Christians, hear 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;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
This is the Word of the Lord
Psalm One begins with “Blessed is the man…” and then goes on to talk about what that blessed man does not and does do. To be clear up front, Jesus Christ is the only man who has ever really lived up to that, who has not done the things He is not supposed to do, walked in the counsel of the wicked, stood in the path of sinners, sat in the seat of the scornful. He alone among men has fully delighted in the law of the Lord.
And it is a great blessing to us that Jesus has not done, and done, those things. His sinless life, atoning sacrifice, and glorious ascension gives us the opportunity to be among His people. The Psalmists and Prophets make it clear that the Christ, as that One Blessed Man, is blessed to have a people prepared for Him, and our greatest blessing is being among that people.
But Psalm One is not solely a description of Jesus. Paul tells Timothy that “all Scripture is…profitable…for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I am not going out on a limb, much less skinny branches, by saying that we are supposed to become more like Jesus, to take on the very family likeness of the family of God, and the Scriptures are there to help us do that.
Psalm One does that by giving us wisdom about how to curate our lives. Let me explain what I mean by that. The curator of a museum has control over the collection in the museum. The curator decides which pieces are going to be displayed, which pieces will be displayed together, and where and how they are going to be displayed. And, since most museums have a lot more stuff than they can put on display, the curator decides what will not be displayed at any point in time. If you will, the curator decides what you will and won’t see in the museum.
One of the things the blessed man of Psalm One curates is the soundtrack of his life. “His delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in his Law he meditates day and night.” There are words in the Hebrew that describe the concept of ‘think.’ But the word translated here as “meditates” is not one of them. It implies a sort of muttering, an internal dialog. And in the Hebrew, to say ‘day and night,’ is a way of saying ‘all the time.’ So the life of the blessed man has a soundtrack. It is the Law of the Lord, the Torah of Yahweh, it is the constant background music of his life, and it tempers everything else about his life as his constant guide.
Our lives all have soundtracks. And it’s more complex than that blessed man in agrarian Palestine. Our devices have become part of our lives, and bring soundtrack with them. Anybody got a Spotify account? Podcasts? Twitter and Facebook? I used to listen to classic rock and country in the car. I figured out I can’t do it anymore. It’s not helping me to be more like Jesus.
The reality of it is that I don’t even need any of that to lead me astray. Nor do you. In the prayer of general confession that Sam uses, he confesses the sin of the words of our lips. They really aren’t anything compared to our mutterings, that internal dialog, now are they? At least mine aren’t. And you know that I generalize from my sin to your sin. And the lusts of our hearts? Wow.
I want to offer two things here. First, we need to curate the soundtracks of our lives. We need to steep ourselves in the Word of God, to become our background music not only in curating our soundtracks, but in guiding us in every circumstance of our lives, that we might be blessed men and women, taking on the family likeness of the family of God.
Second, DEARLY beloved brethren, the Scriptures tell us, in many places, to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not try to mislead, nor cloak them before the face of, Almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient hearts; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice, unto the throne of the heavenly grace, kneeling as you are able;
ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But You, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent; According to Your promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live godly, righteous, and sober lives, To the glory of Your holy Name. Amen.
[Assurance of pardon\
May God grant us true repentance, and his Holy Spirit, that those things may please him, which we do at present; and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure, and holy; so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Livin' in the foothills 