as well, just writing out, God, I see this or that in my life, help me in this way or that way. And you might be tempted to think, well, this is kind of depressing, like dwelling on your sin, writing out specific ways you've sinned against God. But this is not depressing when you have a father in God who delights in forgiving you of your sin. This is the beauty. So for those of you who may be uh new, exploring Christianity, maybe you're visiting with a friend or a family member today, the heart of the Bible teaches that all of us have sinned against God, the one who has created us. We've all turned aside from his ways to our own ways. We have all disobeyed him, said our ways are better than his ways. But the good news of the Bible is that God, who uh is just and holy, and because of his justice and his holiness, we deserve judgment before him for our sin, but God loves us, and God has made a way for us to be forgiven of all of our sin. God has come to us in the person of Jesus, and Jesus has lived a life we could not live, a life with no sin. And then even though we had no sin to die for, he chose to die on a cross to pay the price for our sins. And then he rose from the dead in victory over sin and the grave. So that anyone who repents, turns from sin, and trusts in Jesus to forgive them of their sin will be forgiven of all their sin and be restored to relationship with God. Like that's the reality that can happen in your life today. Put on one of these shirts, say, Yes, I believe that. And the beauty is, once you believe that, now you've been restored to relationship with God. But do you still sometimes choose your own way over his way? You still sometimes disobey him? Yes. Just like every once in a while, my kids over here disobey me. That doesn't mean they're not my children. It does mean that when they do that and they come to me and they say, Dad, I'm sorry, that's really good for our relationship with one another and the closeness we have. So this is growing in relationship with God, is continually confessing sin, repenting, and experiencing his grace over and over and over again. That then leads to

PRAY: Ask And Yield

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A. A stands for ask, so to intercede for specific needs in your life and others' lives, others' lives. So just think, I mean, all the things you could ask for God to do in other people's lives, in your family, your work, your friends, your neighbors, the world. Like there's so much time we can spend there. And then in our own lives, like what do you need? This is the point of coming before God in prayer. It's saying, God, we need this, we need this, we need your help in this way, guidance in that way, direction in that way. Prayer is the laying down of your pride. It's just saying, God, I can't do this on my own, others can't do this on their own. We need you. And God, oh, I've just been reading the Psalms the last few days, like, God is faithful to hear the cries of his people and to answer the cries of his people. So we ask, praise, repent, ask, which then leads to why? Yielding. Surrender your life to following Jesus however and wherever he leads you. So in prayer, what we're saying is, uh, well, just what Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not in temptation, but deliver us from evil. Lead us, guide my life, direct me. What I'll do in the morning is just kind of pray through every single, as best as I know, the details of my day, meetings I'll have, people I'll be around, things I don't know, I'm coming, they're coming. God help me to adjust as needed. But God, I pray for this person as I'm having lunch with that person. God, help me to serve, encourage them. God, help me at the gym to do this or that, whatever it might be. So, God, just leave me all day long. So I want to call you to spend, each one of us to spend extra time during these 40 days seeking God together through prayer, walking with God through prayer. Then leads to

MAPS: Reading The Bible For Intimacy

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the third challenge. Let's seek God together through his word. And this is the last acrostic I'll remind you of three acrostics today. We talked about this one last year. So again, this will be review for many, but new for some. We use the word maps as a guide to get from reading the Bible to experiencing intimacy with God. So maps. And if you remember, M stands for two words. Anybody, anybody remember what they are? Meditate and memorize. It's kind of really funny if you didn't remember that. Uh so uh anyway, meditate and memorize. So the whole picture here is coming to the Bible. We're not just kind of reading, like, okay, check that box. No, we're meditating. We're gonna talk about this more in just a minute, but we we read the Bible slowly, we ponder what it's saying. We're soaking in what it means. We read this different than any other book. It's not just like scrolling through the news on your phone, okay, or scrolling through this or that on Facebook. Like, it's not just kind of seeing what's there, it's stopping and listening and pondering. What is this passage saying? Like who's writing it? Who are the first people who received this? What would they have thought about this? What's the whole point of this passage? And what does it mean? Like, what does this passage teach about who God is, about who we are, about who Jesus is, about what it means to follow Him. And then as we're meditating, pondering over, soaking in, we look for verses or even passages or chapters sometimes that we want to memorize. So memorization is one of the most practical ways of meditation because when you memorize something, you say it over and over and over again. You like cement it in your head. That's what we're doing. Think about meditation. Memorization is one of the best ways to do that. So it just becomes a part of you. So we try to memorize. Maybe I would encourage you to set a goal for that. Maybe it's a verse a week, or maybe more. We meditate, memorize, then we A, apply. So we ask, how does what I just read transform my thoughts, my desires, or my actions? Think head, heart, hands. How does what we read in God's Word change the way we think? So just read through the Bible and be like, okay, how does this change the way I think? How does this change what I desire, what I want in my life, what I want for my family, what I want in the world? And what does this passage compel me then to do? What does what I just read change about the way I act? How does it change the way I speak? How does the way how does it change the way I serve other people, the way I love people in my life? Like what changes in my life, my actions, my words, as a result of what I've just read? So James 1 says, if we just read the word and don't walk away thinking about how it applies to our life, we have missed the whole point. So we apply, then asking these questions in application leads us to P, which is pray. So do what we just said, praise, repent, ask, and yield according to God's word. So we pray according to what we read. We praise God according to what we read. When we read things, we learn about God in the Word, it just leads us to praise Him. When we see things in the Word that we are falling short in, it leads us to repent of sin in our hearts about not obeying God's word. It leads us to ask for things. So now we're asking what's key is here. Now we're asking for what God wants, not what we want. And God promises your my words abide in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be given you, because you'll be asking according to what I know is best for you. So we pray according to God, we ask according to God's word. Then obviously we yield according to God's word. God help me live this out. Which finally leads to S, which is share. So write down your reflections, talk about them with others. Write down your reflections. I use a running journal on my iPad, just a word file. It's just really simple that it just has reflections on the word each day. Different people could do different things. You obviously, there's not a Bible verse I can take you to that says you need to write out this or that. I just find it really, really helpful, both in my prayer time and keeping my focus instead of my mind wandering everywhere, and then as I'm reading the word to spend time just writing out what am I learning in it. And then I write it out not just for my own sake, because I want to share what I've learned with other people around me. This is what we say to each other every week when we leave worship. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. So as he speaks to us, then we are supposed to pass that on to others. Listen to these verses. Remember Deuteronomy 6, 6 through 9? We've looked at them before. These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down. And when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand. They shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Like, did you hear that? Talk about my word. God says, when you're sitting in your house, when you're walking by the way, when you're lying down, and when you're rising. That pretty much covers it. Like all the time, is God's word like that in your life? Like all over your conversations at home. All over your conversations with other followers of Jesus. Whether it's in person, via text, online in this way or that way? And then are you looking for opportunities to share God's word with people who don't know Jesus? So here's what I want to call us to do practically

A Simple Psalm A Day Plan

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here. So last year we read through the story of Scripture together, and I heard so much feedback from those of you who did that and were just grew in Christ through that. So we want to continue this year with the Bible reading plan as a church for anybody who wants to do it. So if you don't, if you have something else you're doing, like that's fine. That's like not sin. Like so great. Read the Bible. That's what matters. But if you want to walk alongside as a church, this picture, it's gonna be a little different than last year. So if you want to follow along together, during these first 40 days, we're simply reading a psalm a day. Then at the end of these 40 days, starting February 9th, we're gonna add something else to it, but I won't get into that now. I'm just gonna keep it simple now. I want to encourage you during these 40 days to read one psalm a day. Now, side note, we mentioned this at the end of last year. Some of you though may have been traveling, and it's really gonna stress you out that we're already to January 5th, which means we're already on Psalm 5. But I promise you, if you are just starting, it is okay. Like, it's it's all right. You can catch up if you want, or you can start today at Psalm 5. God will still be pleased. Or start tomorrow at Psalm 6. So whatever. Like, the point is I want to encourage you to maybe start in the day, if you haven't already, to take a psalm a day and do maps with it. Meditate, memorize, apply, pray, and share. And what I want to do in the last part of our time together this morning is I want to show you what

Modeling MAPS In Psalm 1

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I mean by that. So I'm gonna try to model maps for you, lead us to do this together. So if you look down at your notes there, I've included Psalm 1 at the bottom of the page. And I'm gonna bring it up here on the screen. I'm gonna try to do something new uh today, and I'm gonna be a fairly dependent on technology to do it, um, and we will see if that is profitable or not. So, if not, the word will still be good. So, all right, here we go. So, and you might have Psalm 1 open in your Bible as well, but I wanted you to have a little bit of extra space for you to make notes, circle, underline different things if you want, as we just think about what meditation, application, and praying and share, look, sharing look like in a simple psalm. Like you might look at this and think, this is so short, like six verses, five sentences. This will take like 30 seconds to read. Some of you hardcore church members are like, one chapter? Is that all, really? One chapter? Well, yes. If our goal in Bible reading is not speed reading, like it's not what we do with the Bible. What we do with the Bible is we we read it and meditate on it, ponder it, think about what it's saying, what it means, why it matters. And we do all this in communion with God. So let's do this, let's pray. God, we praise you for your word. We praise you for your Holy Spirit that you have given us to enlighten, illuminate our eyes and our hearts so that we can engage in a truly supernatural activity right now. Your spirit is speaking to our hearts, helping us see what we could not see on our own, help us to get to know you and in the process to enjoy you more, to be drawn into a closer relationship with you. God, I pray that especially in this setting, you would draw some people in the next few minutes into relationship with you altogether. You would draw us all into a depth of understanding in your word that glorifies you and is good for us over the next few minutes in ways that only your Holy Spirit can bring about. So speak to us now through your word. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, let's read it. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. Somebody you're reading it with me. Let's do that. That sounds like a great idea. I mean, I said let's read it, then I just kind of started reading it on my own, but let's do that together. Let's read it all together. And we'll read it a kind of slow. Um, so we're not speed reading here, so we're just kind of soaking in. Let's read it all together here at other campuses. 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, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 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. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Happy Life Versus Hollow Life

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Okay, so let's ponder, reflect on what this means. So let's all right, blessed is the man. All right, blessed. Like seems like a pretty key word from the very beginning. And unfortunately, somewhat of an unfortunate translation. So if you're not a Christian, you may think, what does blessed mean? That sounds like a really Christian word. I'm not really sure what it means. Well, what it really means is happy. Now, at this point, you'll hear Christians say, Well, actually, though the world has happiness, we have joy. Like I hear that like as if happiness is like some flighty, fleeting emotion, and joy is some deep reality, devoid of feeling. The problem is that just doesn't square with the Bible. The Bible actually uses both joy and happiness, oftentimes interchangeably, and both are emotional, and both are deep and wide-ranging. So this psalm is a description of a happy person, and part of the way we know that is because when it gets the description of this person, verse 2, it uses the word delight. So there's a delight here, there's a happiness here. So what I'm gonna do over here next to blessed is I'm just gonna write out, and I'm gonna go ahead and apologize for my handwriting, but I'm just gonna write out full lasting happiness. That's what this psalm is talking about. Full and last can you see that? I don't know if you can. Okay, there we go. All right, full and lasting happiness. That's what this psalm is talking about. That's why I said at the very beginning of our time together, I want to show you how you can experience deep, true, full, lasting happiness in your life. My assumption is that every person in this room and other campuses desires that kind of happiness. And let's be clear, there are all kinds of ways that the world says to get that. So you think about the sentence, blessed is the man, the woman who, and then at that point, the world would finish that sentence in all kinds of different ways. Let us just think about some of the different ways that maybe the world would finish that sentence. Maybe blessed is the one who uh maybe if you're uh looking for college, I know for seniors you're you're trying to think through uh uh where you're gonna go to school. So to get in this school, that would make you happy. For others, maybe it's uh being in a certain relationship. Like if I have this girlfriend or this boyfriend, this husband or this wife, then that would make me happy. So maybe it's marriage, marriage. You'll be happy in marriage, or maybe you'll be happy if you have kids, or maybe you'll be happy if you have a certain job, or maybe you'll be happy if you have a certain amount of money, or if you are comfortable in this life, maybe, maybe retirement. Uh so we could keep going on and on. All kinds of things, the world might say, blessed is the one who has this. And oftentimes we even on the church would say, yeah, all those things are that's that's what blessing is about. But is that where God says happiness is found? Well, let's see, because if God made us and knows us better than we know ourselves, and he's saying, blessed is the one who I think we want to listen to what he says. Now, as this sentence unfolds, we see first something the happy person does not do. So it doesn't start positive, it actually starts negative. So the happy person does not do, it's not until we get to verse 2, and we see the word but to draw a contrast. So we're about to see two different types of people. In fact, you look, there's two other times that word but is used to draw a contrast, one down in verse 4, and then at the end in verse 6. And so clearly this psalm is giving us two pictures. We're gonna come back to this at numerous points. So we've got two pictures here of someone who is happy and someone who is not, someone who has full lasting happiness, someone who doesn't. So it the whole psalm starts with the person who doesn't. 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. So we got three verbs there. Let's think about it. Walks, then stands, then what? Sits. And we got three verbs here. When you think about those verbs, kind of ponder them. They seem like a progression, don't they? Like, okay, you're walking in a certain direction, and you're listening to the counsel of the wicked as you walk, counsel of a world set up against God's word, and then you stop and you stand in the way in the company of sinners. So you stand in the company of those who are disobeying God's word, and then finally you sit in the seat of those who are scoffing at those who would obey God's word. So you're not only participating in godlessness, now you're sneering at those who obey God. So you see the progression here. It's like a trap. It's like the loss of happiness begins suddenly at walking in, listening to the counsel of the wicked, and then standing in the company of sinners, and then sitting to the point where you are now scoffing at those who would obey God. Don't miss where it all starts. It all starts with the counsel of the wicked.

The Voices That Steer You

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Don't miss it with the counsel you turn your ear toward. What you turn your ear toward, what messages you surround yourself with, will affect the direction of your life. Which will lead to either happiness or not. Think about it. Why didn't the psalmist just say, Don't be wicked, don't sin, and don't scoff? Why does he draw our attention to the the wicked, the sinners, these other sinners, those who scoff? The picture is there's influence here. The unhappy man, well, maybe highlight this here. The unhappy man listens to this counsel of the wicked, and flowing from that leads him to stop and have a seat among them. Listens to the counsel of the wicked, is shaped by the counsel of the wicked, affected by, surrounds himself with the counsel of the wicked. So the key here is who you listen to, what messages you surround yourself with. That will be critical to happiness in your life. Let me say that again. Who you listen to, the messages you surround yourself with, will be critical to happiness in your life. And if you want happiness, it's not, oops, take that off. It's not in listening to the counsel of the wicked. And we know this is the point because, well, look at the next verse. We might expect the second verse just to parallel the first and say, Blessed is the one who walks in the counsel of the righteous, or stands in the way of the obedient, or sits in the seat of the worshipful, something like that. But instead, we only have one description. But one thing. So why this one thing, out of all the things that verse 2 could have said about the happy, blessed life, why is this the description? Think about what we just saw. What you listen to, what messages you surround yourself with, is critical to the direction of your life and how your life is led and where your life leads to. So the key, the key, according to God, to blessing, happiness in your life, full lasting happiness, is listening to, surrounding yourself with meditating on God's word, the law of the Lord, on his law, and finding delight in it. So meditating on his law and finding delight in his law. That is the key. So maybe to keep that contrast going, you got the counsel of the wicked that might affect you, or you have the law of the Lord, his law that might affect you. That's the contrast. And well, one of those influences will lead one way, and the other influence will lead another way. Really, you think about it, you look at the highlights there, it's like two competing sources of pleasure. Either you will find your pleasure, your delight in the counsel of the wicked, the world, or you will find your pleasure, your delight in the counsel of the law of God. And the one who is happy will find his or her pleasure, his delight in the law of the Lord, such that you will find yourself meditating on it day and night, like all the time, in a way that leads you away from the council of the wicked and toward the law of God.

The Tree: Fruitful Durable Successful

SPEAKER_00 38:17

You will be, when that is a reality in your life, listen to verse 3, like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and all that he does, he prospers. Do you see? See three pictures here, three pictures of happiness. So the first one, he's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit. So, happiness, if we're gonna write out kind of a description of this, let's start with this. Happiness is being fruitful. Fruitful. Like think about it, think about it this way. You got two trees. You got a barren tree that is dead, you have a tree that is alive and bearing fruit. If those are your two options, which one do you want to be? Which one do you want to depict your life? And the whole picture here is God is saying, I want you to be full of life, and not just yourself, but in a way that is nourishing to others around you. Don't want you to, don't you want a life that's refreshing and nourishing and encouraging to the people around you? Fruitful, as opposed to the opposite. So come back to this. You've got picture of fruitful, then next picture, it's leaf does not wither. So let's call that durable. Durable. So its leaf doesn't wither, it stays green. This is why we know that this happiness is not just a flighty, fleeting emotion. This is a deep, enduring, full lasting reality amidst changing winds and blowing storms and falling temperatures. You say, how is that possible for a leaf not to wither? How is it possible to have happiness in a changing world, an enduring happiness in a changing world with all kinds of changing circumstances? The answer is your source of happiness is in that which lasts forever. Put a verse up here, Isaiah chapter 40, verse 8. Grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever. So you meditate on the word of God, you will find a source of enduring happiness. Happy man or woman is fruitful, is durable, and then in all that he does, he prospers. So let's write the word successful. Fruitful, durable, and successful. Now here's another word that the world and God define in different ways. Like when we hear prosperity, many of us think the way the world thinks, and all the ways we mentioned earlier, right? All these things up at the top, like that's prosperity. Getting into the right school, having the right spouse, perfect kids, job, money, comfort, retirement, prosperity. But is that how God defines success? Well, that's what leads us to the last part of this psalm, where the contrast comes back up again.

The Chaff And The Coming Judgment

SPEAKER_00 41:34

The wicked are not so. So here we've got the contrast. So what we're about to read is the opposite of fruitful, the opposite of durable, the opposite of successful. The wicked are not those things. What are the wicked like? The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Chaff. Like the light straw that the farmer tosses up and blows away. And the good stuff, which is heavier, weightier, falls to the ground. So the wicked are not durable. Those who reject God's word, who don't delight in his word, but listen to live according to the world, they don't have a lasting happiness. Their happiness is fleeting. Comes and goes. Just like that, it is driven away. Which then leads to verse 5, where things go to a whole nother level. Therefore, whenever we see the word therefore, we know what's about to come is based on everything that's just been said. So now we know we're coming to the conclusion of this psalm where it's all headed, the climax, and we know everything we're about to read is based on everything we've just seen. So therefore, in light of what we've just seen, therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment. So here's the picture here. Not only are they like chaff, the wind drives away, the wicked will not stand in the judgment. They will not stand. So ultimately, all the things that the wicked, those in the world have sought for happiness, sought, looked to for happiness, all these things at the top that we talked about will ultimately prove in the end futile. Empty. So now we're talking about a day that's coming of judgment. And on that day we see two groups of people. So we'll put a triangle around them. There's the wicked and Sinners, that's one group of people. The wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. So there's another group of people, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous. So that's the second group of people. You have the wicked sinners, those who have listened to, gone after things of this world, and you have the righteous, those who have looked to God, meditated on his word. You have these two groups, and here's how those two groups are distinguished. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous. As soon as we read knows, like we know that's more than just know about, because the Lord knows about the way of the wicked. It's not like the Lord is ignorant about the way of the wicked. He just made it clear that we know about how the Lord knows how wickedness works. So the picture here is more than just knowing about. This is knowing with approval, commendation. Like the Lord recognizes the righteous who have delighted in his law, meditated on his law day and night. Maybe one way to put this, I'll write it down here, is the Lord knows those who know him. Those who know him, who know his word, who have delighted in his law. The Lord knows those who know him. They will stand, but the way of the wicked will, and here's how the whole psalm ends, with the word perish. Maybe to keep the contrast going from the first word to the last word, let's call this everlasting hopelessness. Not happiness, not full and lasting happiness, but everlasting hopelessness. So that's the contrast here between those two realities.

Two Paths And One Big Question

SPEAKER_00 46:19

So don't miss the point. There's a lot of drawing up there. Like don't miss the point. You got yet two types of people according to this psalm. And what that means is in this room right now, and at every campus, there are two types of people. So which one are you? There is a type of person who is not listening to the truth of God's word, but is listening to the counsel of the world, and is walking in that counsel. And is standing, maybe, in the way of that counsel, living according to that counsel. Or maybe even sitting in the seat of scoffers to the point where you, I think I just did that wrong. To the point where you are scoffing at those who would obey God's word, who would trust in God's word as the foundation of their life. Wherever you are on that progression, the reality is you are like chaff that the wind drives away. Like fleeting happiness comes and goes. And in the end, when it ultimately matters, you will not stand in the judgment, the Bible is saying. Your one day, your your life will one day lead to perishing. That's one type of person. In the room, other campuses, then there's another type of person whose, well, their delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, they meditate day and night. And for here, you find happiness. Like that's your source of joy. And because of this, you are fruitful. And you have a happiness that is durable. And you are ultimately successful. You say, what do you mean successful? You will stand in the day of judgment. For the Lord knows your way. So my question is, for every person where you're sitting, which type of person are you? If you're not the green, you are the orange. There's not a third type here. And if that's the case for you, then today I want to invite you to become the green. That's the invitation that God has brought you here to receive today. Like by faith you can become the green. And don't miss it. Like the importance of that. Don't let gathering around God's word be an option in your life. When you delight in God's word, you desire to gather together around his word with his people and listen to what he is saying. Make that not an option in your life, but non-negotiable in your life. Day and night on your own, week by week, as the church and as we do, well, we will experience, based on the promises of God's word, full and lasting happiness and fruitful, durable, successful life according to God's design.

Trusting Jesus And Responding In Prayer

SPEAKER_00 50:18

So will you bow your heads with me? Let me ask you to bow your heads, close your eyes, and I want to ask you that question again. Like the orange and the green. We just read in Psalm 1 about these two groups of people. And the wicked, the righteous. The righteous are not those who are perfect. The righteous are those who have entered into relationship with God through Jesus, who have been forgiven of their sin and restored to relationship with Him. Now find themselves with new desires for Him and His Word. So my question is, is that you? Can you honestly say where you're sitting today? That is you. If you were to die today and stand before God, would you be able to stand? Would He welcome you in? And if the answer to that question is not a resounding yes in your heart, then I want to invite you to pray to God right now and just to say to Him, right where you're sitting, dear God, I know I am a sinner. I am walking in a way that is contrary to your word. I am not delighting in your word. I am turning from your word. But today I am trusting that Jesus died on a cross for my sins. Today I am placing my faith in him as my Savior and my Lord. I want to live in the way of the righteous. I want to walk with you. I want to delight in you and your word today and tomorrow and for all of eternity. If you just prayed that to God, then I want to invite you to do something in this room, in other campuses, with every head bowed and every eye closed. If you just said that to God, yes, I want to experience full, lasting happiness in God through Jesus today. I want to invite you just to raise your hand where you are in this room and other campuses. Praise God. Amen. God, I praise you for people in this room and other campuses who you have brought today to find true and lasting happiness through faith in Jesus. I pray that you would give them and others who haven't been baptized courage to confess that publicly today. God, I pray for all of us, you would make us like this one who delights in your law and meditates on it day and night. May that be true of our lives. And because that's true in our lives, may we experience full, lasting, durable happiness, enduring happiness. That is ultimately what is prosperity in this world.

SPEAKER_01 53:34

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