What is Influencing You?
Psalm 1:1-3
Hi everybody, it’s Pastor Dave. Welcome to the My Daily Church podcast. It is Friday, January 22, 2021. I thought it was a good day to meditate on and apply Psalm 1:1-3 to our lives. I think it’s perfect for our current environment.
Our podcast today is done following our Daily Devotion Journal method. Which is a powerful devotion method that we’ve been teaching people for over ten years using only God’s Word. You can get more information on our Daily Devotion Journal approach to your devotions at MyDailyChurch.com under “resources.”
So, if you have a Bible today, open it to Psalm 1. I’ll be using the New Living Translation (NLT) today. And if you’re in a place where you can, please grab a journal or something to make notes on or to mark your Bible with.
We are going to start with meditating on God’s Word – really kind of chewing on it, digging in. And then we’ll apply God’s Word to our lives. And then, to finish, we’ll respond to God’s Word based on what the Holy Spirit has brought up in our lives during our time in the Word.
So today, we’re going to look at the jewel that God placed at the beginning of the Psalms. Psalm Chapter 1. We’ll be looking at Psalm 1:1-3. These three short little verses describe the person who is truly God blessed. Maybe we could even say that these verses show us how to be “bless-able” by God. And, if we’re focused on reviving our soul, then certainly, we need to understand how God’s Word says that we can be bless-able and be truly blessed by God. As we go through the scripture, please watch carefully for God to speak to you specifically about your life today.
Psalm1:1 (NLT)
1 Oh, the joys of those (Literal – Blessed are those or blessed is the man [mankind]) who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
Let me just say, before we look closely at verse one – the context, the purpose of Psalm 1 is wisdom and blessing. It is the wisdom we need to be truly God blessed and joy-filled. And so, the first verse of Psalm 1 starts with three things that we are called to turn from in order to have the wisdom to be truly bless-able. To be truly God blessed.
Repentance means to turn from. It means to make a U-turn, to head in the opposite direction. It’s interesting that the Psalms begin with a type of repentance. Look carefully at verse 1 as we talk about it again.
Verse 1 says Blessed are those or How joyful are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked. So, first, is a turning from the advice of the Godless, or the ungodly person. It begins with this warning about being careful about who you take advice from in your life. And in order to be God-blessed, to be truly God-blessed, verse 1 says do not follow the advice of the wicked. The word for “wicked” describes a person who’s living in rebellion to God. It’s a person who’s actively rejecting and living contrary to God’s wisdom. But maybe for us, it’s not just people, right? Maybe, it’s the influence that we receive from the media that we choose to be informed by.
Guys, we are influenced by whatever media source we are watching and listening to. And as we tune in to whatever screen we’re looking at (usually a phone screen), we tend to begin to follow whatever advice that media source is either blatantly or subtly promoting. This is especially true if our lives get consumed with social media. And so, the first step to truly be God blessed to the God-blessed life is to not follow, to turn from the advice or the influence of those who are actively rejecting God’s wisdom.
And then next, in the middle of verse 1 we read, blessed are those or how joyful are those who do not stand around with sinners. Stand around, or some versions say stand in the path with sinners. This phrase “stand around” or “stand in the path with sinners” refers to living a lifestyle alongside, or a lifestyle along with those who are living in rebellion to God. And remember, the context of Psalm 1 is the wisdom to be truly God blessed. It’s how do we get the wisdom to be bless-able by God? To allow God to enable God to be in a place where God can truly bless us?
And so, this does not mean that we should have no contact with those living in rebellion to God. It means that we should not have comradery with those living that way. It means that we can’t live their lifestyle. We can’t direct our lives the way that they direct their lives.
Finally, in verse 1 at the end, it says, blessed are those or oh the joys of those who do not join in with mockers. The word for “mockers” your Bible might say “scoffers.” It refers to people who are arrogantly, pridefully rejecting the wisdom and the direction of God. It’s the worst of these three “categories” that we are to turn from. And to join in or to sit in with these mockers means to be completely identified with them, to be known with them.
And so, for us to be bless-able by God, there is first a turning from these three graduating conditions. 1) We’re called to turn from the advice of the wicked. 2) We’re called to turn from living the lifestyle of those in rebellion to God. And 3) We’re called to turn from being identified with those who reject the wisdom of God.
Let’s apply verse 1 really quickly. Let’s take a minute and think about how this specifically applies to our lives. Here’s the question. Who have you been getting advice from? Who or what have you been being influenced by? Who have we been directing our lives like? Who have we been walking in life with? And who have we been identified with, in our lives?
Guys, God’s Word is clear. For us to be in a bless-able place, a place where God can truly bless us, for us to be God-blessed, there are choices that we must make about who we are being influenced by and how we are setting the direction of our life, and who we’re going to for wisdom and direction.
And so, the blessing of God almost always starts with a turning away from something ungodly. And a turning to something godly. In fact, most historians will tell you that most of the world’s revivals have come from a turning away (a repentance) and a turning to (or back to) God.
Let’s move to the contrast verse now. Verse 2. Psalm 1:2 is the contrast verse, and we know it is because the first word is “but.”
Psalm 1:2 (NLT)
2 But they (the God-blessed, joy-filled person) delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
Oh, that’s good. The person who is truly God-blessed, the person who is joy-filled regardless of their circumstances, is the person who is delighting in the law of the Lord, who is delighting in God’s Word.
What does it mean to delight in God’s Word? It means to take pleasure in, to enjoy, to embrace, to desire. It involves a strong desire to have God’s Word guide your life. And it involves a strong desire of knowing the source of your joy comes from God’s Word. It’s pushing into God’s Word; it’s embracing it, holding tight to it. It’s knowing that God’s Word is not some kind of religious list of do’s and don’ts, but instead, God’s Word is the life-giving conduit from God. It’s a life-giving conduit of the living Word of God.
And so, because this truly God-blessed and joy-filled person is delighting in God’s Word, they are also meditating on God’s Word day and night. That’s the end of verse 2, they delight in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on it day and night.
The word “meditate” means to murmur, to mutter, even to speak to yourself. Meditating is a slowing down. It’s a genuine embracing of God’s Word. It’s chewing on the Word of God, slowly with complete focus. It’s digesting the Word of God, taking it in, and digesting it. It is taking God’s Word in, in such a way that it impacts us, that it leaves a mark. It’s staying with God’s Word until you hear God speak – until you sense his presence and hear his voice.
Meditating on the Word of God gives the Holy Spirit the fuel necessary to light a fire in your life. And meditating on God’s Word is what hides the Word of God in your heart, as Psalm 119:11 says. It hides the Word in your heart, the meditation does, so the Holy Spirit can bring it up to your mind when you need it.
It’s said that the Word of God has a truth for every situation and a comfort for every sorrow. But it’s the meditating on the Word of God that makes that life-giving truth and that comfort of God’s Word become a strong foundation in your life. It’s there. God’s Word has a truth for every situation, a comfort for every suffering, but the meditating on it is what makes it real in your heart.
So, let’s take a minute to think, how can we grow, how can we begin to learn in delighting in God’s Word and meditating on God’s Word? Think about this for starters. How do you delight in God’s Word now? What does it look like when you’re delighting in God’s Word now? And how do you meditate on God’s Word now?
This is a critical need for the God-blessed life. And so, we’ve got to apply it. We’ve got to really review our life and say, am I delighting in God’s Word? Am I meditating on it? And if not, how can I? The reason this is so critical is because this is the only “turn to” in Psalm 1 in order for us to have a truly God-blessed and joy-filled life. Verse 1 is the “turn from.” Verse 2 is the “turn to.” And that’s it. And so, we really have to deal with this in our lives.
And remember, delighting in God’s Word and meditating on God’s Word is something we do. Not just something we believe. And so, as you’re reflecting on this, don’t say, “Oh yeah, I delight, and I know I should meditate.” But really ask yourself, how do I do that? When do I do that? How do I do this in my life? And so, let me (as you’re wrestling with that) encourage you to learn how or to grow in your delighting in God’s Word and in your meditating on God’s Word.
So, you can contact us if you want, at MyDailyChurch.com. Go to the website, click on “contact,” and ask us for information on how we teach people to delight in and meditate on God’s Word. It’s called the Daily Devotion Journal, and we’ll teach you how to do it. The reason this is so critical is because verse 3 says, that the result of learning to delight in and meditate on God’s Word is this:
Psalm 1:3 (NLT)
3 They (the person who turns from wickedness, and the person who delights in and meditates on God’s Word) are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
That’s the end result. That’s truly being blessed, being God blessed. This is a picture of what it looks like when we are bless-able by God. When we are being blessed and joy-filled. The picture of the tree is a picture of strength, of stability, and of fruitfulness. All these things are found in a person who delights in and meditates on God’s Word, especially for the direction of their life. Strength and stability, and fruitfulness. It’s through our abiding relationship with the Lord in his Word that we grow in the strength and stability needed for the storms of life.
And it’s through our abiding relationship with the Lord, through his Word, by his Holy Spirit that fruit of the Spirit (From Galatians 5:22-23), will also grow in our lives as we continue taking in this life-giving water of God’s Word.
So, it’s the result. Verse 2 is the cause – delighting and meditating. Verse 3 is the result, the strength, and stability for storms and the fruit of the Spirit – fruit for each season, for each thing that comes up in your life. And ultimately, your life will become a blessing for others through these traits of strength and fruit and stability. And even refreshment in the shade of the tree by the riverbank, if you catch that analogy – it’s so good.
Our life with God, it lacks deep roots when it is not constantly fed by the life-giving water of God’s Word. Just like a tree lacks deep roots when it’s not receiving water. But delighting in God’s Word and meditating on it day and night, will send our roots deep. And it will make us like a strong tree planted on the bank of the river of God. And we will bear fruit in each season of our lives.
And then look at the end of verse 3, the prospering. And they prosper in all they do. What’s the prospering? That is the prospering! Right there, it’s that your roots will go deep into God. That’s the prospering. Your strength in God will grow. You’ll produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit as needed, and your life will blossom and prosper as you continue to grow from the river of the life-giving water of God’s Word. That is the prospering. You will become all of those things.
So, how will you respond to God’s Word today as we consider these three powerful truths in three verses? Verse 1 – turn from being influenced by the ungodly. Verse 2 – learn to delight in and meditate on God’s Word. And verse 3 – the result? Then you will become a truly God blessed and joy-filled person.
How do you need to respond to God personally in light of these truths? How will you respond to God’s living Word today? What has the Holy Spirit brought up in your life that these truths apply specifically to? And would you respond to God in prayer right now? Would you respond to God based on what he has spoken to you by his Spirit and through his living Word? Remember what the Holy Spirit has brought up in your heart and in your mind, and talk to God about it.
Our podcast today is done following our Daily Devotion Journal method. Which is a powerful devotion method that we’ve been teaching people for over ten years using only God’s Word. You can get more information on our Daily Devotion Journal approach to your devotions at MyDailyChurch.com under “resources.”
So, if you have a Bible today, open it to Psalm 1. I’ll be using the New Living Translation (NLT) today. And if you’re in a place where you can, please grab a journal or something to make notes on or to mark your Bible with.
We are going to start with meditating on God’s Word – really kind of chewing on it, digging in. And then we’ll apply God’s Word to our lives. And then, to finish, we’ll respond to God’s Word based on what the Holy Spirit has brought up in our lives during our time in the Word.
So today, we’re going to look at the jewel that God placed at the beginning of the Psalms. Psalm Chapter 1. We’ll be looking at Psalm 1:1-3. These three short little verses describe the person who is truly God blessed. Maybe we could even say that these verses show us how to be “bless-able” by God. And, if we’re focused on reviving our soul, then certainly, we need to understand how God’s Word says that we can be bless-able and be truly blessed by God. As we go through the scripture, please watch carefully for God to speak to you specifically about your life today.
Psalm1:1 (NLT)
1 Oh, the joys of those (Literal – Blessed are those or blessed is the man [mankind]) who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
Let me just say, before we look closely at verse one – the context, the purpose of Psalm 1 is wisdom and blessing. It is the wisdom we need to be truly God blessed and joy-filled. And so, the first verse of Psalm 1 starts with three things that we are called to turn from in order to have the wisdom to be truly bless-able. To be truly God blessed.
Repentance means to turn from. It means to make a U-turn, to head in the opposite direction. It’s interesting that the Psalms begin with a type of repentance. Look carefully at verse 1 as we talk about it again.
Verse 1 says Blessed are those or How joyful are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked. So, first, is a turning from the advice of the Godless, or the ungodly person. It begins with this warning about being careful about who you take advice from in your life. And in order to be God-blessed, to be truly God-blessed, verse 1 says do not follow the advice of the wicked. The word for “wicked” describes a person who’s living in rebellion to God. It’s a person who’s actively rejecting and living contrary to God’s wisdom. But maybe for us, it’s not just people, right? Maybe, it’s the influence that we receive from the media that we choose to be informed by.
Guys, we are influenced by whatever media source we are watching and listening to. And as we tune in to whatever screen we’re looking at (usually a phone screen), we tend to begin to follow whatever advice that media source is either blatantly or subtly promoting. This is especially true if our lives get consumed with social media. And so, the first step to truly be God blessed to the God-blessed life is to not follow, to turn from the advice or the influence of those who are actively rejecting God’s wisdom.
And then next, in the middle of verse 1 we read, blessed are those or how joyful are those who do not stand around with sinners. Stand around, or some versions say stand in the path with sinners. This phrase “stand around” or “stand in the path with sinners” refers to living a lifestyle alongside, or a lifestyle along with those who are living in rebellion to God. And remember, the context of Psalm 1 is the wisdom to be truly God blessed. It’s how do we get the wisdom to be bless-able by God? To allow God to enable God to be in a place where God can truly bless us?
And so, this does not mean that we should have no contact with those living in rebellion to God. It means that we should not have comradery with those living that way. It means that we can’t live their lifestyle. We can’t direct our lives the way that they direct their lives.
Finally, in verse 1 at the end, it says, blessed are those or oh the joys of those who do not join in with mockers. The word for “mockers” your Bible might say “scoffers.” It refers to people who are arrogantly, pridefully rejecting the wisdom and the direction of God. It’s the worst of these three “categories” that we are to turn from. And to join in or to sit in with these mockers means to be completely identified with them, to be known with them.
And so, for us to be bless-able by God, there is first a turning from these three graduating conditions. 1) We’re called to turn from the advice of the wicked. 2) We’re called to turn from living the lifestyle of those in rebellion to God. And 3) We’re called to turn from being identified with those who reject the wisdom of God.
Let’s apply verse 1 really quickly. Let’s take a minute and think about how this specifically applies to our lives. Here’s the question. Who have you been getting advice from? Who or what have you been being influenced by? Who have we been directing our lives like? Who have we been walking in life with? And who have we been identified with, in our lives?
Guys, God’s Word is clear. For us to be in a bless-able place, a place where God can truly bless us, for us to be God-blessed, there are choices that we must make about who we are being influenced by and how we are setting the direction of our life, and who we’re going to for wisdom and direction.
And so, the blessing of God almost always starts with a turning away from something ungodly. And a turning to something godly. In fact, most historians will tell you that most of the world’s revivals have come from a turning away (a repentance) and a turning to (or back to) God.
Let’s move to the contrast verse now. Verse 2. Psalm 1:2 is the contrast verse, and we know it is because the first word is “but.”
Psalm 1:2 (NLT)
2 But they (the God-blessed, joy-filled person) delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
Oh, that’s good. The person who is truly God-blessed, the person who is joy-filled regardless of their circumstances, is the person who is delighting in the law of the Lord, who is delighting in God’s Word.
What does it mean to delight in God’s Word? It means to take pleasure in, to enjoy, to embrace, to desire. It involves a strong desire to have God’s Word guide your life. And it involves a strong desire of knowing the source of your joy comes from God’s Word. It’s pushing into God’s Word; it’s embracing it, holding tight to it. It’s knowing that God’s Word is not some kind of religious list of do’s and don’ts, but instead, God’s Word is the life-giving conduit from God. It’s a life-giving conduit of the living Word of God.
And so, because this truly God-blessed and joy-filled person is delighting in God’s Word, they are also meditating on God’s Word day and night. That’s the end of verse 2, they delight in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on it day and night.
The word “meditate” means to murmur, to mutter, even to speak to yourself. Meditating is a slowing down. It’s a genuine embracing of God’s Word. It’s chewing on the Word of God, slowly with complete focus. It’s digesting the Word of God, taking it in, and digesting it. It is taking God’s Word in, in such a way that it impacts us, that it leaves a mark. It’s staying with God’s Word until you hear God speak – until you sense his presence and hear his voice.
Meditating on the Word of God gives the Holy Spirit the fuel necessary to light a fire in your life. And meditating on God’s Word is what hides the Word of God in your heart, as Psalm 119:11 says. It hides the Word in your heart, the meditation does, so the Holy Spirit can bring it up to your mind when you need it.
It’s said that the Word of God has a truth for every situation and a comfort for every sorrow. But it’s the meditating on the Word of God that makes that life-giving truth and that comfort of God’s Word become a strong foundation in your life. It’s there. God’s Word has a truth for every situation, a comfort for every suffering, but the meditating on it is what makes it real in your heart.
So, let’s take a minute to think, how can we grow, how can we begin to learn in delighting in God’s Word and meditating on God’s Word? Think about this for starters. How do you delight in God’s Word now? What does it look like when you’re delighting in God’s Word now? And how do you meditate on God’s Word now?
This is a critical need for the God-blessed life. And so, we’ve got to apply it. We’ve got to really review our life and say, am I delighting in God’s Word? Am I meditating on it? And if not, how can I? The reason this is so critical is because this is the only “turn to” in Psalm 1 in order for us to have a truly God-blessed and joy-filled life. Verse 1 is the “turn from.” Verse 2 is the “turn to.” And that’s it. And so, we really have to deal with this in our lives.
And remember, delighting in God’s Word and meditating on God’s Word is something we do. Not just something we believe. And so, as you’re reflecting on this, don’t say, “Oh yeah, I delight, and I know I should meditate.” But really ask yourself, how do I do that? When do I do that? How do I do this in my life? And so, let me (as you’re wrestling with that) encourage you to learn how or to grow in your delighting in God’s Word and in your meditating on God’s Word.
So, you can contact us if you want, at MyDailyChurch.com. Go to the website, click on “contact,” and ask us for information on how we teach people to delight in and meditate on God’s Word. It’s called the Daily Devotion Journal, and we’ll teach you how to do it. The reason this is so critical is because verse 3 says, that the result of learning to delight in and meditate on God’s Word is this:
Psalm 1:3 (NLT)
3 They (the person who turns from wickedness, and the person who delights in and meditates on God’s Word) are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
That’s the end result. That’s truly being blessed, being God blessed. This is a picture of what it looks like when we are bless-able by God. When we are being blessed and joy-filled. The picture of the tree is a picture of strength, of stability, and of fruitfulness. All these things are found in a person who delights in and meditates on God’s Word, especially for the direction of their life. Strength and stability, and fruitfulness. It’s through our abiding relationship with the Lord in his Word that we grow in the strength and stability needed for the storms of life.
And it’s through our abiding relationship with the Lord, through his Word, by his Holy Spirit that fruit of the Spirit (From Galatians 5:22-23), will also grow in our lives as we continue taking in this life-giving water of God’s Word.
So, it’s the result. Verse 2 is the cause – delighting and meditating. Verse 3 is the result, the strength, and stability for storms and the fruit of the Spirit – fruit for each season, for each thing that comes up in your life. And ultimately, your life will become a blessing for others through these traits of strength and fruit and stability. And even refreshment in the shade of the tree by the riverbank, if you catch that analogy – it’s so good.
Our life with God, it lacks deep roots when it is not constantly fed by the life-giving water of God’s Word. Just like a tree lacks deep roots when it’s not receiving water. But delighting in God’s Word and meditating on it day and night, will send our roots deep. And it will make us like a strong tree planted on the bank of the river of God. And we will bear fruit in each season of our lives.
And then look at the end of verse 3, the prospering. And they prosper in all they do. What’s the prospering? That is the prospering! Right there, it’s that your roots will go deep into God. That’s the prospering. Your strength in God will grow. You’ll produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit as needed, and your life will blossom and prosper as you continue to grow from the river of the life-giving water of God’s Word. That is the prospering. You will become all of those things.
So, how will you respond to God’s Word today as we consider these three powerful truths in three verses? Verse 1 – turn from being influenced by the ungodly. Verse 2 – learn to delight in and meditate on God’s Word. And verse 3 – the result? Then you will become a truly God blessed and joy-filled person.
How do you need to respond to God personally in light of these truths? How will you respond to God’s living Word today? What has the Holy Spirit brought up in your life that these truths apply specifically to? And would you respond to God in prayer right now? Would you respond to God based on what he has spoken to you by his Spirit and through his living Word? Remember what the Holy Spirit has brought up in your heart and in your mind, and talk to God about it.