Highland Park Baptist Church - Sermons
Welcome To The Psalms
I want you to join me in the book of Psalms chapter one. And today we're just going to share a message by way of introduction for the next number of weeks, a message entitled, "Welcome to the Psalms." Because today we embark on a journey, a journey through one of the greatest books in all of scripture, the book of Psalms. This journey will take us through the Thanksgiving season. It'll take us through the Christmas season and well into the new year. We're not going to look at every one of the 150 Psalms, but what we will do is we will look at some of the Psalms in each of the classifications in which they are listed. For example, there are what is called Psalms of lament that express the struggles and the anguish and the sorrow of the human condition. So many Psalms are classified that way, Psalms of lament. And we will look at a number of those. Some of the Psalms are classified as Psalms of wisdom. And those Psalms kind of redirect our attention to life's greatest priority. And that is knowing our Creator. We will study some of the Psalms of praise where we praise God for who He is. And then the Psalms of Thanksgiving where we recognize and acknowledge God for all that He has done. And then we will look also at the Psalms or that's called the royal Psalms in some classifications that Psalms that were written while a king of Israel was still upon the throne and the longing was for an eternal kingdom and an eternal king to come to rule and to reign. In my estimation, there is nothing quite like the book of Psalms. For me, there is nothing like a Psalm that can steady your heart, that can steal your mind and give peace and rest to your soul when it seems like all of life has come off the rails. It is here, we find some of the most familiar passages in the Bible. Just settle your mind for a moment. Let me give you a few. So just listen to the word of God. Psalm 19, one, the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim His handiwork. Psalm 46, 10, be still and know that I am God. That's a great one, amen? Just be still, it's hard to get still in our world that is fast-paced and busy, but be still and know that I am God. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Psalm 119, your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 118, this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 42, as the deer pants for the water brooks. So my soul longs for you in a dry and thirsty land. Psalm 34, old taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 133, behold how good and pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity. Psalm 14, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Psalm 121, I will lift up my eyes into the mountains from whence comes my help. Psalm 8, oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all of the earth. Psalm 108, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His mercy endures forever. Psalm 95, oh come and let us worship and let us bow down before the Lord, our maker. Psalm 150, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. One of my favorite Psalm 30, I lie down and sleep and awake again because the Lord sustains me. No wonder CS Lewis said the most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David to dance. Let me challenge you during our series in Psalms to read at least one Psalm every day in your daily quiet time. You'll just be surprised what that will do to your heart. I want you to love God's word. I want you to love the Psalms. I want you to love God's song book and hide his word in your heart. Do you know the Psalms? Listen, they were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, hundreds of years, many of them several hundred years, close to a thousand years before Jesus was born, but yet some of them talk about his birth. How he would be called by God while he was still in the womb of the Virgin Mary. There are Psalms that talk about Jesus being called the king of the Jews and how he would come from the lineage of King David. Some of the Psalms talk about how he is the only begotten of the Father, how upon his arrival he would teach in parables and how he would calm the storms of the sea and how he would live in righteousness. But not just about his birth and his ministry. Some of the Psalms, again, written hundreds of years before he was born, talk about his final days, his rejection, his betrayal, his suffering, his mockings, his crucifixions, how blood and water flowed from his body, how his hands and feet were pierced and that he would be offered vinegar to drink. All of those things are recorded for us in the book of Psalms. The Psalmist would describe how no bone in his body would be broken, but certainly his heart would be. The Psalmist talks about the resurrection of Jesus and how his body would never see decay, how he would be exalted at the right hand of God, the Father, and how he would bring many people into the family of God. So a Psalms is a book unlike any other. So we won't go through them all 150 of them, nor will we go through them in order because they're not like a narrative, a story that builds on what is before and continues to build. The Psalms are poetry. These are songs. That's why we call this God's song book. These were songs written by people who loved God and they would be used in leading God's people in worship. When the Hebrews returned from Babylonian captivity, they re-entered the Promised Land. I hope that you will remember this in our studies through the book of Ezra and Nehemiah. When they re-entered the Promised Land, they didn't all come back to the Promised Land all at one time after the Babylonian captivity. They actually came back to the Promised Land in three distinct waves. Zerubbabel led the first wave. It took about 90 years as a matter of fact. Zerubbabel led the first wave and he rebuilt the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed. Nehemiah led the third wave and final wave and he rebuilt the wall around the city. Well, what is interesting is Ezra. You remember when we studied the book of Ezra? He led the second wave of returning exiles from Babylonian captivity and whereas Zerubbabel built the temple and Nehemiah built the wall, Ezra built the people. And one of the things that he did was he re-instituted worship for God's people. He led a national revival and one of his greatest contributions, many theologians tell us is that Ezra was actually the guy who compiled all the Psalms. Now remember, they had been written for hundreds of years, Moses wrote a Psalm who lived and died long before Ezra ever came on the scene. But Ezra was the one who collected all of these pieces of poetry, all of these songs and he put them together and I can just see him as he takes these scrolls and unrolls them and he's looking at, say Psalm one, which is what we're gonna be looking at for a little bit this morning. And he says, this is gonna be the first one and he takes that next manuscript and this is gonna be the next one and the next one and the next one. And he kind of compiles all of what we now see in our Bible as the book of Psalms. So Ezra built the people, Nehemiah built the walls, the rubble built the temple. And the returning exiles came back to Jerusalem and Ezra would take these Psalms and he would re-institute public worship to God's people. It is believed by many that Ezra actually wrote Psalm 119 which is the longest chapter in all of the Bible. Now there are many things that make the book of Psalms unique. One of them is this, one of many. Most of the Old Testament books, well really most of the books in the Bible period from start to finish. Were written primarily by one author. Not always, but primarily by one author. The great majority of them were, but not the Psalms. They were written by multiple authors. Most of the books in the Bible from start to finish were written within about 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, maybe some even 40 years. I think the book of Proverbs was about 300 years before they would all come together as Proverbs. But by far and away the book of Psalms is unique in that listen. From the first Psalm to the last is about a thousand years. God ultimately was the author and he would speak these songs through men of old as they would record them on parchment and Ezra would take them and he would use them to re-institute worship for God's people. Moses wrote a Psalm. The sons of Chora wrote some of the Psalms. Aphes wrote, Asaph wrote some of the Psalms. King David wrote most of the Psalms. Think about it for a moment. When he was king, he reflected on his years of what it meant to be a shepherd. And he said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And he wrote that beautiful Psalm 23. He wrote Psalm 51 when he was grieving over his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. David wrote Psalm 57 when he was running from King Saul and he was hiding out in the caves of Engedi. He wrote Psalm 130 when he was in a deep dark pit either emotionally or physically and he describes the anguish of a trapped man. So as I mentioned, we're not going to go through all of the Psalms chapter by chapter. But chapter one and chapter two really introduced the entirety of the book. Chapter one begins with the word blessed or blessed. Chapter two closes with the word blessed. So it forms what scholars call an inclusio that really helps frame or kind of direct the entirety of where the books of Psalms are going as it is helping us to redirect our lives, to walk with God and then in chapter two, to long for the arrival of the great king of glory who will make his entrance. So Psalm chapter one is where we're going to spend the balance of our time today and it reveals two kinds of people, the believer and the unbeliever. Many years ago, I think it was about five or six years ago, we looked at Psalm chapter one and maybe you will remember some of this. I hope that you do. But let's look at it again and let's just read, it's only six short verses. So let me share them with you verse one. The Psalmist writes, blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly or stands in the way of sinners or sits in the seed of the scornful or the mockers or the scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and his law does he meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit and his season. His leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly, here's the contrast. They're not like that. They're like the chaff which the wind drives the way. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish. So as you look in Psalm chapter one, you see two classifications of people. It is the believers and the unbelievers. And here we are thousands of years after this was recorded and those same two classifications still hold true today. There's only two types of people in the world. Those who believe, those who do not. And this Psalm also contrasts the life that the believer lives versus the life the unbeliever is. And then finally the internal destination. What is the eternal destination of a person who is a believer? And then what is the eternal destination of a person who is not a believer? Those who walk with God, I love this Psalm because those who walk with God are pictured like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water. That it draws life-giving nourishment through the waters and it leaves bloom and it bears fruit. But he says the ungodly, they are not like that. Their lives are empty. Their lives are barren. Their lives are futile. Lonely without hope, without God in this world. Everyone in life falls in one of these two categories that Psalm one mentions. Now I find it interesting that Psalms is the longest book of the Bible, 150 chapters. And the longest book in the Bible begins with a word, blessed or blessed. And really when you boil it down to the nabbies, you know what it means? It ultimately means happy. Now our world is looking for a recipe for happiness. Everybody wants to be happy, but the world is looking in all the wrong places for happiness. They think the next promotion will bring happiness, the next relationship will bring happiness. The next car that I buy or get will bring happiness. The next place I move to will bring happiness. And yet they find that happiness is very, very elusive. But yet the Psalmist says, blessed or happy is the man. This man whom he says is a man who looks toward God, who walks with God, actually the root of the word. It means someone who is actually moving forward in the relationship to God. Listen, you will never be happy outside your personal relationship with God. You'll never be totally happy. Now happiness, the way the world views happiness, listen, has to do with the happenings that are around us. But for the person who knows God and who has their assurance in God, the surroundings do not necessarily constitute happiness for us. Our joy, our happiness, our assurance is based upon not the capricious changing of the world around us, but upon the unchanging immutable nature of God himself. And God will never change. The Bible says he is the same yesterday, today and forever. So God's blessings, now this is true for my life. This is true for your life. God's blessings come from a deliberate choice to live a godly life. Now let me say that again. God's blessings come from a deliberate and intentional choice to live for God. If our lives are contrary to the word of God, we can never expect the true blessings of God. That's a great place for an amen. If our lives are contrary to the word of God, we can never truly expect or even receive the true blessings of God. So for a person to be blessed or happy, the Psalmist outlines a number of characteristics. Maybe you'll remember some of this outline. First of all, for a person to be happy or blessed, there is a way that he will not walk. Notice what he says in verse number one. Blessed or happy is the man. Now notice this. There's a way that he's not going to live his life, a way that he's not going to walk. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. It has to do with how you think. It's a general term that describes the worldview of those who do not know God. You know, you work with people who do not know the Lord. They have a different worldview than those of us who know God and love God. When you go to college, you'll be in the class with some people who will have a different worldview than you because many of them do not know the Lord and they don't live their lives by what the scripture has to say and what God teaches in his word. When you go to the office, you will encounter people who have a different worldview than a biblical worldview. So the Psalmist says, for a person to be truly happy, there is a way in which he will not walk. He will not walk according to the advice and the counsel and the guidance of an unbeliever. You know, oftentimes those who don't know the Lord still have a great deal of advice, they will speak into your life. Be very careful whom you listen to. Be very careful whom you allow to speak into your life. And I would say that is true. Listen, young folk, you know that I love you and as your pastor, I'm always here for you. I would say that is even true for the music that is on your playlist. Make sure the music that you are putting into your life is God honoring music. Everything doesn't always have to be a Christian or sacred in that regard necessarily. But don't feel your life with something that is vulgar or something that is suggestive because usually we wouldn't want somebody to come up and speak something like that into our lives. But yet when you put a beat to it, many people will just accept it and let that become part of their lives. For a person to be truly happy, the Bible says, there is a way in which he will not walk. He will not allow his life to be directed or governed or influenced by those who do not know the Lord. Here's the picture. You're walking down the life's road and someone merges into traffic with you and here's a person and they don't know the Lord and they're not living for God and they're quick to give you advice. But their advice is not biblical. And their advice is like an undertow or a current that can drag you in the wrong direction. Notice the movement, we've seen this before. Look, here's a guy who is walking to begin with and then what happens next? As he's walking and someone merges into his past and they're giving him ungodly counsel, then he stands. And he is no longer moving but he is standing and he is listening. And then as he is listening, he is so influenced by the ungodly counsel of this individual, the next progression the Bible says he sits and he just sits down and he begins to appropriate the ungodly counsel into his life and even begin to agree with that. But yet that is what the scriptures say, that if a person wants to be happy and blessed, there is a way in which they will not walk. What started as a casual conversation can turn into someone leading you the wrong way. Worldly thinking leads to worldly living, does it not? Worldly living results in a worldly legacy. And if you're living contrary to the word of God, do not expect his blessings. So there is a way in which the happy man will not walk. Secondly, if you're listening to amen. There is a place that the happy man will not stand. Notice this, verse one, "Blessed or happy is the man. "He will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly." Now notice this, he will not stand in the path of sinners. This is how we behave. Those who do not know the Lord have a different priorities of lifestyle choices than you and I have. It is the idea of taking one's place with an unbeliever and allowing their way of thinking become your way of thinking. Initially, you're just listening. But then what they're saying begins to find a place in your heart and in your mind and your life and you ruminate on that. And then you begin to agree with that. Listen to what the Solomon said in Proverbs 13, "He who walks with wise men will be wise, "but the companion of fools will suffer harm." Again, let me say to all of our young folk who are here today, purpose in your heart. And I know most of our younger folk have already gone away to college, although I'm grateful to see many of our college students come to support Dylan this morning in his baptism. But let me just say to you, purpose in your heart that as a young person, you're gonna maintain your integrity and your character and that you're gonna keep yourself pure in life and that you're gonna give God first priority in your life and that you make up your mind that you're not going to date somebody that doesn't share the same belief system that you share. What is most important to you is your walk with the Lord. Don't date somebody that doesn't share that. Don't ever consider marrying somebody that doesn't share that. Share your life with somebody that has in common with you a great love for God and live your life for God and God will bless you for that. You see the blessed person, the happy person, there's a place that you will not stand. He's not just going to stand there and let the ungodly speak into his life and then accept that as a lifestyle choice. Number three, there is a seat in which he will not see it. That's also in verse number one. This is where you belong. Blessed is a man that walks not in the council of the ungodly or stands in the way of sinners. Notice, or sits in the seat of the scornful. This has to do with where you belong. In Jewish culture, where you set said a lot about you. Men would sit with men, women with women. The young with the young, the older with the older, rich with rich. He's really talking about finding your identity. The seat of mockers is to have close, intimate fellowship and relationship with someone who is just not a believer. You see, we love everybody and we're no better than anybody in this world. No way, there's no way. We're not better than anybody in this world, but we have to be careful whom we choose as companions because it can lead us down the wrong road. Blessed are happy as the man that walks not in the council of the ungodly. He doesn't stand in the way of the ungodly. He doesn't sit down next to the mockers and begin to adopt their way of life. Sometimes even the most well-meaning, solid, believing Christians can make some terrible lifestyle choices. The Bible picture Satan as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour and he targets my life and he targets your life and sometimes places those temptations in our life and a Christian will succumb to that and make some terrible lifestyle choices. Here was Noah, Noah built the ark for 120 years. He preached that a global deluge was going to come and Noah experienced being sealed in that ark and the protection of God and the grace and the mercy of God, but no sooner had he gotten out of that ark after the flood and the Bible talks about how Noah had gotten drunk. When Moses was determined to lead the Hebrews into the promised land, he killed an Egyptian and buried him in the sand and was going to lead the Exodus by the arm of the flesh. When Abraham met the kings of neighboring countries, he lied about Sarah being his wife and he did that on two different occasions. Bathsheba and David, we've already talked about that. And Simon Peter said, Lord, I'll go with you all the way, but yet when Jesus was arrested the night of his trial and the ultimate crucifixion, Simon Peter said, I don't even know who this guy is. Sometimes even believers can make bad choices, wrong choices and there's a difference between making wrong choices and living a wrong lifestyle. Making wrong choices we pray is the exception, but living a lifestyle that is not pleasing to God will never produce joy and happiness and blessedness in your life. It just doesn't work that way. You can never live contrary to the word of God and expect his blessings in your life. So you notice the progression from walking, to standing, to sitting around. And just absorbing what the ungodly says. So number four, there is a law, here's where it contrasts, there is a law in which he delights, all right? So there's a place he will not stand, not stand in the way of the ungodly. A seat which he will not sit, he will not sit with the mockers, a way that he will not walk, he will not walk with the counsel of those with the ungodly. So what does the blessed men do? He tells us in verse two, there is a law in which he delights, verse two. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night. It has been compared to a cow chew in its cut, to meditate, to meditate on the word of God. A cow when he eats its grass and he has his feel, he goes to lay down and while he lays down, after a while he begins to regurgitate a portion of what he has eaten and he chews it again, only to swallow it again. And then he brings it back up and he does the same thing over and over and over and he's chewing that cut and he is ruminating and he is working on that cut as he's chewing it. That's that word meditate. That the happy man is one, he's just chewing on the word of God. He's chewing on the truth of God. He's letting the word of God saturate his life. He's letting the word of God feel his heart and feel his mind and feel his life about how he thinks and how he behaves and how he lives. And he is just chewing on the word of God. Jesus said where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be also. You know everybody delights in something. For some, for some it is sports and that is the great motivation in their life. For some it is their career path and that is their great motivation in life. For some it may be the pursuit of wealth and that is the great motivation of their life. But everybody delights in something. The psalmist said the happy man, the blessed person, is a person who delights in the law of God and the truth of God's word. Listen to Psalm 37. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Did you hear that? Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. The thing about that is the more we get lost and the love of God, our desires become his desires. His desires become our desires. Delight yourself in the Lord he'll give you the desires of your heart. So for the happy man, there is a law in which he delights God's word. Secondly, or I would actually would say number five in this whole outline, there is a blessing he will become. Look at the result, verse three. And he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in his season and his leaf will not wither in whatever he does, it will prosper. Again, it is the picture of a healthy tree planted by the rivers of life-giving water that is able to absorb the nutrients from that water and all that it has for that tree's health and that tree's growth. And the byproduct of that is a leafy tree that begins to bear fruit. That symbolism of a tree runs all the way through the Bible. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, one tree in which they were to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they failed miserably. The last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, you find the tree of life that gives its leaves every month for the healing of the nations. And right in the middle, you find a tree that was crafted by the hands of cruel men. It was a tree that was crafted in the form of a cross where the Lord Jesus would bear our sins, own that tree and die for the sin debt of the entire world. So a tree is traced all the way through the Bible. In fact, when you look at Christ paying the ultimate price on the cross of Calvary, you know the Bible says when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden and he ate of the tree that he should not have eaten from, that a curse go off the entirety of the planet. Well, when Jesus died on the cross, the Bible says he bore in his body, he bore in his body on that tree, the curse. The curse as far as the curse was found, he bore that in his body. So Adam ate of the tree and brought death to the human family. Jesus died on Calvary's tree. The Bible says, "Curse it." Is everyone who hangs up on a tree and Jesus died on that tree, bearing the curse, the wrath of God. So you and I would never have to do that. So Psalm one is this picture of the happy man whose life flourish is like an evergreen tree. You know my prayer for our church family is that every person here, that we would live our lives connected to the Word of God in such a way that our lives would bear fruit. And that we would enjoy the blessings that God would bring into our lives. You remember the story of the man who, when he got to heaven was taken on a tour through heaven and came upon a box that was just a few feet wide and a few feet high. And the man said, "What is in this box?" And the Lord said to him, that box contains all of the blessings that you received there while you lived on the earth. And the man knew that he had received quite a few blessings and he looked at the box and he said, you know, I didn't really realize I was even blessed this much and they continue their journey through heaven. And the man comes across the box that is as wide as he can see from one side to the other and as high as he can see from the ground on up toward heaven, huge box. And the man said, "Lord, what is in this box?" And he says, "Those are the blessings "that you could have received "if you had just walked with me." Blessed is the man that doesn't walk in the way of the ungodly, doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful. His delight is in the law of the Lord and therein does he chew that cud day and night and he would be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that gives forth his fruit. He's blessed, but you know, listen, we don't just receive the blessings of God to keep them. God gives us his blessings to flow through our lives so that we can bless other people. In fact, I wanna encourage you, be intentional to not just when you come to worship, to not just receive a blessing, but to be a blessing. Listen, greet people in the parking lot, be a blessing to them, greet them in the hallways. You say, "Pastor Darrell, I don't know them." That's okay, introduce yourself. You may say, "Pastor, they don't like me. "That's okay, you might not like them either." That's all right. But just work to be a blessing to one another because we want this to always be a welcome in place. Amen church, a loving place, a place where Christ is king, a place where we can enjoy public worship and love one another. So we come not just to get, but to be a blessing. Blessed is the man that walks not in the council of the ungodly. He delights in the law of the Lord. It'd be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. I watch the many young folk that we have in our church and I'm telling you, it just makes me laugh. I just love kids, I love young people because I used to be one. But anyway, I love kids, I love young people. And I just watch our kids and they're just, they just go and they play and it blesses my heart. I watch our teenagers, they don't know sometimes that I'm watching, which is very apparent, but anyway, they don't know that I'm watching, but most of the time when I see them, you know, it just fills my heart because I think, you know, they could be anywhere and they're right here in God's house. Our college students could be anywhere, but they're here in God's house. Or I look at people who give of themselves to be part of an active part of the church ministries. And I know they work all day and work all week and they're tired, but yet they still give of themselves in a sacrificial way. That blesses my heart because I see the fruit in their lives, how they're planted by the rivers of water and they're not doing it to earn God's favor. They're doing it because they love God. And it is just a natural byproduct of being planted by the rivers of water. In fact, when you look through the text, you can see the results of this and I'm gonna hurry very quickly. Just look at the results of this happy man or this blessed man that's planted like a tree by the rivers of water. Notice his longevity. He is like a tree firmly planted, well rooted. It doesn't matter what life throws at him. It doesn't matter what he encounters, but his roots have grown deep. And because his roots have grown deep, his life is strong and stable. And he has longevity in his life and his commitment to the Lord. He is not in one moment and out the next. And he is not just coming and going, but he has longevity because he has planted deep and he's growing in the Word of God. Look at his location. Where is he planted by the streams of water? You know, water oftentimes in the scripture is a picture of the Word of God. Listen to Psalm 119. How can a young man cleanse his ways by taking heed according to your word? Listen, you know, most of you know, I'm not, I don't mean to be a foggy. I'm not on social media just because I just, I just don't have time and I just don't really have an interest. And I'm just, I'm just not. I'm probably the most boring person that you would ever want to meet in all your life. Don't say amen to that, please. But that's probably, that's probably me. And that's just who I am. And I, you know, I struggle with that. But I would say to a young person today or to any of us really that the priority in life is not Facebook, but God's book. The priority in life is not social media, but it's to be saturated with the Word of God. It gives you longevity. It gives you longevity in your life. When you have in your location, a planted deep by the Word of God and you just let that Word feel your heart and life. Look at the results of this. The Bible says his life is fruitful because notice, it says he'll be like a tree planted by the river's water that brings forth, look at this. Fruit in his season, his life is fruitful. His life is fruitful. Fruit is a result. Of what controls our lives. Number four, he is faithful. It says his leaf doesn't wither. Wither, he's like an evergreen tree. Most fruit trees are deciduous, meaning that they lose their leaves, but here the godly person is described like an evergreen tree that never loses its leaves, but always continues to bear fruit. And then finally notice his life is flourishing. Whatever he does, the psalmist says, it prospers. The idea in the Hebrew is it turns out well because he's planted by the river's water. And then number six, look at the contrast, verse four. The ungodly is not like any of the above that you just read in verses one through three. The unbelievers, they're not like that, verse four says, but they're like the chaff. That is the hull that surrounds like a piece of wheat or take, for example, a peanut. When you get the peanut out of the shell and you throw the shell down and you just walk on that and you just ground away to nothing, he said, the ungodly, the wicked. Those who are unbelievers who don't know Lord, he said their lies would just be driven away with the wind. You see life without God is empty. Solomon said that, he said, vanity of vanity all is vanity. And Solomon began this existential pursuit of meaning and happiness. And he said, it's all like a cruel joke until he finally learned to trust God with his life. Here's what C.S. Lewis said, he compared it to the fish, a fish that decides that he wants to be free by escaping the confines of water. So he flops out of the ocean and he is now free from the confines of the ocean, but is he happy? No, because the fish was made for the water. You and I are made for God. He created us for his good pleasure. He created us to have fellowship with him. And you will never be that happy blessed person. If you don't stay planted by his word, drawing that nourishment from who he is, your life will be empty and get like a piece of chaff that is just tossed around by the wind as it blows. Finally, number seven, there is a future to which he will belong. This again is the contrast. In fact, I want you to look at the words in verse number four, the King James uses the word ungodly. Some translations use the word wicked or unbelievers. You find it in verse four. You find it again in verse five. The ungodly will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Didn't you see it again in verse number six? The latter part, the ungodly shall perish. There is a future for which he will belong. Remember this Psalm contrast, the believer with the unbeliever, and tells us the ultimate destination above, the believer? Listen, not because we earned it or deserved it. Are in any way merited it, but every believer, and we certainly don't deserve it, will one day spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. That's the truth of the word of God. And every unbeliever pains my heart to say it, will spend an eternity separated from God in a place called hell. And those are the things that keep me awake at night because I don't want to see that happen to anybody. I want to see everybody's life flourish and to be planted by the rivers of water. Psalm 37, 18 says the Lord knows the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever. That's what he says. Actually, if you go down to verse number six, the Lord knows the way of the righteous. He's got his eye on those who live for him. And those who do not, they have an appointment with his judgment. As we bring this to a close, I mentioned to you that Jesus, that many of the Psalms talked about Jesus long before he was born, talked about his birth, talked about his ministry. Some of them talk about his crucifixion, his resurrection, even his return. Did you know the one book that is quoted more than any other book in the New Testament is the book of Psalms? And did you know that Jesus quoted from the book of Psalms more than any other book from which he quoted? Let me give you some of those as we close. Psalm 78, he describes himself in John six as the bread of life and quotes Psalm 78. And Psalm 35, he quotes that when he says that he would be hated without a cause. He quoted Psalm 41 when he said, as he revealed Judas is scary, it's hard of betrayal. He that was with me has lifted up his heel against me. When Jesus was dying on the cross, he quoted Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He quoted Psalm 31 when he said, father into your hands, I commit my spirit. And when the Psalmist contrasts the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked, he points to Jesus Christ who stands at the cross road of two ways. And in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said this, enter in at the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And he says, many go in there by him because narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few be that find it. So from Psalms to Jesus, he's telling us there's two ways. Two kinds of people, the believer and the unbeliever. Two ways of looking at life, one live in your own will, the other live in God's will. Two eternal destinies, one with God in glory, one eternally separated from God. Most people will not give their lives to the Lord, has very little to do with intellectual assent, but has more to do with will. Because God says, will you come and be saved? Something about fallen nature of mankind says, I will not. God says, will you come and be part of my forever family? And the fallen human nature says, I will not because I can make it on my own. It's not what the song is said. Blessed is the man that walks not in the council of the ungodly or stands in the way of sinners or sits in the seat of the scornful, but is delight is in the law of the Lord and therein does he meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water. And as you meditate on that, your life becomes a life filled with fruit that brings glory to God. If you've never made your decision for Jesus Christ, listen, we're going to have a hymn of invitation. I'm just going to ask you, you come this morning and say, Pastor Darrell, I want to give my life to Christ. I want to place my faith in my trust and the finished work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Would you do that today? Let's pray together, Lord. Thank you for being so good to us. Thank you Lord for your word that is indeed a lamp and to our feet and a light and to our path. And as we come to this time and the service, and we just simply ask for folk to make decisions, I pray that there just be a spirit of liberty in this place because your word says where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And God, if there's anyone here today under the sound of my voice or are watching live stream or by television later on, and Lord, they've never placed their faith and trust in you. And I pray that today, God, they would have that change of heart and life and call upon you as their savior. So take this invitation, use it in a way that'll honor you. We pray in Christ's name, amen.