chapelblog: Psalm 1

by Andre Rogers.


May God bless the hearers and doers of His Word.

Think about success, what is it, what does it look like? We miss God when we do all the right things for the wrong reasons. Psalm 1 is the blueprint for what it looks like to be blessed, fulfilled.

Define “success”: it does not mean that you have the right stuff or attitude. Success is living by true obedience to the Word of God.

I. Model God's Word (Verse 1)

Don't take counsel from people who leave God out. And don't be like the ungodly, and give counsel that leaves God out. The ungodly have no foundation, no fellowship, no future but punishment (see verses 4-6). We hang around sinners to point them to Christ, not to let them transform us. The things of God are nothing to scoff or laugh at, no joking matters here.

II. Meditate on God's Word (Verse 2)

There are only two occasions we are to meditate on the Bible: day and night, not Sunday and Wednesday. Make our delight in what He says. Make it a "no read, no eat” policy as your spiritual life depends on God’s Word as spiritual food the same way your body depends on food. Ruminate on the living Word of God. Make every moment count.

Check out:
Joshua 1:7. After Moses died, God’s words to General Joshua was not martial strategy. God told Joshua ““Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”

King David's last words to Solomon, who was taking the throne in 1 Kings 2:1-4: “As David’s time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

Don't fall into the trap of being under the Word, but never in the Word.

Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Learn God's Word, Live God's Word, Teach God's Word.

2 Tim 2:1-2: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

2 Tim 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

Cod liver oil is not only the nastiest stuff there is, but you can’t cut it with anything to make it taste any better. You can't mix it with Coke or candy or anything. It just makes whatever it gets mixed with taste nastier. My grandmother used to just take swigs directly out of the bottle. She got used to it. You know as well I do that as you mature, taste changes and things that once tasted nasty gets better.

Sometimes the Bible is like that. It confronts us and causes us to wrinkle our nose and we try to cut it, to mix it with something, but God’s Word never changes. It only comes to the surface and exposes the falsity of our attempts to make it easier or less nasty. But when we mature, it isn’t so bad but quite beautiful. It is sweeter than honey and more precious that gold (Ps 19:7ff).

III. Be Motivated by God's Word for the rest of your life. Verse 3

The tree is transplanted, moved to a place of constant feeding. This does not say that life gets easier, that seasons change for the tree, but that life goes on as the seasons do, only the tree is now firmly rooted in a constant stream and gives fruit!