The Root of Godliness -- 6/10/07

Sunday, June 10, 2007

THE ROOT OF GODLINESS
Psalm 1

1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

We are blessed if we do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful (soffers, NASV; mockers, NIV). So it is very obvious that none of us want to be guilty of walking, standing, or sitting in any of those places. Right? Absolutely. There is no blessing in those things. Conversely, there is a curse for the person who does so.
It sounds like this statement is quite important, does it not? Would you rather be blessed, or cursed? These terms are used lightly in our world, but not in the Bible. It is a serious thing to be under the curse of God; it is a wonderful thing to be blessed by Him. What could be better? Those of us who are truly His children have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

Now here is the big question. How do you know if you are walking in the counsel of the ungodly? How do you know if you are standing in the way of sinners? How do you know if you are sitting in the seat of the scornful, the seat of mockers? How do you know? You say, "Well, anyone knows that?" Really. How do you know? Do you learn it from your neighbors? From your family? From your church? If you do, where did they get their information? What is an ungodly person? What is the way of sinners? Do you see that it is vitally important that we know how to identify these things?

There is only one way to know, and that is through the truth of God’s Word. There is no other way. Any other knowledge will be faulty and will lead us astray. The God who told us not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly is the one who can show us what the counsel of the ungodly is. How many people in this room could give testimony to walking in the counsel of the ungodly when it comes to finances? The ungodly counsel you received (whether it was formal advice or it was just the way of the world) told you that "buy now and pay later" was the way to get what you wanted. And because you walked in that way, you were not blessed. You may say, "Oh, we’ve done all right." It depends on what you mean by "all right." You may have plenty of things and you may have even paid all the money back by now, but you weren’t blessed, because God’s Word says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Mt. 6:33). "Take heed and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth" (Lk. 12:15). The blessing of God is not in material things, but in seeking Him.

It is impossible to receive the blessing of this verse unless we are saturated with the truth of God’s Word. I say "saturated" on purpose. I guarantee you that the counsel of the ungodly and the way of sinners and the seat of the scornful are so subtle and deceptive that a little Bible knowledge will not deliver us from their clutches.

If you question what I am saying, apply the cardinal rule of biblical interpretation – context. What does the very next verse say?

2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Do you see how delighting in the law of God is contrasted with walking in the way of the ungodly, standing in the way of sinners, and sitting in the seat of the scornful. Rather than following such ways, the blessed person delights in the law of the Lord. He is able to resist those powerful temptations, because there is something else that has a greater attraction, and it is the law of God. No, that does not mean that God’s Word has an outward, surface appeal, but the one who has delighted in it knows the great treasure that he finds there. The one who delights in God’s Word is laboring not for the meat that perishes, but for that which endures to eternal life (Jn. 6:27).

So how does a person delight in the law of the Lord? Just read the next words: "and in his law doth he meditate day and night." So which comes first – the delighting in the law, or the meditating in it day and night? Yes, it does; that’s right. They go hand in hand. On the one hand, how can you give yourself completely to something unless you delight in it? On the other hand, how can you delight in something unless you have some experience of it?

When I was a boy, I delighted in baseball and I meditated in it day and night. Which came first? I can’t tell you that. The more I was around baseball, the more I delighted in it. The more I delighted in it, the more it filled my mind every waking moment.

Concerning those words "and in his law doth he meditate day and night," I heard a man say: "I have come to a conclusion about these words. I believe we are to take them literally." Do you believe that? Or, is the Psalmist simply saying that the law of the Lord should be very important to us? Does he literally mean that we are to be thinking on it day and night? Do you see any indication that this is just a figure of speech?

You may say, "That’s impossible." I suggest to you that every person in this room has delighted in something during his lifetime, and he has meditated on that something day and night. Think back and remember the things that have consumed your mind in the past. I might even ask you, "What consumes your mind now?" When you wake up in the middle of the night, what do you find yourself thinking about? When you are driving on a lonely road, what do you think about? That will go a long way in helping you determine whether you are delighting in the law of the Lord. Listen to the words of David in Ps. 63:1-8…
1. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. 7. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

No, David, doesn’t specifically mention the law of the Lord, but you can’t separate God and His Word. That is why Jesus said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (Jn. 15:7). Even in the middle of the night, David was praising the Lord with joyful lips.

Immediately, our stubborn flesh cries out, "But no one can meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. There is too much to do. We live in a busy world. That just isn’t practical or possible." I remind you of that man Joshua. I suppose we would have to say that he was given a rather difficult assignment. Moses has died, and someone has to lead the people into the Promised Land. If you think that sounds like a piece of cake, let me give you a piece of reality. In the first place, he was only leading a couple million people, give or take a few hundred thousand. And lest you think they were like peaceful sheep, just go back and read Exodus and Numbers. These people specialized in grumbling and griping. If they had given Moses so much trouble, what would they do with a new, inexperienced leader like Joshua? And by the way, it didn’t appear that the Canaanites who lived in the Promised Land were going to roll out the red carpet to welcome them. They would have to fight to conquer city after city. Just coming up with successful military strategy could demand all of Joshua’s time and energy. With that in mind, listen to the Lord’s charge to Joshua… (Josh. 1:6-9)
6. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 7. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 9. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Can you believe that? God told Joshua to meditate in His law day and night. That is the only way he could observe to do what was written in that law. Before the doing came the meditating. Can you see that? We can’t obey the Word of God, if we are not continually meditating in the Word of God. We can’t obey what we don’t know.

Let me give you an illustration. Norman was telling me about the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. Those kids, mainly seventh and eighth graders, defy imagination when it comes to spelling. They spell word after word that we have never even heard of. How can they do that? I’ll tell you how they do that? They meditate on those spelling words day and night. They give themselves to learning Latin roots, various suffixes, obscure rules of spelling, and then spend hours and hours simply memorizing thousands of words.

Don’t let us think we can live out the Word if we don’t drink in the Word. It will never happen. But here’s the problem. We think we can. Why? Because we are deceived. We deceive ourselves primarily by comparing ourselves with others. Other Christians can watch the TV sitcoms and live out the Word, so why can’t I? Did it ever occur to us that we might be modeling our lives after others who are also living ungodly lives? The only safeguard is the Word of God.

Let me use a word that is despised in our culture, the word "fanatic." We need to be fanatics, when it comes to the Word. I dare say that there isn’t a single person here who is in danger of spending too much time in the Word of God. When I stand before the Lord, He may speak to me about His Word, but I assure you it will not be about spending too much time in the Word.

3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

What a beautiful picture. But before we paint the picture of verse 3, who is the "he" (or "she") the Psalmist is talking about here? It is the one who is delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating in it day and night. That is the one who shall be planted by the rivers of water and shall bring forth his fruit in his season. We have seen this same principle in Psalm 91, that Psalm that has so many blessed promises. "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon day." "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." We could go on and on with the promises of Psalm 91, but we must understand that there is only one kind of person who can claim the promises, and that is the person who fits the description of verse 1 (context again). "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." He is the one who will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust." "Because he hath made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, His habitation…" As in Psalm 91, so here, this is not an unconditional promise. It is conditioned on an absolute delight for the law of the Lord.

But who wants to be planted by the rivers of water and bring forth fruit? That’s what every tree wants. If you don’t like me attributing such a thought process to a tree, then we can say that this is what every man who grows a tree wants. That tree will drink in the water and be nourished, allowing it to bring forth fruit. Even when drought comes, its leaf will not wither, because its roots are connected to those rivers of water.

Do you notice that the most important action of the tree is taking place way down deep, where no one can see? It is no accident that the Psalmist used this analogy. It is the same way with the one who delights in the Word of God. When will he do most of his meditating on God’s Word? When he is alone, where no one else sees. Oh yes, there will be some times within the congregation, but those can’t even compare with the times alone with the Lord.

Do you want to bear fruit that will bring glory to God? This is the recipe. This is where it starts. No matter what else you do, you will not bear fruit and glorify God, if you are not saturated with His Word. And for the great majority of us here this morning, if we are not willing to alter our lifestyles, we will not be saturated with the Word. As Americans, we don’t like to miss out on anything. If someone asks you to go shopping, you certainly wouldn’t want to say "No." You might miss a sale. Or, you might offend the person who asks you. But when will we become concerned about offending the God who redeemed us by disobeying His command to delight ourselves in His Word?

Look at that last statement in verse 3, "And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." What does that mean? We tend to take it to mean that everything will go well for us and we will have plenty. That is not what it means. He is talking about the tree. As the tree drinks from the rivers of water, it brings forth fruit; its leaf shall not wither; whatever it does shall prosper. And what does a tree do? It brings forth fruit for the pleasure of its owner. That is true prosperity in the life of the believer – bearing fruit for the glory of God. This is that for which God made us!

When we come to verse 4, there is a very abrupt change. The Psalmist has been talking about the godly person, but now he moves to the ungodly. Notice the contrast.

4. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

The ungodly are not like the fruitbearing tree. Even when violent storms and great drought come, that tree continues to prosper because it is planted by the rivers of water and gets its nourishment through its roots, which go down deep. But the ungodly are not like that tree.
Rather, they are like the chaff, which the wind driveth away.

If you had been a farmer in that day, you would have known all about the chaff. Let’s suppose you were growing wheat. At the proper time, you harvest your wheat and want to bring it into the barn. But there is a problem. The wheat has much chaff with it. The chaff consists primarily the hulls that cover the grains of wheat, along with little pieces of stalk and straw. Of course, the wheat can’t be used to make bread, if it has all this chaff mixed with it. So what can be done?

The separation of the wheat from the chaff required two processes. First, the wheat had to be threshed. Sometimes this was done by beating the wheat with a rod. More often, it was accomplished by having oxen trample the wheat, as they pulled a wooden sled around the threshingfloor. You may recall that term "threshingfloor" from last week, when David bought the threshingfloor of Ornan. The threshingfloor was a very flat piece of elevated land. While the threshing process served to separate the wheat from the chaff, much of the chaff was still lying there with the wheat. They still must be effectively separated.

The second process was the winnowing of the wheat. When the breezes were blowing just right, the farmer would go down to the threshingfloor and begin the process. He would scoop up some wheat with a shovel (sometimes called a "fan") or similar instrument and toss it into the air. Because the chaff was lighter than the grains of wheat, some of it would blow away. Obviously, the wind conditions had to be just right. That is why they often did this at night. We read in Ruth 3:2, "And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley tonight in the threshingfloor." The farmer would continue doing this, until there was nothing left but the pure wheat.

So what did they do with the chaff? The chaff had no useful purpose. It was either blown away by more wind, or it was burned. Listen to Is. 5:24, "Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." We find that the chaff became a symbol of that which was good for nothing.

So those who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate in it day and night shall be like a productive tree, but the ungodly are like the chaff, which is good for nothing. You will notice that the word "godly" is not used in verses 1-3, but the strong implication is that those who delight in the law of the Lord are the godly. The contrast here is between the godly of verses 1-3 and the ungodly of verses 4-5.

And what is true of the ungodly? Why are they ungodly? You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out from the context. They do not delight in the law of the Lord. They do not make it their meditation day and night. As a result, they are not planted by the rivers of water. Far from it, they are like the chaff. Let me read those words from Is. 5:24 again: "Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." They were like stubble and chaff "because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel."

All of that sounds fine. No problem, as long as we consider the ungodly to be those people we know out in the world, those who are guilty of immorality and drunkenness and who have no concern for God. Please hear me. While those kind of people are certainly ungodly, what about us? We must take this passage seriously. He is not talking about the symptoms of ungodliness; he is talking about the root of ungodliness, and the root of ungodliness is a failure to delight in the law of the Lord.

Some of you want to argue that point. You say, "I know plenty of godly people who do not delight in the law of the Lord." No, you don’t. Either you are wrong, or God is a liar. Let’s be honest with the Word of God and tell it like it is. If we are not delighting in the Word of God, then we are not living a godly life and we are not living in the light of the blessing of the Lord.

In this passage, we have the exact same problem we found in I John. In that letter, John spoke of loving a brother or hating him. There was no middle ground. He didn’t leave room for the one who would say, "Well, I can’t say that I love him, but I sure don’t hate him." No, John says it is either one or the other. So it is here in the first Psalm. The Psalmist leaves no ground between godliness and ungodliness. In his economy, we are either godly or ungodly.

5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Go back to the wheat and the chaff. Notice that when they are on the threshingfloor, they are lying there together. The chaff is all mixed up with the wheat. But they won’t remain that way. The winnowing process will not allow the chaff to remain with the wheat. In the same way, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. When he says that sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous, it is in the context of judgment day. Do you see the parallelism here? On the day of judgment, the ungodly, the sinners, will not be able to stand alongside the righteous.

At the present time, the wheat and the chaff are mixed together. There are many ungodly who appear to be Christians, because they are engaged in some of the same activities. They demonstrate some of the same characteristics and have ridded themselves of some of the more noticeable sins. But make no mistake about it, the judgment is coming and it is coming soon. And in that day, the ungodly (those who do not delight in the law of the Lord) will not stand.

The term "chaff" is used on only one occasion in the New Testament. It is found in both Matt. 3:12 and Luke 3:17, but Matthew and Luke are recording the same statement. So let’s listen to the words of John the Baptist in Matt. 3:8-12…
Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Who can bring forth good fruit? None but those who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It is that fire of judgment that deals with our sin and it is through the Holy Spirit that we are regenerated, given life from above. That is what Jesus came to do. But make no mistake about it, Jesus is coming again. And when He comes, He will accurately separate the wheat from the chaff, His true children from those who are only professors of His name. And the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire, fire that will never go out.

6. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Now we come to the summary statement. "For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish." Let’s take the second statement first. It is not difficult to understand. The way of the ungodly will end in destruction, eternity in the lake of fire. The ungodly have refused to fellowship with the Lord through delighting in His Word. They have rejected the beauty of His Word. Finally, they will have their wish. For eternity, they will be free from it and from its Author, the Lord God Himself. What needless tragedy, for if the ungodly had only heeded the truth of the Word, they could have turned to Him and become the righteous.

And what does the Psalmist conclude about the righteous? "For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous." What does that mean? Is he simply saying that the Lord knows what the righteous do and what they think, that He knows everything about them? While it is true that the Lord does know the righteous perfectly, does He not also know everything about the unrighteous, the ungodly people that have just been described? Of course, He does. I Cor. 3:20, "And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain" (quoted from Ps. 94:11). The Lord knows everything about every person. We must look beyond that kind of knowledge, if we are to understand in what sense the Lord knows the way of the righteous.

Throughout the Bible, this term "knowledge" speaks of two different things. On the one hand, it speaks of intellectual knowledge. I could say, "God knows exactly what you are thinking at this moment." Or, "You know when your birthday is." That is intellectual knowledge, facts gathered by the mind. But there is also another kind of knowledge, the knowledge of personal acquaintance. I know Bart Matlock. That is different than saying, "I know that Bart Matlock lives two or three miles north of here and is married to Robbie." We find the word "know" used in both ways throughout the Bible. As a matter of fact, this is the word that is used of the most intimate of human relationships. When the angel announced to Mary that she would conceive a son whose name would be called Jesus, who would be the Son of the Highest, she asked, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" Obviously, she was not talking about a casual acquaintance.

When we read, "For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous," we must understand that the Psalmist is speaking of a deep knowledge, which goes beyond just knowing the facts. Consider Moses’ conversation with the Lord in Ex. 33:12-13…
And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

"I know thee by name" does not mean that the Lord knew what Moses’ name was. A couple of million people knew that. Rather, this meant that He chose to have a special relationship with Moses. And when Moses asked the Lord to show him His way, "that I may know thee," notice that it is paralleled by "that I may find grace in thy sight." This is the meaning of "The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous." He chose to draw them into a special relationship with Himself. He claims them as His own. This is what we find in Ps. 37:18, "The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever." This is the language of fond, personal acquaintance. They will have an eternal inheritance because the Lord has chosen to set His heart on them.

Oh what a blessing to be known by the Lord! Surely there is no greater blessing. I have a wife who loves me and knows me. She knows me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I can and do share my life openly with her. I could live without her, but I sure wouldn’t want to. What a blessing to have someone that knows me. But that is small compared to the way God knows me. He not only knows everything about me, but he chooses to know me and love me. What love that God would stoop down to know us. Listen to Ps. 113:4-8…
The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 5. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, 6. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! 7. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8. That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

God has condescended to know and love the righteous. Yes, this is the language of fond, personal acquaintance. No wonder David cried out in Ps. 144:3, "Lord, what is man, that takest knowledge of him? or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?" To be known by the Creator of the Universe and by the Lamb, slain from before the foundation of the world.

On the other hand, what about those who aren’t known by the Lord? There is only one alternative: "But the way of the ungodly shall perish." Can you imagine the despair of the man or woman who will stand there in the judgment and finally realize, "It’s all over. There is no hope. There is no second chance. I am forever without the Lord." What inexpressible sorrow to realize in the words of Jeremiah, "The harvest is past; the summer is ended; and we are not saved" (Jer. 8:20).

Conclusion

There is so much we didn’t touch upon in this little Psalm, but we have unearthed plenty upon which to meditate day and night. I am well aware that this has probably stirred up some very deep and troubling questions in some of you. "Pastor, are you saying that if we don’t delight in the law of the Lord, then we are headed for hell?" No, I didn’t say that. What I say makes little difference. The only real issue is, "What is God is saying?"

We faced a similar situation when we studied I John. What if we mess up? What if there are times when we do not do righteousness, when we do not demonstrate love for the brethren? So in like manner, what if we don’t always delight in His Word? When we don’t, let us fall on our face and repent for neglecting that which is more valuable than silver and gold. I doubt there are many in here who could say that they have always delighted in the Word since they first professed Christ. Nevertheless, this will be the pattern of life for the godly, for those who will be known by the Lord. The one in whom Christ dwells will indeed delight in the law of the Lord; it will be his meditation day and night. Though he may go through some times when this isn’t true, it will be the overall pattern of his life for the long haul.

I plead with you to be honest. Some of you have rarely if ever delighted in the law of the Lord. Don’t be deceived. The broad way that leads to destruction, of which Jesus spoke in Matthew 7, is the way of a little Bible here and there. The narrow way that leads to life is the way of meditating day and night in the law of the Lord.

If you are thinking that God is a very strict and judgmental God, you are to be pitied. Let’s suppose that I had the rights to land upon which oil had been discovered. I had been told that my piece of land would easily sell for 25 million dollars. You are looking for a piece of land. Because I am old and really don’t have any use for the land or the money, I decide that I want to sell you the land for a reduced price. You are looking at several other pieces of land, which are valued at about $10,000. I offer you my land for $15,000 assuring you that it is worth about 25 million dollars. When you continue to lean toward a deal on one of these other properties, could you blame me for insisting that you buy my land? Could you blame me for waking you up at midnight and trying to convince you that this is a chance of a lifetime? After all, I would have your best interest at heart. I don’t want you to miss the deal of a lifetime.

Do you see it? Can we blame God for telling us again and again to invest ourselves in His Word? The Word of God isn’t bad-tasting medicine; it is sweeter than honey. Let me remind you of the summary in Ps. 19:7-11…
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.