Blueprints for Life - Psalm 1 - A Practical Truth

Introduction
In the movie The Empire Strikes back, young Luke Skywalker has flown his x wing fighter to a planet called Degaba in order to begin his training as a Jedi knight. He had to learn to control every area of his environment in order to grasp using the mystical power called the force. He carried the teacher on his back during the training and learned to fight with a laser sword called a light saber. He had to learn the basics of the force and the Jedi way in order to become a full fledged Jedi knight.
Practically speaking, that is the way all of life is.
We have to learn the basics of anything before we can ever become accomplished at it.

Describing the Biblical Text
This text is the first of 150 Psalms in the Bible.
There are different kinds of psalms like this one which is an admonishing or instructional psalm. There are lament Psalms, psalms that were sung on the way to the temple, psalms that described battles or other events, and praise and worship psalms.
The psalm before us this morning sets the tone for the entire book of psalms in that it points the reader to the law of the Lord which is to be the object of our meditation both day and night.

Narrate the Contextual application
We see at the beginning of this psalm a beatitude blessing a certain man and then we see from whence the blessing comes.
But, it is the 2nd verse that draws our attention for this message.
It describes an approach to the truth.
There are three things that we need to see
Delight – this indicates that someone takes pleasure in the law of the Lord.
It is read and appreciated for what it is: the word of God.
It is enjoyed and savored like a fine chocolate or a prime filet mignon.
Then, we see meditate – I like this word as it connotes the idea of groaning or more relevant to me, talking to one’s self.
Valerie can always tell when a deacon’s meeting is just a day or two away because I amble around the muttering and then she says, “Who are you talking to?”
What is happening?
I am meditating on the things that I either predict we will be discussing or the things that I know I will be bringing to the floor.
We meditate on the things that are pressing, the things that are important to us.
We meditate on that new relationship as we can’t get him or her out of our minds.
We meditate on that new favorite song, singing it in the car and the shower, searching the radio presets to find it or logging onto the internet to download it so we can listen to it any time we want.
The big difference of course is that a song is not going to affect the way we live life.
A new relationship might change our lives if we get married but the early infatuation is replaced by the practicalities maintaining the bond.

Life Application (thesis)
With the Bible, that is different.
You see, the Bible has a power behind it that we don’t find in other things.
The Bible is called the word of God.
It is inspired by God.
It accomplishes God’s purpose.
God has exalted it above his name.
It endures forever.
That means that it has an eternal value in and for our lives.
We might sum it up this way.
God’s truth is efficient.

SO WHAT!! (outline)
As we develop that idea this morning, we are going to see 2 standards that the word of God sets for us and I hope as we see these standards, we will be more and more like Jesus every day.
The truth sets the standard for the characters we know.
Verse one is a very interesting verse.
It describes a progression of sorts concerning sin.
Most things in life are progressive as we know them.
Think about a job. You start at the bottom of the ladder and you begin to work your way up through the company. Mail room, mail supervisor, Office Manager, Section Manager, District Manager, Vice President, CEO

What do we see in this text?
We see a progression of movement
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.
The idea with walking is that you are still moving.
This person has visited the counsel of the wicked but did not hang around.
To walk in the counsel does not men that your feet are planted there but it does mean you’re traveling down the road and flirting with disaster.
Unless someone walks away from the counsel of the wicked, they will eventually stop for a better look and listen.

Notice the next line of this psalm.
Nor stand in the path of sinners.
There are two things we need to see here.
No longer is there movement.
The walking has turned to standing so the progress down the path to the darkside is marked by an arrival of sorts.
Something else has changed.
The counsel or the words of the ungodly has changed to sinners.
The act of standing is accompanied by the act of sinning.
There is no listening any more, now it is doing.
The flirting with sin has become sinning.
The look at the evil has turned into a prolonged stay with the evil.
But, there is more
Notice the next line nor sit in the seat of the scoffer.
In this we see a furtherance of the progression.
There no longer walking where leaving would be easy.
There is no longer standing where walking away could be easy.
There is now sitting where it is much more difficult to stand up and leave the situation.
I remember when Valerie was expecting Alyson and Her dr. left the group he was in and started his own practice. He was so new that our patient account # was 0009. During the visit one day, Valerie commented to the Dr. about the chairs in the waiting room. The chairs in the new office had arms and they were pretty high off the floor.
Why would that be?
They were like that so a woman who was expecting could stand up.
In the old offices there were some pretty low sofas and when the ladies would get called back, they would look like they were doing a turtle dance.
If we sit in the seat of the scoffer, it is very easy to get ourselves stuck there.

Now, notice this
The one who is blessed does not walk among ungodly, stand with the sinner, or sit with the scorner or critic of the faith.
It does not mean that he loses all associations but his time is devoted to Godly things.
He is blessed when he avoids the ungodly, the sinner and the scoffer.

The truth sets the standard for the characters we know.
The truth sets the standard for our character to be known.
So the person who loves God, delights in His word and he spends time with it day and night.
We kind of chew the cud on the Bible don’t we?
We roll it over in our minds and let it sit in our hearts and then bring it back up again for some more thought.
For the follower of Jesus Cherist who is spending time in the word of God, there is something about that character that is very obvious.
That person is consistent in the way he or she lives life.
Look at verse 3
Yielding fruit in season means a couple of things as we look at it.
First of all, the kind of fruit that is being yielded is understood.
Remember what Jesus said about a good tree yielding good fruit?
You are not going to get kumquats from a peach tree and most people understand that.
So, follower of Christ, What is our fruit?
Is someone who works with us going to be able to look at our lives and know that we will produce the same kind of fruit every single time?

What about the consistency of our fruit?
Maybe we understand what kind of fruit that we are to yield but you something else?
It is supposed to be consistent.
There should be no paring process for us because our fruit comes consistently in season, the size and shape it is supposed to be and it is always perfect.
How many of us can boast in that?
Others see our character by the fruit we bear and the furit we bear is determined by the time we spend meditating on the word and you know what else?

Listening to our Bible teachers.
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
In case you are asking how that is relevant look at verse 4.
It is my job to equip you in the word so that the world cannot toss you around.
Are you ready to live for Christ?
That will mean spending time in His word.
I want you to commit this morning to spending time in the word that we can be that tree planted and bearing God’s eternal fruit.