The Joy of the Psalms
To know the Lord and live for Him, is to be truly blessed and delighted. Some people are blessed but do not know how to appreciate their blessings. There are still many others that are delighted with what they have, but their joy is in things which will one day leave them empty and sad. The best in life is to be blessed and delighted in His blessings. This can only happen when we know the Lord. Then, as we live for Him we begin to live for Him according to His will and Word.
Most of us think of being blessed with what we have, what we get to do, or how much money we have. God shows us that real joy, that true joy comes when we learn to experience Him.
You have often heard me say that I cannot tell you what to do but I can tell you what NOT to do. God tells us this before he tells us what to do. There are three things he tells us NOT to do to experience Him and His blessings.
READ PSALMS 1:1-6
First, you have to be careful of who and what you listen to. If you want to lose your joy, just let the world be your advisor when decisions have to be made.
Second is to allow habits that disagree with God’s will for you. I am always perplexed by those that want the blessings of God but not the obedience that it calls for. It starts with the small things. These small habits begin when we listen to the voices we hear every day. We go to the world for advice, then we begin to act and the results are that our habits are opposed to the will of God.
Third, we cannot sit in the seat of the scornful. It tells us of being at home and living a life that is contrary to God and His ways. This is the result of listening to the world and forming habits that are against God. The results of bad habits are to finally be at home in the habits which mock God.
The point here is that true meaning in life cannot be found this way. Blessedness is found when we do the opposite. We do not listen to the world, we do not develop their habits, and we do not become at home in their lifestyle. Many Christians have just enough religion to make them miserable. They are not sold out to Christ, so they wonder if what they believe is really true. They lack joy. They cannot witness because they are not happy in the Lord. They lack power because they are not filled with His Spirit.
Blessed are those who do not walk, stand or sit with the evil influences of this world.
But, blessedness is more than that which we “don’t do.” Blessedness is not found in negatives…but in things we put into action, the positives that are available to the saints of God. The writer speaks of the blessing of the Word of God in the life of the believer. There are three things here.
Meditation
Don’t just read His word…sit back and take some time to consider it and what it means to you.
Penetration
As we meditate and concentrate, we must also let it permeate AND put into action those things we have thought on.
Vegetation
As it penetrates our life and being and we put to action the things God has shown us, we will see fruit beginning to grow…vegetation.
Continuation
God’s Word never gets old and it continues to bring about more and more in our lives!
An Illustration as given to us by National Geographic points us to the importance of spending a lot of time with something of Great Value. It is a quote about Carl Sharsmith, an 81-year-old guide in Yosemite National Park.
It reads, “Carl was back at his tent quarters after a long afternoon with tourists. His nose was flaked white and red with sunburn; his eyes were watery, partly from age but also from hearing again an old question after a half century of summers in California’s Yosemite National Park. A lady tourist had hit him with a question where it hurt:
“I’ve only got an hour to spend at Yosemite.” she declared. “What should I do? Where should I go?” The old naturalist-interpreter ranger finally found voice to reply. “Lady, only an hour?” He repeated it slowly. “I suppose that if I had only an hour to spend at Yosemite, I’d just walk over there by the river and sit down and cry.”
When we finally understand the value of God’s word, we will then spend time with it and “in it”.
Matthew 25:34 states, “ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.”
The blessed will be welcome at His side! Understanding the latter part of Psalm 1 is that the wicked will not be welcome at His side, but those who are blessed will be welcome.
Who are the “blessed?”
Those who have trusted in Jesus are the ones who are truly blessed.
But, again, to truly appreciate your blessings you must be conscious of what you have in Christ and committed to Him completely.
Peace and Grace
Pastor Bruce
Previous Newsletters
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010