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everyone it's good to gather in the house of God in the Lord's Day we extend a welcome to the visitors among us it's good to have dr. Stephen Lawson with us this evening to bring the word for our call to worship I want to read from the prophet Isaiah specifically Isaiah chapter 40 verses 25 to 31 Isaiah chapter 40 beginning in verse 25 to whom then will you liken me or to whom shall I be equal says the Holy One lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things who brings out their hosts by number he calls them all by name by the greatness of his might and the strength of his power not one is missing why do you say Oh Jacob and speak O Israel my way is hidden from the Lord and my just claim is passed over by my god have you not known have you not heard the everlasting God the Lord the creator of the ends of the earth neither faints nor is weary his understanding is unsearchable he gives power to the weak and to those who have no might he increases strength even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint amen well please take your Trinity Salter we're going to sing psalm 93 it's on the back of the Pew their brother psalm 93 will use a familiar tune when you find that please stand and we will sing together you please be seated let us pray or bless it God in our holy father it is a joy and a privilege to gather in your house on this lord's day we come before you to acknowledge your majesty and your excellence and your glory we come to listen to the word of the living and true God we come to lift up our hearts and psalms and hymns we come primarily to worship the God of heaven and earth Father Son and Holy Spirit we bless you we praise you we want to magnify your Most Holy Name tonight as we sing it as we listen to the preaching of God's Holy Word we thank you our Father for your glorious grace we thank you for your sovereign grace and for predestination and for election for calling us out of darkness into marvelous light so that we may indeed proclaim your Excellencies we thank you for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ the fact that you sent him in the fullness of the times born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those under the law we praise you for his life and his death and his resurrection we praise you for his current session at your right hand and we look forward to that day when he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead we thank you as well God for the holy spirit we pray that even now you would pour him out upon each and every one of us tonight that your people would be sanctified that we would grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus true spirit would guide and direct and blessed dr. Lawson as he opens the word and our Father that the spirit would work in the hearts of those outside of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that today would be the day of salvation that sinners would learn their stay to their position before a holy God and they would see Christ and all of his glory and and all of his efficacy to save that by your grace they would believe and know the joy of being found in him we pray father that you would be pleased to look with favor upon this congregation tonight we pray that you would be pleased to strengthen each and every one of us we all come with various trials and difficulties we all come grace so we cry out to you a God who is full of grace and mercy and compassion we ask that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions we ask that you would cleanse us afresh in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ wash us and purify us so that we may indeed approach you in a manner that is that is acceptable to you with reverence and with godly fear we ask that you would bless other churches in this community we thank you that there are brethren from other churches with us this evening God would you please promote in us a genuine catholicity a genuine unity a desire to encourage one another and to spur one another on to love and the good deeds we asked you would look with favor upon those in the in countries where they suffered a great persecution for the cause of Christ we think specifically of the Middle East and our brothers and sisters that suffer for the cause of God and proof we commit them to you into the word of your grace and pray that you would just sustained and bless and help them father not to shrink back but to persevere in the midst of these trials and difficulties we thank you for the preaching of the gospel throughout the earth that encourages us it warms our hearts to know that Christ is saving from every tribe and every tongue and people and nation it encouraged us encourages us to know that Christ is building his church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it may you help us God to walk according to this promise help us not to grow weary and help us not to be discouraged but to be encouraged at the thought that our Blessed Christ rules and reigns on high but all things are under his sway and God made these things truly be a blessing to us each and every day we asked you would be with those in our church God that suffer with physical trials and difficulties and challenges we pray that you administer unto them that you would be their God of comfort in the midst of of sicknesses and and ill health and we ask God that you would do this for your glory sake we pray that you would continue with us now bless us and help us to worship you and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you may take your Trinity hymnal this time and turn to 437 437 will stand as we sing together please be seated for a scripture reading tonight you can turn to the Prophet Jeremiah we're in Jeremiah chapter 51 remember in the very beginning of the book in Jeremiah one God not only calls Jeremiah to prophecy concerning and to Israel but to the nation's and here specifically we find the continuation of Jeremiah's prophecy against Babylon so lengthy chapter will read the first half verses 1 to 32 here now the word of the living and true God thus says the Lord behold I will raise up against Babylon against those who dwell in lab kamae a destroying wind and i will send widowers to babylon we shall win o her and empty her land for in the day of doom they shall be against her all around against her let the archer bend his bow and let and lift himself up against her in his armor do not spare her young men utterly destroy all her army thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans and bows thrust through in her streets for Israel is not forsaken nor Judah by his God the Lord of Hosts though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel flee from the midst of Babylon and everyone save his life do not be cut off in her iniquity for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance he shall recompense her Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunk the nation's drank her wine therefore the nations are deranged Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed whale for her take balm for her pain perhaps she may be healed we would have healed Babylon but she is not healed forsake her and let us go every one to his own country for her judgment reaches to heaven and has lifted up to the skies the Lord has revealed our righteousness calm and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God make the arrows bright gather the shields the Lord has raised up the spirit of the king of the Meads for his plan is against Babylon to destroy it because it is the Vengeance of the Lord the vengeance for his temple set up the standard on the walls of Babylon make the guards strong set up the Watchmen prepare the ambushes but the Lord has both devised and done what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon o you who dwell by many waters abundant and treasures your end has come the measure of your covetousness the Lord of Hosts is sworn by himself surely I will fill you with men as with locusts and they shall lift up a shout against you he has made the earth by his power he has established the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heaven by his understanding when he utters his voice there is a multitude of waters in the heavens he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth he makes lightnings for the rain he brings the wind out of his Treasuries everyone is dull hearted without knowledge every metal Smith is put to shame by the carved image for his molded images falsehood and there is no breath in them their feud on a work of errors in the time of their punishment they shall perish the portion of Jacob is not like them for he is the maker of all things and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance the Lord of Hosts is his name Amen we'll stop there just a couple of brief observations on this particular passage in the first place we note the comprehensive sovereignty of God remember that Judah had sinned against the Lord they had broken the Covenant that God had established with them and in that covenant God had promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience well they had indeed brought to the place come to the place where there would be curses so God raised up Babylon we must not make any mistake about it the Lord was in sovereign control over Babylon calling even Nebuchadnezzar my servant and he sent them against Judah now here the tables have turned and God the Lord is going to bring judgment upon Babylon too similar occurrence with reference to Assyria in Isaiah the prophet in chapter 10 one raises up by Syria they deal with the northern tribes and then God brings judgment to bear upon those northern tribes and oftentimes people would say well why would you want to worship a god like this what other God would we want to worship we need or we love or we adore the god of absolute comprehensive sovereignty there is nothing that takes place on this earth apart from the decree of our ever blessed and ever glorious God in the second place we ought to observe something that I Jeremiah and Isaiah and all the prophets condemn throughout the Bible the sin of idolatry remember specifically that Babylon was the way it was first and foremost because they were an idolatrous people if you look back at chapter 50 in verse 38 a drought is against her waters and they will be dried up for it is the land of carved images and they are insane with their idols think Paul draws this out Romans chapter one ungodliness and unrighteousness what men think concerning God or how men think concerning God affects the way they conduct themselves and that is precisely why Babylon was such a wicked and desperately evil nation it's because they had forsaken rejected the true and living God and they sought out these idols and we learned in 5117 for his molded image is falsehood idols are always false they do not represent the truth only the Lord God of truth is about that aspect and then finally notice the blessedness of the holiness of our God verse 19 it says the portion of Jacob is not like that when i say holiness i speak in terms of his separateness or his other nests or his transcendence there is a creator creature distinction and that is one of the blessings of biblical religion the portion of Jacob is not like them he's not like the creature there is a distinction and notice what he goes on to say for he is the maker of all things we give up the doctrine of creation at our peril we must hold fast that truth and to that reality that is revealed for us in the early chapters of Genesis throughout the Bible creation is a means creation is an argument for the transcendence of God for the distinctiveness of God and here the prophet uses it in like manner he is the maker of all things and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance the Lord of Hosts is his name and we would be remiss if we left the chapter without seeing as well the mercy the kindness the goodness and the grace of Almighty God notice in verse 5 of chapter 51 for Israel is not forsaken nor Judah by his God the Lord of hosts though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel that's sort of like Paul's but God in Ephesians 24 we are filled with sin and corruption and evil and depravity but the Lord Most High does not forsake the Lord most high will accomplish his holy purposes through his son the Lord Jesus Christ to indeed build a glorious church made up from men of every tribe and tongue and people and nation we ought to be very thankful for the God revealed to us in the prophets will let us pray our Father we thank you for this revelation of your being in Scripture we thank you that you are the Holy and the awesome gone that is not like the creature and for this reason you are worthy of our praise and adoration we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and his glorious gospel that you delivered how I delivered him up because of our offenses and raised and for our justification our father we just pray that you'd help us to be affected by these things we pray that after this him dr. Lawson would come and open the word and the word would speak to our hearts that you would build us up in our most holy faith that you would strengthen us and Lord God continually conformance unto the image of your beloved son and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final hymn will sing number 219 again will stand as we sing together 219 you seated as I said it is a privilege for us to have dr. Stephen J Lawson with us this evening so I understand he's connected with both the Masters seminary ligonier ministries but most importantly tonight he is the man ordained by God to bring us the word so brother please come do that lipstick so I just nothing well what a joy it is to be in the Lord's house tonight and to be with you the singing of these great hymns warms my own heart greatly and I loved hearing the reading of Jeremiah one and drawing out of the text these glorious truths of our great god I just love hearing the word absolute sovereignty comprehensive sovereignty that's a joy and a delight to my heart to hear this I'm here really at the end of my trip I've been in Edmonton and I have now been just outside of Vancouver and I'm not certain where I am tonight I'm not certain really where I am but I am so glad to be in this church where the word of god is so carefully handled and we're great effort is given to rightly divide the word of truth and I know that you have a high view of God in a high view of his sovereign grace and so for that reason i know i'm at home tonight and dwelling with brothers and sisters with whom i have so very much in common it's difficult to know when you have one opportunity to speak really what to bring and i desire to encourage you and to build you up as best i can in the lord and so as you have your Bibles if I could invite you to turn with me to the first song to some one tonight I'd like to speak to you on the subject of how blessed is the man and we could add how blessed is the woman I want to begin by reading the text that will be the focus of our exposition tonight this first Psalm I know it must be very familiar with everyone here tonight and yet it is these portions of Scripture that seem to rise above even other texts as far as their influence on our lives that I want us to revisit and this is one of those Psalm 1 how blessed is the man it does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does he prospers the wicked are not so but they are like chaff which the wind drives away therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the Assembly of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish north east of Los Angeles is a barren wasteland known as the Mojave Desert in its midst is the joshua tree national park and it is so called because of the rare tree that grows in the midst of this national park it is dry it is brown it is desert and here grows an oddity in fact it is the only thing that truly grows and blossoms it is known as the joshua tree where nothing else grows this tree thrives and we're all else is dying this tree grows to be 40 feet tall and lives to be a hundred and fifty years old and as many properties that are useful it is useful in producing leaves and flowers and and food but it stands out like a sore thumb it stands out like bright stars on a dark night it stands out is the only tree that grows in this brown parched badland this is something like what the psalmist says regarding the righteous man and the righteous woman that we are like a tree that is thriving in the midst of a godless age and a barren world in which we live as we come to the to this first song there are several things that I want to draw to your attention and by introduction but I want it to encourage us because you and I do live in a barren wasteland we do live in a bad land and the age is becoming more godless by the day and yet you and I must stand strong in the lord we must be rooted and grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ and we have sufficient grace we have abundant and abounding grace that in these difficult days and in these dark hours Hugh and I may nevertheless thrive and be fruitful and grow in the Grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and just by way of introduction to this first song before we work our way through it verse by verse I want you to know that this was not the first Psalm to be written it was placed here by the compilers and the book of sobs was collected by compilers in three different excuse me five different installments the first song we believe with some 90 the psalm of Moses and some 126 is the last song that was written and there is a period of a thousand years that exists between the writing of the first song and the last saw or Psalm 90 and some 126 instead these Psalms are arranged with a specific purpose in mind and it is these first two saw someone in Psalm 2 that are intentionally placed here at the beginning of the psalter such that every time someone opens the book of psalms they have to walk past these two gatekeepers if you will in order to enter into the temple of worship and that the Book of Psalms is intended to direct us someone in stomp to in fact really stand together and I'll draw to your attention a literary device known as incluso or inclusion but verse one of someone begins how blessed is the man the last line of Psalm 2 concludes with basically an echo of that how blessed are all who take refuge in the lord and those two lines are intended to serve like brackets around someone and some too they're like bookends around these first two sums and they are intended to be evangelistic songs knowing that it is possible for someone to be in the house of the Lord and singing hymns of praise to God and yet their heart be unconverted in their life be unregenerate and so that when God's people would come together to worship and the Book of Psalms intended to direct us in our worship someone is sitting right here at the very outset that we are reminded again and again and again that there are two paths in life there is the way of the righteous and there is the way of the wicked and everyone is on one of two paths and Psalm 2 is intended to to call and invite the unconverted to faith in the son of God the Lord Jesus Christ and so Psalm 2 talks about the nation's being in an uproar and God establishing his son in upon his holy mountain Zion and the psalmist calls all who enter into the Book of Psalms to to worship the Sun to kiss the Sun to give him homage so these are intended for self-examination as we come into the house of the Lord really the rest of the entire book of Psalms is an extension of these first two Psalms and so before we begin looking at these two Psalms I want to ask you this question which path are you traveling are you on the way of the righteous or you are on the way of the wicked because it is very possible to be in the house of the Lord it is very very possible to say Lord Lord and yet be one who has not yet come onto the path of the righteous through the new birth that is in Jesus Christ our Lord and for those of us who have entered onto the path of the righteous I trust that tonight as we look at this Psalm and that it would be a source of immeasurable encouragement to our hearts tonight that we would rejoice in what God has done by planting us by streams of water and that we are thriving in the Lord's grace well I want to walk through this sum with you and I have four main headings that I want to set before you and I want you to note first the pronouncement of blessing notice how this Psalm begins how blessed is the man and not only does this song begins with this pronouncement of blessing but because of where it is placed the entire book of psalms begins with this pronouncement of blessing 25 times in the book of psalms we see this phrase or something very similar how blessed is the man psalms is is a really a declaration of worship and praise to god but it is also a declaration of the blessing that comes to the man and to the woman who gives glory and honor to God above several things that I want you to note about this these early these first words how blessed is the man first of all it implied that God is the Beast ower of these blessings God is the source of every good thing in our life God is the giver of all good things every good gift every perfect gift comes down from God above the father of unshifted shadows with whom there is no variation every blessing that we have has come directly from the hand of God above the second thing I would draw to your attention is this word blessed how bless it in the original Hebrew with which this was written it is in the plural and it stresses the fullness of the blessings of God that are poured out upon those who are on the path of the righteous and this could be easily translated oh the blessedness says of the man and of the woman who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked etc God is not measuring out his blessings to us with an eyedropper and there's just such tiny little blessings that come to us no instead and this is underscoring and declaring oh the blessedness 'as that the lord has lavished upon us ephesians 1 verse 3 blessed be the god and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus every once in a while someone will ask me I'll be as I travel have you had the second blessing I'll say second blessing I've had every blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and this is really the abundant life that the Lord has come to provide for us next I would point out about the word blessed is that it describes the favored state of those who are right with God as has already been quoted there is either blessing or cursing and that comes upon a man and this declares that those who are on the path of the righteous are those who have been pronounced the blessing of God and they are given a favored state of acceptance with God through the Lord Jesus Christ but it is more than that it also includes the joy that is ours as we are on this path there is this word for blessed can also find synonyms such as peace and contentment and bliss and well-being if there is no greater life that any one of us could ever live than to be on this path of the righteous also I would want you to know about this word blessed is that it is not dependent upon our circumstances there's a difference between happiness and blessedness happiness depends upon our happenstance and when our happenings are good we're happy and when our happenstance is not good we're not happy my football team lost yesterday and I wasn't very happy about that and that goes up and down is like a rollercoaster but God's blessedness is a super natural joy that is not dependent upon our circumstances that rises above our circumstances because it does not come from the world it comes from the lord himself and someone like Paul can be in prison and talk about the joy that he has the Lord Jesus Christ the night before he was crucified said these things I have spoken unto you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full a glorious thing it is to be this blessed man this blessed woman and to have joy unspeakable and full of glory I would also point out and we're still talking about the pronouncement of blessing that this blessing is reserved exclusively for those who are believers in the Lord this could just as easily be translated how blessed is the man and only this man this cannot be said of the wicked who are on a totally different path and who have a totally different experience within their heart and lastly as we talk about this pronouncement of blessing this is so important that as Jesus began his public ministry as he gave the Sermon on the Mount he became an echo of this very psalm that begins in the Sermon on the Mount blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied and at the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus himself set this same contrast between these two paths of life and he said enter by the narrow gate for the gate is is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who find it but the gate is narrow and the way is small that leads to life and few are those who find it the Sermon on the Mount I believes the greatest sermon has ever been preached in the history of the world and it was by the greatest expositor who ever preached the one who has none other than the truth himself the Lord Jesus Christ and as we have his first recorded sermon in Matthew 5 through 7 it becomes really an expansion of what we find in this very Psalm so he begins with the pronouncement of blessing and this blessing was not reserved simply for Old Testament times this blessing is pronounced upon us today as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no greater life that you and I could ever experience than the blessedness of this life and as you find yourself here tonight it may be that you are discouraged about something it could be health it could be finances it could be family it could be your future you may be downcast you may deflated the psalmist himself was at times deflated and discouraged but I want to reframe the picture for you I want you to see yet again that God has opened the windows of heaven and he has poured out in fullest measure his blessing upon your head and upon your life if i had a hundred lives to live I would give every single one of them to the Lord because it is the most blessed and it is the most glorious life that any of us could ever possibly live so that's where this begins as the Lord declared this blessing upon your life and upon your head are you the recipient of this blessedness in the Lord Jesus Christ second not only the pronouncement of blessing but I want you to know second the prerequisite for blessing because the experience of this blessedness is experienced to different degrees by different believers because he will go on to say there are some things that we must not do and there are some things that we should do and there is really the pattern of the Christian life here of putting off and putting on that play a very direct role in our experiencing this joy in this piece and this happiness you'll note in verse 1 he gives three negatives who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers it is incumbent that this be descriptive of our lives in order to experience the fullness of this blessedness and then in verses 2 and 3 he will put it in the positive and he will say our delight is in the law of the Lord x federer both are necessary if all we do is verse 1 and our Christian life is no more no less than what we don't do don't do don't do don't do then we really have entered into a very legalistic kind of Christian life where we're just known in mark but we don't do this we don't do that we don't do this that's one side of the coin and it can't be simply just that one side of the coin and if we only implement versus two and three and just simply delight in the law of the Lord it really ultimately leads to antinomianism that there is no there are no boundaries around us and there is no resistance of the world so both are necessary what we see in verse 1 and what we see in verse 2 both are necessary prerequisites in order for us to experience the fullness of the blessing that he has for us so the psalmist is a very good teacher teachers instruct with negative denial and positive assertion this is what I'm this is the negative this is the positive there's no room for anything to slip through the cracks there's no wiggle room and so the psalmist here begins in verse 1 with the negative and he calls for a separation from the world now in a separation from the world let me be quick to say this he is not saying that we're not to be in the world he is saying we're not to be of the world in other words our boat is to be in the water there's just to be no water in the boat we are commanded by God to go into the world to go into the highways and byways we are to penetrate the world we are to advance with the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but as we do we must be careful that the world does not squeeze us into its mold and so the psalmist gives us three negatives here you'll note in verse 1 the words not not and nor this is called parallel ism in Hebrew poetry in which they're stacked one on top of the other he begins by saying he begins really by addressing our beliefs with our mind and he is saying we've got to guard our mind the Proverbs will say as a man thinks in his heart so is he everything in the Christian life begins with the mind the battle for the Christian mind is the battle for the Christian life and so that's why he begins with the mind he says does not walk in the counsel of the wicked the man who would experience the fullness of God's blessing refuses worldly thinking refuses the secular worldview refuses that the the ideology in which man is at the center and everything is to promote man and to exalt man he says we are not to walk in the counsel of the wicked and then from beliefs he moves to behavior and he says North stand in the path of sinners this reef this means we must refuse to join in with the sinful activities of the world as they as they run in their pursuit of sin we're not to stand in that path and become swept up with them in their pursuit of sin and then he says nor sit in the seat of scoffers in other words we must refuse to have company with those who mock holy things who ridicule the things of God who who taught what we consider to be holy things because bad company corrupts good morals first Corinthians 15 33 and so this is this negative aspect this separation from the world that the psalmist calls for this blessed man refuses to adopt the thinking of the world refuses to embrace the values of the world refuses to enter onto the path of the world refuses to sit in the seat of the world and even to laugh at the world's vulgarities this blessed man does not abuse his liberty in Christ this blessed man does not push the limits of his freedom in Christ to get as close to the fire as he can possibly be without being burned knowing that he is in danger of crossing the line and being singed this blessed man guards what he allows to come into his mind and guards where he allows his feet to trod and guards those who have closes company with him this is where the psalmist begins and these are very strong words and as this world is becoming darker and darker and as evil the evil that used to hide in the closet is now strutting down Main Street as through media of all different kinds there are so many encroachments around us how incumbent it is upon us as believers in this hour to take heed to these words there needs to be a firewall around our heart and around our soul that we do not walk in the counsel the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers that's where this begins this separation and now want you to know if second this saturation this positive saturation with the word of God he says in verse 2 but now in sharp contrast but his delight is in the law of the Lord now his delight is no longer in the things of the world his delight is no longer in sin his delight is no longer in running with the old crowd that he used to run with know that there's a new delight and his heart and it's because he has a new heart and he now she now delights in the law of the Lord that this word delight is a very important word and it means there are new affections and new appetites and new hunger and it is for the law of the Lord the Word of God is not forced upon this person the Word of God this person actually runs to where the Word of God will be taught to him or to her and notice it's in the present tense his delight is present tense in the law of the Lord meaning not just on Sunday but on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday it's a continual present tense ever and always no matter where you are no matter what the circumstances are the occasion you delight in the law of the Lord the law of the Lord here Torah refers to the entire written word the divine instruction that leads us into God's will we love the law of the Lord because in regeneration the law of the lord is written upon our hearts and he puts his holy spirit with than us and he causes us to keep the commandments that there is a new dynamic that is going on in our hearts and it may be that which once bored us before the new birth now excites us and thrills us to be to be taking in the Word of God he goes on to say in verse to his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night it's where it meditates very important it means to reflect upon something it means to process what you're learning it means to to replay it again and again in fact the word was used in this day and time of a cow who would have a cut of grass in his mouth and stand in the field and just chew on it and just pull out every drop of juice out of that wad of grass that that is in the mouth that that's the idea here with meditate that as you hear the word of God preached in this church or wherever you attend church that you replay that in your mind throughout the week you chew on it you internalize it you process it you contemplate it and you are working it in to the very fabric of your heart and of your soul in fact this word meditate is a Hebrew word that represents a low sound such as mm-hmm like that's good and as you are chewing on the word there is this this inward groaning of how much this word is stirring to you and how often does he meditate upon the word notice it says he meditates day and night that means all day every day refers to a habitual lifestyle it refers that the scripture is the constant reference point in his thinking he's taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ he is sending his mind on things above and not on things of the earth really he's being like what Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon said of John Bunyan why the man is a walking Bible prick him anywhere and he bleeds bib line whatever that is I mean you're just bleeding the Bible out of you because it has been so stored up and and so internalized within this must be our pursuit if we are to experience the the fullness of this blessedness of God we must run away from the evil world system while we're in the world and we must run to the Word of God this Psalm highlights the primacy and the centrality of the Word of God in our sanctification our Christian life will grow no further than our intake of the Word of God into our lives and we will not measure up to everything that we know I'm not able to live up to team in all my sermons for who is sufficient for these things but I can assure you this that will not we will not grow one inch beyond the Word of God that is flowing into our lives jesus prayed in John 17 17 sanctify them by your word your word is Ruth the primary means of grace in the life of the believer to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ is the Ministry of the word of God in our lives therefore first Peter 22 we must long for the pure milk of the word that by it we may grow in respect to salvation so as you look at verses 1 and 2 what we do not do and then what we do do how do you see this as being carried out in your life where do you need to walk with greater caution as you are in the world where are you in danger of the message of the world capturing your mind and subtly shifting you in a direction away from the Word of God and what is there in your life that would hinder you from delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating upon it day and night what steps can you take of intentional discipline and to be more in the law of the Lord and to let it surged through your soul and produce greater spiritual growth well to this point we've seen the pronouncement of the blessing at the beginning of verse 1 how blessed is the man and then we've seen the prerequisites for this blessing what we do not do what we do do while we are separated from the thinking and the behavior of the world and how we are to be saturated with the wisdom and the counsel of God I want you to note third in verse 3 the picture of blessing because the psalmist is a master teacher and he does not simply tell us what we must do as in verse 1 and 2 he now shows us he now paints this picture upon the canvas of our minds and he shows us what this blessed man looks like and as we look at this in verse 3 every one of us our hearts should be drawn to this that we would desire more and more of this reality in our own lives so not how verse 3 begins he will be the he obviously refers to this blessed man and he will be there is a note of certainty about this not he might be could be should be no he will be like a tree and this is a figure of speech known as a simile and he is painting a picture that the righteous man is like a tree this will be in contrast to the wicked man in verse 4 who is like chaff and there are two truths that he wants to communicate to us in this picture of blessing that we will be like a tree two things one transplanted and two thriving please note he says first transplanted he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water it is implied in this that he does not begin by streams of water else he would have no need to be planted by streams of water he would have already been there know what is implied in this is he has begun his life elsewhere someplace else and by extension of this analogy he would begin in a barren place he would begin in a in a wasteland or in a desert like but something or someone has uprooted him and has carried him to a very fertile place by streams of water and has firmly planted him there I think this transplanting pictures the new birth it pictures sovereign regeneration because trees don't move themselves trees do not transplant themselves someone has to come along and up route a tree really in this case just a dying tree in a barren land and move it to a place where it can prosper and where it can thrive and this transplanting is the picture of the new birth and how God moves us from death to life and from darkness to light firmly planted by streams of water please note streams is plural streams many streams of water far more water than any one tree would ever need just a constant current supply of water that is gushing by right where this tree is planted in and what the tree must do is set down deep roots and on the outside it is it is a drought like condition in the environment everything else every other plant is just dying it can't grow it cannot bear fruit but this tree has an underground reservoir that it can tap into as its planted by streams of water and as it sets down roots and these roots grow and grow it draws up all the the water and the moisture that is necessary for this tree to grow and for this tree to thrive what an encouragement this should be to us tonight that we can be in a in a dry and barren place we can be working in an office rear the only Christian you can be going to school and there are no Christians around you you may be in a family and you are the lone believer in the Lord in your family I want you to know if you find yourself in a drought light condition like that you can nevertheless still thrive in the Lord Jesus Christ there is more than abundant grace that is flowing right past your life in the streams of grace that are coming from the throne above that you can draw up now the question is how are you going to draw up this water and that's what verse 2 was telling us that as you delight in the law of the Lord and as you meditate on his word day and night you are pulling up the necessary grace and strength that you need to thrive in your spiritual life and if you as verse 1 would say as you would perhaps venture out into places and influences that are unhealthy for you that is like cutting off your supply that would be coming into your life what an encouragement this is we are planted by streams of water picture here's just one little tree and there are streams and streams and the idea is overflowing and over spilling there is more than enough water and more than enough grace the sufficiency of the grace that is in the Lord Jesus Christ to meet our every need and to cause us to grow in grace and be prolific and be productive in our spiritual lives so the question is are you setting down your roots deeper and deeper in this underground access of the grace that you need sustaining grace sanctifying grace strengthening grace serving grace the multiplicity of the grace of God in our lives so first this tree is transplanted to a very fertile place just like you and I have been transplanted to a very fertile place in the Lord Jesus Christ but I want you to know second as we continue to look at this not only is this tree transplanted this tree is thriving that this tree is not merely keeping its existence no this tree is productive this tree is is growing this tree is is experiencing the abundance that comes from this river note what he says he says first which yields its fruit in its season that's that's prolific growth and the fruit here is all of the different ways fruit is used in the Bible and the fruit of Christian character the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness self-control fruit is the fruit of our lips which is praised being offered to God there's there's fruit in ministry Paul and Romans one says I desire to come and have some fruit among you all of these speak to a super natural life that cannot be explained apart from the streams of water that are providing in abundance everything that we need to to thrive in our spiritual life he says which yields its fruit please note in its season in each different season of our life sometimes we're on the mountaintop sometimes we're in the valley sometimes the sun is shining sometimes it is cloudy and an overcast there are so many different seasons in sometimes its prosperity sometimes its adversity sometimes if joy sometimes its tribulation and difficulty whatever the season God provides for us the necessity of what we need so that we can grow as a christian and then he goes on to say and it's leaf does not wither here's the consistency and the constancy in our spiritual lives it matters not whether it's raining or it's drought it matters not if it hasn't rained in a long time it matters not how others are doing what matters is that we have access to these streams of water through our deep roots and our leaf does not wither it's an evergreen tree if you will always vibrant always green always lush now what you know I I have seen this as a pastor sometimes I'll go into a hospital room and there will be several families in this hospital room and on the hospital bed there will be a mother or father that is dying and all but on the very doorstep of death and there will be several family members on one side of the hospital room and there will be others on the other side of the hospital room and what a contrast between the two sides of the room here is one side they do not know the Lord they are not converted they have not been transplanted they are a dead bush and a dry desert and they receive the news that mother will not make it through the night they cannot handle it they are just dying on the vine they begin to threaten to sue the hospital they begin to bark at the nurses they begin to be demanding with the doctors they have no life within them and they have no leaves that can go through a time like this and then on the other side of the room will be some precious believers in the Lord who remember of our church who have been transplanted out of where they once were and what they once were and they are now a new creature in Christ and the old things have passed away and behold new things have have come and they are planted by streams of water regardless of what the weather is regardless of it the Sun is up or down regardless of its a drought season or a rainy season they have set down deep roots in the Lord and they delight in the Word of God and they have little pocket Bibles out and they are reading to one another Psalm 23 or Psalm 103 and they are giving praise to God for the time that they have had with their mother or their their father and they know exactly where their father or mother is going to be that they are graduating to glory and that the separation is only temporary what a difference it's the difference between black and white and night and and day listen what the Lord provides for us and our spiritual life when we go through the most difficult of circumstances where others are dying on the vine our leaf is not withering and because we have an access to the grace of God that is more than abundant more water for this one little tree then this tree will ever be able to draw up throughout the entirety of his existence and then he adds this at the end of verse 6 and in whatever he does that pretty much covers the field doesn't it whatever he does from alpha to Omega from A to C whatever he does whether he's at work whether is at home whether he's a church whether he's by himself where there is with other people in whatever he does there there is no part of his life that is unaffected by these streams of water that are flowing into his life his life cannot be compartmentalized and it will only help him in this part of his life in that part of his life but not over here over here no this is comprehensive in whatever he does he prospers this word prospers needs definition it is prosperity as God defines success it is spiritual prosperity those things that money cannot buy and death cannot take away or the soul prospers or the heart soars where the spirit succeeds this word prosper the Hebrew word means to accomplish and fulfill the purpose for which something is created and intended that this is true prosperity that we would thrive in our spiritual lives in the most difficult and demanding hours of our life says he prospers it means he will not dry up but instead he will grow taller and bear fruit and spread its branches and deepen its roots and maintain its its form and its leaves there is no explanation for this now any one of us could live like this except the sufficiency and the abundance of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit in our lives this let me make this personal this is your life this isn't hypothetical this isn't only for David in the palace this is not reserved for the disciples on the Sea of Galilee this is for every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ this is a picture of your life a prolific life a prosperous life and you may find yourself tonight in a set of circumstances that could be described as a drought I want you to know that though the circumstances are demanding and are difficult and the tears and the agony may be real there nevertheless is an abundance of grace that is available to your life that you are able to go through this time in a triumphant way no matter what difficulty you may be facing you may thrive spiritually you may thrive emotionally you may be a widow and just a lonely tree living by yourself and yet you can thrive in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ you may be a single adult at just a lonely tree by yourself but I want you to know that you can still prosper and your leaf will not will not wither you may be a single parent just a lonely tree by yourself but you can still experience the fullness of the grace of God and you can be just like this tree and bear fruit in every season of your life I want to say it again there is more than enough water in these streams for this tree to thrive now finally I want you to see the prohibition of blessing in verses 4 through 6 by stark contrast the psalmist now describes the polar opposite of the blessed man and I I like the psalmist in these in these wisdom Psalms because he paints the picture of life in black and white there is no gray in the middle he tells it like it is and so in verse 4 he says the wicked are not so the wicked is the one who has never been transplanted from the barren dry desert beside step but beside these streams of water now the wicked may be outwardly righteous in fact the wicked may be in the house of the Lord but he is inwardly rotten and he is an unbeliever usamos writes the wicked are not so literally the order of the words in the original Hebrew not so is front-loaded at the beginning of the sentence is called the emphatic position and this reads literally not so the wicked it's it's a an emphatic denial not so the wicked are the wicked blessed not so are the wicked happy not so are the wicked joyful not so are they prosperous not so are they fruitful not so now they may look happy from a distance and you may think oh it would be great to trade places with them I want you to know there is death on the inside of their life the wicked are not so that what the wicked do and are is the very thing that god forbids in verse 1 the wicked walk in the counsel of the wicked they stand in the path of sinners they sit in the seat of scoffers they are in this downward slippery slope as their life is going from bad to worse they're in an elevator that's descending down into the basement he says but they are like chaff which the wind drives away he's painting this picture and in ancient times the the farmer would would sow his seed it and there would come a harvest of drain and wherever there would be a high hill he would go up on the high hill and he would lay stones on the high hill and make a threshing floor he would he would bring in the grain he would cart it up to the top of the hill because at the top of the hill that's where the wind was blowing the strongest and he would have the the grain there on the on the stones and he would have something like a pitchfork or some instrument to throw the grain up into the air and the wind would blow and the heavier kernels that were valuable that he would take to market they would come straight down and he would gather them up but the chaff is is worthless the chaff is good for nothing the chaff is good only to be burned it can't be eating it can't be sold no one wants the chaff the wind just blows it away and there is this separation from the chaff that is worthless and the grain that is valuable the kernel that is valuable and what the psalmist is saying at the end of the age at the end of time there's going to be a final judgment and there is going to be a separation and the chaff will be blown away into the torment of everlasting hell good only to be burned up throughout all the ages to come and those that are on the path of the righteous will be gathered up and will be collected and will be preserved before the throne of God above that's what verse 4 is telling us listen this is a no-brainer someone would have to be blinded by sin under the spell and the plague of total depravity their ears close their eyes blind their hearts hardened to choose this over the blessings of God so look at verse 5 therefore and great teaching gets to the therefore you bring it down to a summation therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment that needs some explanation he'll be in the judgment and they'll stand in the judgment but they will not stand with acceptance in the judgment and they will be removed away from the Lord the wicked will not stand in the judgment they will be swept away they will have no standing in grace nor sinners in the Assembly of the righteous that means sinners will be called out of the separation out of the Assembly of the righteous they will not remain in the company of those who are blessed and the imagery here is that the righteous and the wicked are all together and I think the idea is there even in the house of the Lord together the one has been born again and the other has not and is living in hypocrisy nor sinners in the Assembly of the righteous meaning they once were in the Assembly of the righteous the the public gathering of the people of God but they will not remain there because the winds of divine judgment at the end will blow them away now they worship together now they play together now they they work together but then they will be separated the tears will be separated from the week the bad fish separated from the good fish the foolish virgins separated from the wise virgins Judas separated from the 11 so it concludes in verse 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous this means far more than he knows about the way of the righteous because the Lord knows about the way of the wicked as well the Lord knows everything this word knows means that God intimately knows the way of the righteous that God is closely involved with the way of the righteous that God is lovingly involved in the way of the righteous because God is the one who has planned the way of the righteous he is the one who has ordained the way of the righteous he is the one who has built the way of the righteous he is the one who has paved the way of the righteous he is the one who goes before us on the way of the righteous he is the one who goes with thus on the way of the righteous he says I will never never leave you nor forsake you lo I am with you always even to the end of the age for the Lord knows the way of the righteous and is because he is in partnership with us every step of the way but the way of the wicked will perish it means to undergo eternal punishment it means to undergo eternal destruction that not an aisle a shin but devastation ever dying yet never dying will perish in the flames of the lake of fire and brimstone we're all hopes parish and where no one escapes as I bring this Psalm to conclusion where's Christ well all blessings that come upon the blessed man are mediated to us exclusively through the Lord Jesus Christ there is not one drop of blessing outside of Jesus Christ there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus he is the channel he is the means of every blessing that comes into our lives and so we must be in Christ and we must know Christ to receive these blessings he is the giver of the law he is the author of the law and he is the one who has issued it it is the word of Christ and it speaks with the authority and the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever perfectly kept this law that we see in verse 2 that that he gives he was born of a woman under the law that he might keep the very law that you and I break again and again and again it is by his active obedience to the law of God this obedient this righteousness is what is imputed to us in the act of justification and where Adam sinned Christ has triumphed and where we have sinned Christ has kept the law perfectly on our behalf and this is the righteousness with which we are clothed Christ is the preacher of the new birth I believe the new birth is pictured here in this and this transplanting and in John 3 he says truly truly I say unto you unless one is born again you shall not see the kingdom of heaven unless one is born of water and the spirit you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven for that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit do not marvel that I say to you you must be born again if Christ is the preacher of this new birth and he is the judge of the wicked on the last day he is the one who will who will hold court he is the one at the great white throne judgment he is the one who will be seated and the books will be open in the book of life will be open and he will say depart from me you who work iniquity I never knew you Christ is the one who knows the way of his sheep Christ is the one who goes the way of his sheep and jesus said I am the good shepherd and I know my own and my own know me Christ is the one who brings these blessings into our lives Jesus Christ entered this world on a mission of salvation he was born of a virgin that he might enter the human race yet he was born unlike us without us in nature it was the Holy Spirit of God who sired within Mary the Holy offspring he was like us yet unlike us and throughout his life he lived in perfect obedience to the will of the Father and to the Word of God he went to the cross he was lifted up to die upon Calvary's cross the sins of his people were transferred to him and him who knew no sin God made to be sin for us he bore our sins in his body upon the cross he shed his blood and propitiated the righteous anger of God towards all who would believe in him there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and by his death upon the cross he has reconciled holy God to sinful man and has brought the two together the two parties that were at enmity with one another the two parties that had rejected one another because God's holiness and man's sin Jesus Christ but bearing our sins suffering the curse of the law on our behalf has reconciled us to the Father and by his blood he has bought us out of the slave market of sin and he has bought us out of the slave market of Satan for those who will put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ you now belong to Jesus Christ what know you not that your body is the holy is the temple of God you've been bought with a price therefore glorify God with your body he said it is finished the atonement for sin was made in full there is nothing now to be added I took him down from the cross they buried him in a borrowed tomb and on the third day he raised himself from the dead he said I have authority to lay my life down and I have authority to take it back up again this commandment I received from my father the Spirit of God also raised him the father raised him is ascended back to the right hand of God the Father where he is seated as Lord over heaven and earth all authority in heaven and earth has been given unto him and now whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved so have you called upon the name of the Lord have you put your trust in him have you repented of your sins have you turned away from your own self-righteousness and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and said Lord Jesus be merciful to me the sinner he calls to sinners even tonight to come to him he says if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water him who comes into me I will in no wise cast out if you've never come to faith in Jesus Christ behold now is the accepted time behold today is the day of salvation cast away your rags a self righteousness arise and go to Jesus and He will close you with his perfect righteousness from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet and he will one day present you faultless before the throne of god above that is the greatest news that has ever been shared on planet earth it is the gospel of Jesus Christ and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved you could walk into the service tonight lost the wrath of God and you may leave tonight and go home with peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ if you would but turn to him and trust him with all your heart may God give you the grace may God give you the the gifts of repentance and faith that you may lay hold of the good physician who has come not for good people who has come for bad people to save them from their sins let us pray father in heaven how we thank you that there is the way of the righteous you could have left us all in our sin and be born on the way of the wicked and remain on the way of the wicked and there would have been no other way but the way of the wicked that is certainly what we deserve we praise you for your mercy and your grace your wisdom that you have provided in the person of your son the Lord Jesus Christ this way of the righteous Jesus says I am the way and the truth and the life Lord may there be those here tonight who would step off of the way of the wicked and step on to the way of the righteous and Lord for those of us who have already been transplanted high streams of water help us to sink our roots yet deeper into your word and deeper into your son the Lord Jesus Christ help us to draw up into the trunk and into the branches of our lives that which will sustain us and strengthen us and enable us to bear much fruit and every season of life and I pray that you would cause us to prosper and all that we do we pray this in Jesus name Amen Julie would close with the doxology will stand and sing the doxology and praise to God if you're not familiar with that it's on Roman numeral 16 in your Trinity hem Knoll the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen our Father we thank you for the word of God we thank you for blessing pastor Lawson this evening and forgiving us grace to receive the truth we pray that you would seal it to our hearts she would go with us now that should cause us to love and glorify and fear and honor you in this coming week we pray for safe travel for our brother she returns home we ask that you would continue to look with favor upon him and for all of us gathered together tonight we thank you for the Lord's Day we thank you for the blessing of fellowship and the house of God we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord amen please be seated for a brief time of meditation while Joey plays you