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Have It Your
Way
Psalms 1:1-6
All too often we
like to look at the things that make us different. But regardless of
your geographical location or the pigment in your skin we are all alike.
Whether you are from the Midwest, North West, or South East we all share
a common belief system. Whether you are white, or black, or Asian, or
Hispanic we all share the same belief, and they are all based in the
same identity. It is an identity that we all learned in school and it
goes like this…
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to
the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and Justice for all.
You see everyone who makes that simple pledge is promised freedom and
rights. We have the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, The
right to pick who or what we will worship, the right to vote, the right
to own property, the right to free enterprise, and when you boil it down
it is basically understood that we have the right to basically live
anyway that we want to.
In 1974 one of the most famous slogans in history entered our Fast Food
World and added to the freedom that we enjoy. You see it was a
struggling burger chain that told us, as Americans we had the right, and
deserved to “Have it your way.”
I am sure that the original idea was only tied to their flame broiled
burgers, pickles no pickles, you want extra mayonnaise that was fine;
forget the lettuce that was OK as well. But the offer to have it our way
really promised so much more.
So here we are 32 years later, still striving to live the way that we
want to because a man in a crown told us that we deserved to have it our
way.
The honest truth of the matter is that all of us are given a choice of
how we are going to live this life, but the choices are not numerous,
actually there are only two. There are two attitudes that that we can
have that result in walking in two ways that lead to two different
destinies. And every one of us finds ourselves on one or the other of
those two paths.
Jesus talked about the two ways -- he called them the broad way and the
narrow way. He talked about how the Son of Man will separate mankind
into two groups, putting the sheep on the right hand and the goats on
the left.
John wrote in his first epistle about those who walk in the light and
those who walk in darkness. And in Psalm 1, we find those same two ways
described. There is the godly life and there is the ungodly life. And
every one of us finds ourselves in one of those two categories. So let’s
take a close look at this psalm in light of living in a fast food world.
The Godly Life
The first half of this psalm David looks at our first choice.
Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the
ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the
scornful."
The psalmist has something here to say about compromise. Now I’m not
talking about the give-and-take times that are necessary to get along
with one another. I’m talking about compromise with the world, allowing
that which is evil to work its way into our lives. It often happens so
slowly, so subtly, we hardly realize it’s taking place.
There’s an old fable in which a bird meets a fisherman with a can of
worms and asks him for one. The fisherman says, "Sure, all I ask in
return is one of your feathers." Well, a feather for a worm seemed a
reasonable exchange to the bird, so he made the trade. The next day the
bird was hungry again. He weighed the inconvenience of searching for
food against the expediency of trading with the fisherman and decided in
favor of the easier way. After all, it was only one feather. But after a
few days of making such a trade, the bird had exchanged so many feathers
that he couldn’t fly. At this point, the fisherman picked up the fat,
naked bird and cooked him for dinner.
It’s very easy for the same thing to happen to us spiritually. We make
an unwise decision. We say that it won’t affect us spiritually and, in
fact, we may not be able to see the effect. But slowly one
rationalization leads to another, until before we know it we’ve ended up
down a road that we never intended to travel.
That’s why the psalmist says we need to resist even the slightest
temptation to compromise our convictions.
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor
stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful."
"Blessed" is that word used in the Beatitudes. It means "happy". Here
the psalmist says, Happy is the person who doesn’t walk with the ungodly
he doesn’t stand with the sinners he doesn’t sit with the scornful.
Do you see the progression there, from "walking" to "standing" to
"sitting"? You see, a person, and especially a Christian, doesn’t
usually jump right into the middle of sin. Usually it goes in stages. He
starts out by walking along with the wicked. Pretty soon, he finds
himself standing in their midst, and then it’s not long before he
sitting down with them.
But in our lives that’s just the way it always happens. You start to
spend time around the wrong people. You don’t participate in what they
are doing, you’re just around them. You’re just walking with them. But,
pretty soon, you’re not walking any longer, you’re standing, and
eventually you’re sitting and you’re doing the same ungodly things. But
David says, "Blessed is the man who avoids that kind of association."
Solomon gave similar advice when he said, "Do not enter the path of the
wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on
it; turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they
have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone
fall." Proverbs 4:14-16.
And Paul wrote the familiar warning, "Evil company corrupts good
habits." 1 Corinthians 15:33.
Let’s move on to Psalm 1:2 "But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night."
The word "but" is a great word, something is different. While the first
verse was negative, this verse is positive. Verse 2 is the focal point
of the whole psalm. The thing that sets apart a righteous person is that
he thinks seriously about God’s Word even when he doesn’t have the text
right in front of his eyes.
Remember that David didn’t have a leather-bound copy of the Old
Testament that he could stick in his coat pocket and pull out to read
while he was tending his sheep. His exposure to the scriptures was
probably limited to what he heard read on the Sabbath day. So, all week
long, he spent time thinking about what he had heard, meditating on what
God’s Word meant to his life.
In Psalm 119:148, David said, "My eyes are awake through the night
watches that I may meditate on your word." And you get this picture of
David standing out in the pasture in the middle of the night under a
moon-lit sky reflecting on God’s Word.
I think we’ve neglected the subject of meditation in the church. We
emphasize Bible reading and Bible study, but very seldom do we talk
about Bible meditation. We take for granted that we have the privilege
of being able to carry around with us a copy of God’s Word wherever we
may go. But it’s not very practical to read from your Bible while you’re
working -- while you’re cleaning house, while you’re fitting pipes,
while you’re driving around in your car.
But I’ll tell you what is practical, read a few verses from the Bible
when you get up in the morning and then to meditate on them all day
long, to think through the day of ways that you can apply the scripture
you read that morning.
I think there’s something else that’s significant in this verse -- the
word "delights". A righteous person "delights" in God’s Word. He doesn’t
look upon the Bible as bothersome or a burden or an interruption to his
day. God’s teachings are a genuine joy to him. They’re not a burden or a
drudgery to him because he knows that God’s word is not just a rule book
or a legal system or a check list. Rather it’s the revealing of
principles by a loving Father for his children, designed to guide us as
we’re faced with the needs and problems of life.
It’s like the young lady who picked up a book and began to read it, but
she thought that it was dry and boring and soon she put it down and
forgot about it. Later in life, she met a man, they dated, and she fell
head over heals in love with him. She learned that he was the man who
had written that dry boring little book. Now she went back to it and
began reading it again, and this time she read it cover to cover.
What was the difference? The difference was that now she knew and loved
the author! You see, if you know and love God, you can’t help but want
to read and study his book, the Bible.
Psalm 1:3 "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields
its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does
prospers."
The righteous person is compared here with a tree planted by a stream.
In a country where rain clouds were few and far between, a tree didn’t
stand much of a chance, unless it was located in a place where the soil
was continually moist. Then it had a chance of being a strong, healthy
tree.
There are four things that are true of such a tree, which are also true
of the godly person who is growing spiritually.
First, he is planted -- he’s got his roots put down deep, he’s
fortified, stable.
Second, he bears fruit -- he develops godlike qualities in his character
and life such as the fruit of Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians 5.
Third, he doesn’t wither -- he is able to survive under all
circumstances, even days of difficulty.
Fourth, he’s prosperous -- God blesses him in a multitude of ways.
You see it doesn’t matter if you have been washed in the blood or not,
if there is no growth you have picked the wrong path. That’s why David
contrasted the good way with the bad.
II. The Ungodly Life
Psalm 1:4-5 "The ungodly are not so, but are like chaff which the wind
drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the congregation of the righteous."
This section begins in the Hebrew, "Not so!" Literally, it says, "Not
so, the wicked!" It refers back to the first three verses describing the
righteous, godly believer.
The righteous person is happy but not the wicked.
The righteous person delights and meditates in the Word of God. Not so,
the wicked.
The righteous person is like a tree. Not so, the wicked.
The righteous person is fruitful and prosperous. Not so, the wicked.
In other words, none of the previously mentioned characteristics
describes the lifestyle of the ungodly. Instead, the psalmist uses one
word that sums up the life of the ungodly -- "chaff".
What is chaff? Well, chaff is what you get when you take a piece of
wheat and roll it in your hands. The chaff is the dry, useless part that
blows away. It’s completely worthless. It has no substance.
This chaff stands in contrast to the tree mentioned in verse 3. If a
wind comes up, the planted tree stands firm while the chaff blows away.
In the same way, when God’s scrutiny comes, the righteous will stand,
but the wicked will not.
The wicked will not endure or withstand the test of judgment. The
judgment here doesn’t refer only to the last day, although it certainly
includes that. It means any time that a test is made. Whenever that’s
done, the ungodly will fail to endure or withstand the test. The reason
is given in the next verse.
Psalm 1:6 "For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of
the ungodly will perish."
But the way of the ungodly will perish. The reason is that the Lord
doesn’t approve or recognize their ways. The Lord will say to some on
the day of judgment, "I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice
lawlessness." (Matthew 7:23). That is, I never recognized or approved
your way.
The psalmist says here that God approves and protects the life of the
righteous person, but brings the life of the wicked to an end. At times,
it may not seem that it’s going to happen that way, but God has assured
us that in the end, that will indeed be the case. Instead of prospering,
the ungodly will ultimately perish.
The only source that can supply all man’s spiritual needs is God’s law,
because God has designed his law for that specific purpose. The same God
who created man revealed his law for man’s good. God’s law alone gives
man life, gives him power to grow into a spiritually healthy individual,
and enables him to bear fruit in his life which glorifies God who made
him.
The key is our attitude toward the Word of God. Just as a tree must
continually take up water from nearby streams into itself in order to
live and grow and bear fruit, in order for man to live spiritually, grow
adequately, and bear good fruit, he must meditate on God’s word day and
night.
If all of this is true, then we should be eager to study God’s Word and
want to learn more. But it’s such a struggle. Many of us look into the
scriptures in much the same way that we look at scenery through a
passing window. Not realizing what is at stake, we put forth little
energy on discovering and putting into practice specific ways to apply
God’s Word.
In order to grow spiritually, it’s essential that we discipline
ourselves to the diligent and regular study of Scripture. There’s no
shortcut to maturity, and the demanding work of Bible study can’t be
eliminated. Our "Fast Food World" emphasizes recreation and relaxation.
And while a certain amount of leisure and play are good, too much of it
makes us soft and lazy.
The way that leads to God requires discipline, which will hold you to
the task even when it gets tedious, it will cut out other things for the
sake of a spiritual priority, and it will carry through on the basis of
habit rather than impulse or mood.
Blessed is such a Christian, for "his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in that law he meditates day and night."
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