“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:3).

What does the blessed and happy person look like? God gives us a word picture. God tells us that the blessed and happy person is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”

Wow! Look at that last phrase – “whatever they do prospers!!!”

I want that.

God tells us how. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water. If you’re thinking of a gentle stream in a meadow, you’re not alone. If you’re thinking that, you’re kinda right. But the water that the psalmist envisions are the streams of the Jordan or the dessert. During the dry season, the Jordan River is a placid stream. But during the rainy season, the Jordan turns into a roaring rapid. The tree that the psalmist is talking about is trees planted near those waters.

Trees planted near those streams in Israel have their roots deeply planted in the ground. Because when the gentle stream turns into a rapid, any tree that is not deeply rooted gets carried down the river into the Dead Sea. They have discovered that the trees along the Jordan River are as deep in their roots, as they are tall.

The blessed and happy person is one who deeply roots and plants themselves in the word of God.

When they are planted and deeply rooted in the word of God, they yield their fruits in their season and their leaf does not wither. In fact, those who are deeply rooted in God’s word – whatever they do prospers.

The key is the word of God.

So, are you deeply rooted in God’s word? These verses of the day are a fantastic start!

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but who delights in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).

Psalm 1 is an introduction to the theology of the Old Testament. It tells us the purpose for the Psalms and the Old Testament is to show us how to live the blessed and happy life.

Yesterday we saw the three things that happy and blessed people do not do – they do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of mockers.

Today, we look at what happy and blessed people do – they “delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on it day and night.

• Blessed and happy people delight in the law of the LORD
  • Honestly, when is the last time you saw the Ten Commandments and thought, “Sweet! The laws of the LORD! Yippee!!!”
  • But the orthodox Jews celebrate the laws because God makes it crystal clear how we can love God and live a blessed life. No other nation has this. Everyone else has to guess and feel their way into discovering ways to please God. It’s exhausting. It’s frustrating. It’s discouraging.
  • In the laws of the LORD, God lays out the foundations for living the blessed and happy life. What a genuine blessing!
• Secondly, blessed and happy people not only delight in the law of the LORD, but they meditate on it day and night
  • Ok. What’s the first thing you think of when you hear “meditate?” I think about a guy sitting in the Buddah position floating in the air saying, “Hommmmmmm.”
  • So the thing is this picture doesn’t help me. I don’t see how I can “hommmmmm” all day and night. I have stuff to do. Besides, I don’t know how to float on air.
  • So, what does it mean to meditate? The Hebrew word comes from the picture of a cow chewing on the cud. The cow eats the grass and then throughout the day, brings the un-fully-digested grass back up and chews on the cud to get more nutrients. A cow will do that seven times to get the full nutrients out of the grass.
  • Meditating on the law of the LORD means to start the day with God’s word, then recall the word of God throughout the day. The nutrients we get from God’s word will be different as we go through the day

Blessed and happy are you as you recall and chew on God’s word and truth throughout the day. God’s word is a constant companion throughout the day. Every time you recall God’s word you will get something else out of it.

Meditate on that!

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in counsel of the wicked or stand in the path of sinners or sits in the seat of mockers” (Psalm 1:1).

Blessed – God has given us the Psalms and the Bible to show us how we might live a blessed and happy life.

The first thing God tells us about the “blessed” person is that they do NOT do these three things:

1. walk in the counsel of the wicked
2. stand in the path of sinners
3. sits in the seat of mockers

The blessed person does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. The first thing to go is our ears. Before a God-follower ever engages in unGodly practices, we give our ears to the wicked. The more we listen to and hear from the wicked, the more they begin making sense.

• “You’re right! Everyone cheats. What a fool I’ve been!!!”
• “You’re right, the company takes and takes and takes from us. It’s only right that we use the company credit card for our use every once in a while.”
• “You’re right! Who buys a car before taking the car out for a test drive. Who in their right mind gets married without testing out the merchandise?”

Gee. That’s the problem. The longer you listen, the more the wicked make sense.

The next thing that happens is that we “stand in the path/way of sinners.” Listen, if you are standing on the sinner’s pathway what road are you on? The sinner’s road!

After giving our ear to the counsel of the wicked, we start living like the wicked. We start down the same pathway.

Finally, after giving our ear to the counsel of the wicked and walking with the wicked, we end up in the seat of mockers. We end up thinking, believing, and talking just like the wicked. It sounds something like this – “God, I thought you were the God of righteousness and holiness. And here I am sinning like crazy…where’s the judgment? where’s your thunder?”

Ooh. Those are dangerous words because judgment will come. That it hasn’t yet is grace and mercy.

The life and attitude of the sinner and the wicked begins by giving our ear to the counsel of the wicked.

Before we close, look at the verbs walk – stand – sit. Do you see the progression? It is a progression toward greater defiance. Imagine a parent and a toddler at the toy aisle at Target. The kid asks for a toy. Parent says no. The kid keeps whining and asking. Parent reminds the kid they have lots of toys at home. Finally, the kid who was walking with the parent sits on the ground in a tantrum.

Walk – stand – sits. Do you see the growing defiance?

Yeah.

Blessed are you who do not give your ear to the counsel of the wicked. Blessed are you when you do not stand in the pathway of sinners. Blessed are you when you do not sit in the seat of mockers.

Blessed.