THE PATH OF HAPPINESS

Psalms 1:1-6 (KJV)

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

While the 23^rd Psalm may be more quoted than the first, I doubt that I would get any argument from this crowd that the 1^st Psalm is almost as popular and is equally important.

One commentary says of the 1^st Psalm,

“The psalm is designed to describe the blessedness or the happiness of the righteous man. This is done 

• literally and figuratively, 
• positively and negatively, 
• directly and by contrast, 

with respect both to his character and his condition here and hereafter.”

Keeping that in mind, there are some observations that I think are very interesting:

The contrast in the Psalm is between the blessed and the ungodly.

That tells me that an ungodly man is not a blessed or happy man.

It doesn’t mean he can’t be happy from time to time but his life will not be characterized by blessing and, in the end he will not experience the blessing of eternal happiness with God.

The contrast also gives me a definition of ungodliness.

Psalms 1:1 (KJV)

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.

The definition of ungodly is one who:

• Walks in the counsel of the ungodly
• Stands in the way of sinners and
• Sits in the seat of the scornful

You know that the Psalms are songs or poems?

Poems are very often written to be visual as well as audible. It is often called figure or shape poetry. 

A famous piece of figure poetry is called The Altar, by George Herbert.

The Altar

A broken ALTAR, Lord thy servant rears,
Made of a heart, and cemented with teares:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workmans tool hath touch'd the same
A HEART alone
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy pow'r doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy Name:
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
And sanctifie this ALTAR to be thine.

You of course can’t see it, but if you picture my pulpit, the poem is written so that it is in the same general shape as it is.

The contrasts that are presented in Psalm One are written in such a way that they reflect off each other:

Verse 3 answers to verse 4

Psalms 1:3 (KJV)

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.

Psalms 1:4 (KJV)

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

Verse 2 answers to verse 5

Psalms 1:2 (KJV)

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

Psalms 1:5 (KJV)

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

Verse 1 answers to verses 6

Psalms 1:1 (KJV)

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.

Psalms 1:6 (KJV)

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

That said, I want to show you from Psalm One, the four steps towards being blessed.

Happiness is the result of:

I. SEPARATION 

Psalms 1:1 (KJV)

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.

Please keep in mind that I am keeping in mind that Christians are “in this world but not of this world.”

1 Corinthians 5:9-10 (KJV)

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

I realize that we have to spend sometimes HUGE amounts of our time around people who are not Christians or who disagree with our Christian worldview bigtime.

But if you and I want to be happy

If we want to be blessed of God

Then there has to be some separation between us and:

• The ungodly
• The sinner and
• The scornful

Now notice the words that he uses to describe the connection with each

A. The counsel

The word means exactly what you think it means, to consult or advise.

It also means to guide.

Whose helping you make the choices in your life?

Is he or she someone who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates in it day and night?

B. The way

The way is a road or a course of life.

This man, you will notice, isn’t necessarily walking in the way. He is just standing there in it.

Far too many Christians believe that they can be “this close” to the world and still be godly.

I do not deny that a person can stand on the edge of hell and still be saved.

But I insist that a person can’t stand there and be blessed.

C. The seat

The word seat means and inhabited place and the word sit means to inhabit.

The phrase then means, “to inhabit the habitation of the scornful.”

But in the Old Testament, the seat also could mean a place of authority, much like the in today’s courtroom where the Judge’s seat is called “the bench”.

So the lesson here is that the blessed man doesn’t put himself under the authority of the scornful.

He surrenders to an higher authority.

He obeys God rather than men.

Blessedness comes first from separation from the: 

• Ungodly
• Sinner and 
• Scorner

Blessedness comes secondly through the

II. SCRIPTURES 

Psalms 1:2 (KJV)

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

As familiar as we all are with this verse, it is much more challenging to do than it is to quote.

I see in the verse

A. An affection

His delight

Can you honestly say that you delight in the law of the Lord?

• In hearing it preached
• In reading it personally
• In doing it practically

I don’t mean to making anyone feel guilty, but I do mean for all of us to come under conviction.

Really!

The blessing of God – genuine happiness, is going to center around what we do with this book!

His delight is in the law of the Lord

B. An attention

Doth he meditate

It literally means to chew; like a cow would chew her cud.

You get the Word of God inside you.

Later on you cough it back up and work it over.

You chew on it 

• and chew on it 
• and chew on it 

until you have every little piece of truth broken down into something you can understand.

Then you swallow it and make it a part of you.

Then I see

C. An addiction

Day and night….

This thing of delighting in and meditating on the law of the Lord becomes a part of you. 

You can’t quit it.

It’s insatiable.

• You wake up wanting the law of the Lord.
• You look for chances to get some of it along the way
• You lay down at night and dream of it

You have it everywhere you go

• It’s in your house
• It’s in your car
• It’s in your wallet or purse

• There’s little pieces of it where you work

It really is the center of your life.

There’s no real blessing without the Bible.

The blessed man experiences

III. STABILITY 

Psalms 1:3 (KJV)

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.

This step is the result of first two:

A. He’s planted

One of the signs of a truly blessed person is that they don’t feel like they have to keep moving.

• They are able to settle down.
• They are content right where they are.

It doesn’t mean that they never take a new job, or move into a new house.

But it might mean that.

Unhappy people tend to think that happiness is: 

• Just around the corner
• Over the next hill
• On the other side of the fence

My pastor in Colorado used to say, “The only place the grass is greener is just over the sewer.”

A contented person is a happy person.

B. He’s productive

“that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.”

He doesn’t bring forth the same fruit as the next guy and he doesn’t bring forth fruit all of the time.

But his life matters. 

He has a purpose from the Lord and he proves that “good and acceptable and perfect will of God” for his life.

C.  He’s prosperous

“his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

The key to the prosperity is in the phrase “not wither”.

• He doesn’t quit
• He doesn’t give up
• He lives for God his whole life

The final step finds the blessed man on a certain,

IV. STREET

Psalms 1:6 (KJV)

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

I can’t help but bring this passage around to, 

Matthew 7:13-14 (KJV)

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

The blessed man isn’t necessarily a lonely man but he is one who is content with few friends.

He has chosen a path that is narrow and difficult and not many people take it with him.

But he is happy because he knows where it ends.

Conclusion

Blessedness begins by entering into eternal life, by getting saved

It grows through settling down in a local church, where we can be taught to be productive servants of the Lord.

It thrives in daily and constant delight in the Word of God.

It is maintained by separation from influences that pull us away from the things of God.