Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Two Roads Diverged (Psalm 1)
0 Plays2 seconds ago
Have you ever heard Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken? It begins with this verse,
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.”
Psalm 1 seems to stand in a similar location to where Robert Frost must have been standing when he wrote that famous poem. Like the poem suggests, the psalmist realizes as he ponders life that there are two diverging paths - a blessed man and a wicked man. One cannot travel both of these two roads at the same time because they are moving in opposite directions.
In Matthew 7, Jesus speaks of two ways leading to different destinations, two trees bearing different kinds of fruit, two different types of foundations upon which men can build their homes. It is interesting how life contains significant choices like this.
Psalm 1 is a great place to ponder life as one begins a new year. The psalmist was more of a poet than a painter, and yet, his words vividly display for us two portraits. In verses 1-3, he admires and depicts a godly man, whereas in verses 4-6, he sketches and warns of a wicked man. Let’s walk in this biblical art gallery and make a few observations about these two strikingly different ways of life.
Admiring the Godly Man’s Portrait:
Satisfied along the Way, 1:1
Separated from the Wicked, 1:1
Saturated with the Word, 1:2
Situated by the Water, 1:3
Supplied for the Work, 1:3
Warning through the Wicked Man’s Portrait:
Contrast with the Wicked, 1:4
Comparison to the Wicked, 1:4
Chasm between the Wicked, 1:5
Conclusion of the Wicked, 1:6
---
Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Growing in Grace'
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org.
Reflections on Psalm 1 and Life Choices
00:00:32
Speaker
And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace. So glad you're with me today. ah Today, we're going to look at Psalm 1. This is ah one of my passages that I read on New Year's Day. And so I can't help but have a little bit of how do we get ah ah a new year started type of a feel when I was inspired to you know make some notes in my journal. So I'm actually reading to you straight from my journal that I use every day when I ask God to speak to me from his word.
00:01:13
Speaker
But I want to ask you a question if there's a poem that you've heard before. A man named Robert Frost wrote this poem. It's called The Road Not Taken. And it begins with this verse. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And sorry, I could not travel both and be one traveler long I stood and look down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth.
00:01:42
Speaker
Psalm 1 seems to stand in a similar location to where Robert Frost must have been standing when he wrote that famous poem. Like the poem suggests, the psalmist realizes as he ponders the diverging paths of a blessed man and a wicked man.
00:02:03
Speaker
One cannot travel both of these roads at the same time because they're moving in opposite directions. I felt the tension within the poet as he said, and be one traveler long I stood and look down one as far as I could. So I'm thinking, wow, he can't make up his mind. He's pondering which road should I take? Maybe that's the way you are this January. And you're thinking, which road should I take in life?
00:02:33
Speaker
You know, in Matthew, Chapter 7, Jesus speaks of two ways leading to two different destinations, two trees bearing different kinds of fruit, and two foundations upon which men could build their homes. You know, it's interesting how life contains significant choices like this. Well, Psalm 1 is a great place to ponder life as one begins a new year.
Analyzing Paths: The Godly vs. The Wicked
00:03:03
Speaker
How is your year going, by the way? I hope everything's working out for you. The psalmist was more of a poet than a painter, and yet his words paint for us two portraits.
00:03:16
Speaker
When I looked at verses one through three, I could almost see him standing back and admiring and then trying to depict a godly man's life. Whereas in verses four through six, he briefly sketches and warns through his sketch of the wicked man's life. So let's walk in this biblical art gallery, shall we? And let me make a few observations as we walk through.
00:03:45
Speaker
Here's what it says in Psalm 1, beginning in verse 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. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
00:04:09
Speaker
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." So let's just sort of go back over this passage and see what we can learn as we go through this together.
00:04:54
Speaker
as he's standing there admiring a portrait of the godly man? I noticed about four or five different observations about this portrait. The first thing is, did you notice that the godly man, he's satisfied as he walks along the way through life. It starts out the very first word in the whole the whole area called Psalms, the whole book of Psalms, the very first word is the word blessed.
00:05:26
Speaker
The word blessed, you know, actually all of the Psalms are made out of that word. They're all built upon that word. It's almost like it's the foundation, but it's also the building materials. God is trying to tell mankind, this is the way I want you to live. When you choose to live this way, there's so many blessings that will be coming your way.
00:05:52
Speaker
As a matter of fact, that word blessed is the Hebrew word esher. What it means is to go straight, to go on, to advance, to be right. Someone has said that it speaks of the inner contentment in the life of one who is right with God, one who is going straight with the Lord.
00:06:18
Speaker
Some have said, hey, did you notice it's a Beatitude Psalm, just like the Beatitudes that we find in Matthew chapter 5? Well, as he gets going, I just want you to realize that this is very similar to Psalm 23, verse 1, whenever David will say, the Lord's my shepherd, I shall not want. You see, he's satisfied. He's content. This is a happy man.
00:06:43
Speaker
And he's happy because he's rightly related to God, and he's walking down those corridors in life that God wants him to walk down. But he doesn't walk down all the corridors that are available to man. Let's go on from verse one, the beginning part where it says, blessed is the man, to see how is this man walking and living? It says, blessed is the man who walks not.
00:07:11
Speaker
in the council of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers." So now you can tell that, uh-oh, this man is not only satisfied, but he's also separated. I think he's separated, it says, from the wicked. He walks not in the council of the wicked,
00:07:34
Speaker
So he's separating himself intentionally ah from wickedness and from those who want to walk in wickedness. And it's interesting how if you follow the verbs, it's almost like you can see the person who does the opposite of the godly man, he's slowing down. For example, he's walking, then it says, now he's standing, but then it winds up Now he's seated or he's sitting. so But this man says, I'm not i'm not walking in the counsel of the wicked, nor am I standing in the way of sinners, nor will I take my seat there with the scoffers. So I think it's so amazing how that's what this man's commitment level is all about. And that's why God is blessing him. That's why he's blessed and happy.
00:08:26
Speaker
But notice also that the separation from the world, the separation from the wickedness, it's not the same as isolation. No, I think God wants us to be in this world, but it's he's insulated his heart from being like the world. So his separation from the world, it's not isolation, it's insulation. And the whole reason is,
00:08:53
Speaker
He wants to have contact with this world, but he wants to do so in such a way that he does not incur condemnation from God. And so, you know, there's so many ah passages in the New Testament that speak of worldliness and warn about it. For example, you know, in James, it talks about those who are spotted by the world. 1 John 2 talks about those who love the world. And then Romans 12 says, don't be conformed to the world. If we are those things, then we're going to wind up being condemned with the world.
00:09:32
Speaker
And we don't want that. So he says, so you know what, they can go that way if they want to, but that's where our paths are going to diverge. I'm choosing a different way than all the other people. And along this way,
00:09:49
Speaker
Man, I'm satisfied. I am so happy because I'm right with God.
Nourishment and Stability in Godliness
00:09:53
Speaker
But notice verse 2 brings up yet a third observation about the godly man. How does he have strength to resist the ways of the world and the ways of wickedness? How is it that he can have joy no matter what's happening in his life? Well, it's easy when you read verse 2.
00:10:13
Speaker
But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. You see, that's his secret. He is saturated with the word.
00:10:27
Speaker
He wants to think about it. He wants to find his greatest delight, his joy in the the written word of God. And so that's helping him make good decisions in his life. You can see the contrast to wickedness and worldliness and people like, well, let's say the difference between Abraham and Lot. Remember Lot in Genesis 13, verses 10 through 12?
00:10:54
Speaker
It says that he looked at the land. He made choices in verse 11, and then he actually wound up seated in the gates of Sodom and Gomorrah. And so how sad it was that he had a different ah choice. He made a different choice than Abraham. But Abraham, on the other hand,
00:11:15
Speaker
is known in scripture as a man of faith, a man who listened to what God was saying to him, and then he wanted to make that the direction of his life. You know, I noticed in verse three, it goes on in this admiration of the godly man as we stand before the painting, and we notice that there's yet a fourth thing that's characteristic of the godly man. He has situated his life, he's planted his life,
00:11:45
Speaker
by the water. He compares him to like a tree. He's like a tree planted by streams of water. Well,
00:11:55
Speaker
That way it's going to be nourished. That way this tree is not going to shrivel up and die. This is going to be a good choice. It reminds me at the end of Matthew 7 of the man that chose to build his house upon the rock, as opposed to the man who chose to build his house upon sand. He's picked the right place to sink his roots down. And so there he is. He is ah right by the streams of water.
00:12:23
Speaker
And of course, I love it how sometimes the Bible is compared to water. Other times, the the Spirit of God is compared to water. And Jesus even said, He's going to offer us rivers of living water. Is that what you're looking for? I think that we find joy. We find nourishment. We find peace. We find stability in so many other things whenever we plant our lives in the Word of God, and we allow the Spirit of God to work in our lives and to help us to find what we're looking for. There's no doubt you'll find the contentment and the hope that the godly man found whenever you're planting your life by the water that the Lord would give. But there's one more thing, a fifth thing, and that is he's also supplied. He's supplied for the work that God has for him to do.
00:13:20
Speaker
Do you know that God has already planned how He wants each of our lives to make an impact on this planet? Yeah, He designed us with certain skills and abilities and all of these things He's gifted us with. It says that He's like a tree planted by streams of water and listen closely to how it ends, that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither.
00:13:50
Speaker
In all that he does,
Judgment and the Fate of the Wicked
00:13:53
Speaker
he prospers. You see, the Lord, he knows that we like action. We like to be doing something. We like to make a difference. And so the Lord says, you stay close to me and I'll make it worth it for you.
00:14:08
Speaker
I will help your work to be fruitful. It'll be fruitful in its season. And you're not going to wither. You're going to do well in what I have called you to do. And so I'm just thinking, well, all it takes is for someone to say, I want to be on that road that goes into the wood that leads toward godliness. Satisfied along the way? Yes. Separated from the wicked? Yes. Saturated with the word?
00:14:37
Speaker
Absolutely situated by the water ah and supplied for the work that God has called me to do. Thank you, Lord. But we need to take a few moments just to look over at the sketch. It doesn't seem to be quite as as you know full in terms of content and substance, but it does give us enough of a sketch of the wicked's life that we should say, I don't want to go that way.
00:15:08
Speaker
That trail, that road leads to heartache, and I do not want to try it. So let's look and see what are four things that we can learn that about the wicked's life and say, you know what? That's enough for me. I don't need any more warning than that to know that's not the path that I want to follow in my life. Well, it starts out with a contrast. You see, while the godly man's life are all those things that we just looked at,
00:15:38
Speaker
The wicked man's life. Look at what it says. The wicked are not so. What does it mean, not so? It means the wicked are not satisfied. They are not separated from wickedness. They're not saturated with the word. They're not situated by the water. And so God is not going to supply them for the work.
00:16:00
Speaker
But we can have a different ah different road altogether because God will say, I want you to be that blessed man that's mentioned in Psalm 1 as you go through this new year. And so He puts for us intentionally so that we can see it, we can see the contrast with the wicked. But let's say that someone does walk that way,
00:16:24
Speaker
to what could we compare them? So I came across this comparison to the wicked also in this ah verse 4 when it says, the wicked are not so. So there we're contrasting the wicked with the godly. But now he's saying, but if you want to know what the wicked are like,
00:16:45
Speaker
I will make a comparison for you. He said, the wicked or not so, but are like, there's the simile, chaff, that the wind drives away.
00:16:57
Speaker
So it's sort of like we have a choice. We can be a water tree, or we could be like, let's say, worthless, empty chaff. I was thinking really hard about that. What's the Lord's desire? you know Is the Lord trying to say that a wicked man's life is not valuable? Is he trying to say that it's worthless? It could be. There's a lot of Bible scholars that I read who said that.
00:17:25
Speaker
But I also read of another possibility, since it's comparing a wicked man's life to husk. I'm thinking, you know what? The nut is out of the kernel of wheat. And so there's nothing there. It's just empty. It's like a shell. And so it reminded me of many of my friends, and I encourage you that we should make friends with those who don't know Christ so that we can help them to see Christ in us so that we can share the gospel with them.
00:17:57
Speaker
But as we do so, we need to have compassion upon them because really, without Christ, it's like their lives are empty. There's something very, very important that's missing from their life, and we long to see them have that fullness that we enjoy because we have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
00:18:20
Speaker
But that's not not the way it is for the wicked. And so that's why he's compared to chaff. And notice what happens with chaff. Well, it says the wind drives it away. The wind can just blow an empty husk all over the place. It's sort of like when you're at the ballgame and you choose to eat peanuts. You know, what do you do with a hole? You know, you just throw it down and it blows away. I mean, anything can blow it away.
00:18:48
Speaker
That's why I think the wicked, they're just blown to and fro. But the the godly man shouldn't be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We should say, Lord, I don't want to be blown off course from what you have for me. And so even though the comparison of the wicked is a comparison of chaff, we should say, Lord, I want something better for my life.
00:19:15
Speaker
If we are are not convinced yet, I would say, verse 26, should be pondered long and hard by those who are still not yet in Christ. I want you to be in Christ. God Himself wants you to be in Christ. I think all of us are making an appeal to you from our hearts. I do not dislike those who don't know Christ.
00:19:41
Speaker
I actually have compassion in my heart that they might come to know the Lord Jesus Christ through faith just like I did. But let me read to you verse 5. It says, therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. So let's push the pause button for a moment. Is he saying that the wicked will not be judged by God? No, that's a misinterpretation of what he's really trying to say in verse five. When he says therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, he's trying to say the wicked will not have a leg to stand on.
00:20:23
Speaker
In other words, they will be swept away by the judgment of God. Whereas those who say, you know what, my only ah faith that I have, the basis for me,
00:20:37
Speaker
You know, wanting to go to heaven is only based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That person is going to stand. They won't even have to appear before the great white throne judgment, but everyone else will stand there, those who have not chosen to follow Jesus Christ, those who've laughed and scorned like we saw up there earlier in verse 1.
Eternal Life and Faith in Jesus
00:21:02
Speaker
And so that's why I wanted to to bring this out, that the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners ah in the congregation of the righteous. So please, I want you to be in heaven with us, all of us that know Christ, we are cheering that you would come to faith in Christ. So if you're listening to this podcast and you do not yet have a personal relationship with God,
00:21:32
Speaker
through Jesus Christ. Please do that, because if you'll do that, then there will there will not be a chasm between you and ah those that are standing over there with the Lord in glory. You know, I wanted to remind you of ah ah a parable, a story that ah Jesus taught. It was called The Rich Man and Lazarus.
00:21:57
Speaker
And in this story, this rich man, he lived in luxury. But when he died, everything flipped because outside of his gate, there had been this poor man named Lazarus covered with sores and the dogs would come and sort of harass him and mess with him. But then one day, they both died.
00:22:20
Speaker
Because Lazarus had trusted the Lord by faith, he was taken to heaven. But because the rich man had rejected God, didn't care a thing about other people all his life, only cared about himself, he went the other direction. He was placed in hell and there was fire and anguish. But listen to one of the things that Jesus himself said in Luke 16, verse 26.
00:22:48
Speaker
He says, besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able.
00:23:03
Speaker
and none may cross from there to us." Isn't that sad how once we enter eternity, that's when it's it's too late. we cannot We can no longer go to heaven. We can no longer enter into God's family. We must use this season of grace right now to say, God, Jesus died for me.
00:23:26
Speaker
And so I encourage you to say, Lord, if I'm on the wrong path, please show me, please show me, because I don't want to be in that situation where there's a great chasm between the godly, perhaps you had a godly father, a mother, grandfather, grandmother, a friend, a brother, a sister, an uncle, an aunt, someone in your family, you want to be with them when they're when they're in heaven.
00:23:50
Speaker
and they want you to be with them. So I encourage you to to take seriously these words that are written in Psalm 1, verse 5, but also that are written in Luke, chapter 16. Because if not, there's only one thing left, and that's the conclusion for the wicked. You see, we saw the contrast with the wicked and the comparison to the wicked, the chasm between the wicked But then we see in verse six, the conclusion for the wicked. It says, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Surely you've heard somewhere in your life the beautiful John 3 16, for God still loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Choosing the Godly Path and Transformation
00:24:44
Speaker
You see, God doesn't want you to perish. God didn't want me to perish. And so I put my faith and my trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Only Christ had lived a perfect life. It's almost like verses one through three. That's a picture of Jesus, really.
00:25:02
Speaker
Verses four through six, it's the rest of us. It certainly was me before I came to Christ. Only Christ in me is changing the way that I live. So I just encourage you, please turn to Christ. Please trust in his perfect life. He did not sin. He never made a mistake. And so that's why the father raised him from the dead because he had lived a spotless life. He died for you and he loves you, my friend.
00:25:32
Speaker
You know, um in that poem that I read earlier, it's actually called The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. It says a little bit later in there, two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. It will change your life.
00:25:56
Speaker
if you will get on the right road. Why don't you say, God, make me like that man in the godly portrait. I don't want to be the man in the wicked portrait anymore. You know what that's called? but That's called repentance. When someone realizes, I'm making a huge mistake with the way I live, with my life, by rejecting Christ. I want to go toward Christ now. I want to change where I am.
00:26:25
Speaker
You can't change enough to be acceptable to God, but you know what? You can put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ and say, he's the one. I want to trust what he did for me on the cross. And when you do that, it's amazing how then is this journey of discipleship. All your life, for the rest of your life, you will be slowly and gradually making better decisions, becoming a new person, having a brand new outlook on life. The Lord will change your life.
00:27:01
Speaker
That's why he says you know that there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Concluding Guidance and Prayer
00:27:07
Speaker
He says, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. All things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. That's what can happen in your life.
00:27:16
Speaker
Well, I just wanted to introduce you to Psalm 1. You may want to spend more time, and you may find lots of truths that I overlooked. But why don't we close in prayer and ah let's just ask the Lord to guide us in His ways, shall we?
00:27:32
Speaker
Lord, thank you so much for our friends who listen to Growing in Grace. ah Lord, my desire is you would bless them. My desire is they would enjoy your favor as they go through this brand new year. But I know that in order for us to be blessed, we have to be in fellowship with you. We have to walk with you. We have to walk in your ways.
00:27:51
Speaker
We can't walk in the ways of the wicked and expect the blessings of those that are following you. So help us, O Lord, just day by day to trust you, to ask you for help. We certainly cannot live the Christian life in our own strength, our own ability. And so we need your help. We need your strength. We need your power. We need your wisdom that comes from your word. And so take passages like Psalm 1 to inspire us.
00:28:18
Speaker
And Father, I do pray for any who don't have a personal relationship yet. Maybe they realize I'm on the wrong road. Help them to turn. If they realize it, that's half the battle. And so help them to say, Lord, please forgive me. I know that I'm on the wrong road, but I'm recognizing it. I'm admitting it. And I want to get off this road. And I want to follow you. I want to trust you. So bless those as well.
00:28:45
Speaker
But thank you for this time to learn together from your word. It's timeless and it's so powerful. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Listen, you have a great day. Thank you so much for listening. God bless.
00:29:14
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.