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“The Psalm Of The Godly And The Guilty”

(Psalm 1)

Introduction: I never saw the 1966 Clint Eastwood movie, “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly,” but I do remember the whistling, whining theme song. I don’t know anything about the plot or the storyline, but I know that the title could be used for Psalm 1. This psalm reveals the “blessed” man who is good in verses 1 thru 3. It reveals the “ungodly” who are bad in verses 4 thru 6. It also reveals the end of the ungodly in the last couple of verses, and let me just say that it’s gonna’ be ugly.

According to G. Campbell Morgan, “The word ‘Psalms’ is the Anglicized form of a Greek word, which really means a poem set to music. The Hebrew title of the book was simply Praises, or Book of Praises. It is preeminently the worship-book of the Hebrew people, and consists of a collection of songs which express the attitude of the soul in the presence of God.”

Bishop Stewart Perowne said ...

How great is the history of the Psalms! David sang them, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and all the Prophets. With Psalms Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah celebrated their victories. Psalms made glad the heart of the exiles who returned from Babylon. Psalms gave courage and strength to the Maccabees in their brave struggles to achieve their country’s independence, and were the repeated expression of their thanksgivings. The Lord of Psalmists, and the Son of David, by the words of a Psalm, proved Himself to be higher than David; and sang Psalms with His Apostles on the night before He suffered, when He instituted the Holy Supper of His love. In His last awful hour on the Cross He expressed, in the words of one Psalm, “His fear and His need of God,” and in the words of another, gave up His spirit to His Father. With Psalms Paul and Silas praised God in the prison at midnight, when their feet were made fast in the stocks, and sang so loud that the prisoners heard them. And after his own example, the Apostle exhorts the Christians at Ephesus and Colossae to teach and admonish one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

(From The Biblical Illustrator)

According to G.W. Wade, “A large proportion of the Psalms are connected in the titles … with the names of various individuals.” (As quoted in The Biblical Illustrator)

One Psalm is ascribed to Moses.

73 Psalms are ascribed to David.

2 Psalms are ascribed to Solomon.

11 Psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah (including one to which the name of Heman is also attached).

12 Psalms are ascribed to Asaph.

One Psalm is ascribed to Ethan.

Certainly, David holds a place of prominence in the writing and the singing of the psalms. Amos 6:5 mentions those “That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David.” In 1 Samuel 16:18, a servant told king Saul about David saying, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing.” In 2 Samuel 23:1 we have the last words and epitaph of David. It calls him, “David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel.”

As prominent as David is in the psalms, the first psalm in our Bible does not seem to be a psalm of David. Again, according to Stewart Perowne, “Tradition is silent as to (the) date and authorship” of Psalm 1, “but many considerations make it probable that it was written by Solomon as a preface to a collection of his father’s poetry.”

(Book of Psalms with Notes)

This psalm reveals the great and enduring bisection of humanity. This bisection, or two-fold division was seen as far back as Cain and Abel. One trusted God. The other didn’t. This was seen in the days of Noah when some believed, and most did not. This was seen in the time of Christ “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:11-12). This bisection is evident in our day, because there are some who believe and receive the Lord, and there are those who don’t. The psalmist reveals this very basic division. As John Phillips reminds us, “The first half of the psalm gives us a picture of the saint, the second half gives us a picture of the sinner.” In verses 1-3, we see the blessed man. In verses 4-6, we see the bad man. In verses 1-3, we see the godly man. In verses 4-6, we see the guilty man.

Let’s consider first ...

I. The Godly Individual vs. 1-3

The Psalm begins with an exclamation. (Illustration: Giving an exclamation while playing Mad Libs.)

The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says that this word literally means, “ ‘Oh the happinesses of the man!’ etc. Not merely happy in one respect, but in countless ways.” We might say, “How Happy is the man...!”

Joseph Parker said, “The blessed man is partly described by negatives. We begin with children by teaching them what they must not do.” (From The Biblical Illustrator)

We begin then with these negatives, the things that we are not to do if we expect to be blessed. A playwright named John Guare wrote a play called “Six Degrees of Separation.” In verse 1 of this psalm, there seems to be three degrees of separation and three stages of the backslider who moves away from God.

A. Notice The Pitfalls Of The Godly vs. 1

1. We See The Actions Of Waywardness walketh ... standeth ... sitteth

Example Of Simon Peter in Luke 22:54-62

2. We See The Area Of Waywardness

a. You Enter The Thoughts Of Waywardness the counsel

b. You Enter The Transition Of Waywardness the way

c. You Enter The Territory Of Waywardness the seat

3. We See The Attitude Of Waywardness

a. There Is The Restlessness Of Sin the ungodly

(Isaiah 57:20) But the wicked (same word as “ungodly” in Psalm 1) are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

b. There Is The Reality Of Sin sinners

c. There Is The Recognition Of Sin the scornful

(Proverbs 21:24) Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.

It becomes blatant. You are in the assembly of waywardness.

B. Notice The Pleasure Of The Godly vs. 2

C. Notice The Picture Of The Godly vs. 3

1. The Fruit Is Good

2. The Foliage Is Good

3. The Fullness Is Good

(Jeremiah 17:7-8) Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. {8} For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

“Not so” a simple but emphatic contrast (Perowne)

II. The Guilty Individual vs. 4-6

A. Notice The Comparison Of The Guilty vs. 4

B. Notice The Condemnation Of The Guilty vs. 5

literally, rise up: the Septuagint, 'rise again.' Thus the ultimate meaning designed by the Spirit will be, The ungodly shall not rise up to partake of the first resurrection with the righteous

(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

C. Notice The Contrast Of The Guilty vs. 6

Conclusion:

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