How many of you have made New Years resolutions?  How many of you are going to make a New Years resolution?  How many of you have just given up on the whole idea?  Today being the last Sunday of 2009 - as a way to get us into our text this morning - I thought we should think a bit about New Years Resolutions.

“So… any New Years resolutions?”

“Gonna eat right!  Gonna stop screaming at the kids, stop being so negative - gonna stop saying stuff is stupid, and gonna get wealthy beyond reason.”

“Good plan.”

“Yeah, it’s about time… and you?”

“I’m going to gain 80 pounds, feel sorry for myself, and go bankrupt.”

“Pardon?”

“Yeah… I figure I can never keep my resolutions…  so its like reverse psychology.”

“That’s stupid.”

“The good thing about making New Year resolutions is that you don’t really need to follow them.  You just need to convince yourself that you can change your ways for a better future.  After you have felt good inside, you can now forget about it and return to your old self after a few days.”

“Ah, yes.  The great benefits of self-deception.”

One last cartoon…  having been inspired by Steve:

“Resolutions?  Me??  Just what are you implying?  That I need to change??  Well, buddy, as far as I’m concerned, I’m perfect the way I am.!”

Even if were not making New Years resolutions these days - moving from 2009 to 2010 - these days are a good opportunity for us to think about where we’ve been and where we’re going.  How are we living life?  Continuous improvement.  Which is always a good thing.  Yes?

Please turn with me to Psalm 1 - which you will find in the Bible under the chair in front of you - you’ll find Psalm 1 on page 393.  Psalm 1 is a reality check of what we’re focusing on in life.  What we’re investing our lives in.  What really works and what really doesn’t.  So this is a good Psalm for us to think about together this morning.

We’re going to read this Psalm out loud together.  You’ll see it overhead here.  To get it fresh in our minds.  So we’ll read it and then come back and make some observations and application.  Are we all together?  Okay, let’s read together.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He will be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.   The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Notice that this Psalm is a contrast - a description of two different ways to live life.  The first description comes in verses 1 to 3 - which describe the life of the Godly - the benefits of living with life centered in God - what that life looks like.  The second description comes in verses 4 to 6.  Which describes the life of the unGodly - those who have little or no time for God in their lives.

Walk with me through this contrast.  First - The Godly.  Let’s say that together, “The Godly.”

Psalm 1 begins, “Blessed is the man…”  The Hebrew has the idea of being truly happy.  We could read this like “O the happiness of the man…”  

How many people do you know who are truly happy?  Not just happy on the outside - living in denial.  But truly happy.  According to the people who research these things - only 20% of Americans are actually happy. (1)  Which seems a tad high.  All of us from time to time - maybe more times than we’d like to admit - all of us if we were asked, “Are you happy?”  There are times when we’d have to answer, “No.  Something deep down is missing.” 

Cathy Guisewite - who does the “Cathy” comic strip - have you seen it?  A while back Cathy was the commencement speaker at the University of Michigan.  She said this:   I graduated with a class committed to open love, open thinking, open doors, open everything.  Twenty-two years later the people of my class are getting cash out of a machine...and it isn’t even possible to get a human being on the phone at the phone company.  In Los Angeles the only chance I have of a meaningful encounter with a person is if I smash into one with my car. (2)

There is a mood - a feeling - that we share.  That as we become more advanced - technologically - socially - economically - as we advance we’re falling farther behind from what really matters in life.

A few years ago there was a USA Today survey that reported what  people said gave them a feeling of happiness in life.  83% of the people said that satisfaction with their lives was important.  78% said happiness came from having a good marriage.  66% said being able to afford things that are important to them.  63% said having successful children is important.  (3)

If we think about it, those are really good answers.  But how are we suppose to achieve these things?  It seems like while we’re running after happiness - we’re so busy trying to get to this elusive state that we’re not really happy. 

Blessed - in English - translates a Hebrew word “asher” that has the idea of true happiness.  Blessing means a whole lot more than some passing surface emotion - or having things seemingly go right for us.  Being blessed by God has the idea of a profound sense of essential well being - of being rightly aligned at the core of who we are.  Being centered on what’s important in life and experiencing a peace - a settledness in our hearts - as a result.  That blessing is what God brings to us in the reality of where we live our lives.

In the midst of what this world tries to abuse us with - conform us to - beat us down with - in the midst of the survival mentality of this world - God offers each of us something tremendously different.  His blessing - His approval - His provision for our lives - His healing - His purpose for us - life in His kingdom - knowing God and being known by Him.

Psalm 1 begins, “Blessed is the man…”  Psalm 1 is a practical description of what it means to blessed by God - of true happiness - and how to get there.

Going on in verse 1 - first - the Godly man - the man or women whom God blesses, “does not walk  in the counsel of the wicked”

Walking is how we make decisions as we go step-by-step through life - the choices we make every day about all kinds of things.  The type of speech we use.  How we do business.  The way we spend our money.  What we allow to penetrate our minds - what we watch or read or expose ourselves to.  How we raise our children.  On what basis to do we make those decisions?

The society we live in makes those choices by saying, “Me first!  I want it now!  Everything is relative!  If its truth for me then its truth.”  With that philosophy the wicked - the unGodly live their lives.  But, the one who’s found the secret to happiness rejects that - is not counseled by it - in deciding how to live.

Second - verse 1 - the Godly man “does not stand in the path of sinners”

Remember Family Beach Day?  Have you ever stood at the ocean - just about waist deep in the waves - being pushed and pulled by the water?  It takes determination to stand there - to remain standing firmly in place.  That’s the kind of dogged determination that’s being described here.

Sinners - people - who are determined to pursue their own way of life - their own self-made - self-centered - godless as it may be - life - regardless of what they may learn about God and God’s love which compels them - pleads with them - to change.  They choose - doggedly - to remain - to stand in their sin.  This is the path I’ve chosen for my life and I’m staying on it.

The Godly man - the person who’s really happy - doesn’t go there - doesn’t associate with those who choose sin - who prefer to live lives apart from God.

Third, the Godly man, “does not sit in the seat of scoffers.”

Scoffers are those who laugh at God - who mock God and the things of God - who profane what is holy. 

People like this guy.  Who is…?  Howard Stern.  A man who represents ungodly immorality.  Or this person.   Shirley MacLaine.  With her views on reincarnation and her New Age philosophies.  Or this man.  Richard Dawkins - skeptic - atheists - evolutionist.

Remember this?  All the buses and subways with these signs?  “There’s probably no God.  Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”  If I don’t believe God exists then then I can go and do whatever I want to do with my life. 

“Atheism - Because some of us have much better things to do.”

I thought this was good.  “God does not believe in atheists.  Therefore atheists do not exist.”

The person who is going to experience real happiness has nothing to do with people like this.

Please understand that what is being said here is not that we should avoid people and go live in Montana in some type of religious commune.  What’s being pointed out to us is the truth that the way of life of the Godly is totally different from the life of the unGodly.  The Godly don’t go there.  They don’t take steps in that direction.  They don’t stand for the same things as the unGodly.  They certainly don’t find themselves sitting and mocking the things of God.

Verse 2 - the godly man - those who have learned the secret of happiness - “delight in the law of the Lord - they meditate on it day and night.”

This is who?  John Wooden - coached 10 UCLA Basketball teams to NCAA National Championships - a great coach.  Bill Walton was a player under John Wooden.  Walton played back in the days of Watergate and the Vietnam war - during very troubled times in this country when everything - even the basic philosophies of how we’re to live our lives - everything was being questioned.

Bill Walton says this about John Wooden.  “We thought he was nuts.  But, in all his preachings and teachings, everything he told us turned out to be true.  His interest and goal was to make you the best basketball player.  But, first to make you the best person.  He would never talk wins and losses but what we needed to succeed in life.  He didn’t teach basketball.  He taught life.” (4)

So is the word of God.  Amidst all the confusion and delusions of where we live the Bible teaches us life.  Those who know true happiness in life have come to realize that the Bible is the book that tells us the truth - that shows us ourselves - shows us how to live as God intends - and the power to live as God intends.

Long ago in a church far far away there was a man name Setrak.  Setrak lived to the very ripe old age of 104.  Setrak didn’t just squeak across the finish line.  At the age of 100 Setrak was still taking the bus to work.

Setrak always seemed to be happy.  He lived a blessed life.  Not that he didn’t have a lot tragedy and hard stuff in life.  In 104 years you have to have gone through stuff.  But Setrak lived blessed.  He always seemed happy.

One of the reasons for that blessing was God’s word.  As the Psalm says, Setrak meditated on God’s word.  When I first met Setrak he had read through the Bible about 60 times.  When he died he was working on his 68th.  How many people do we know who could claim that?

Whenever we had a Bible Study and Setrak was there he always had something prepared to share - something that God was teaching him about life.  And, it wasn’t just that Setrak was reading the Bible - he was thinking about God’s word and living by what he was learning.  Imagine at 104 still doing one thing studies and still being blessed by God through that study.

The Godly meditate on God’s word day and night.  The Hebrew here for “mediate” has the idea of that which echo’s around inside of a person and then resonates out.

In other words, if you could imagine yourself as being empty headed - hollow in the head.  Or, if that’s a stretch, maybe you could imagine someone else as being empty headed.  The word of God goes in and sort of bounces around - echo’s back and forth - until your head begins to vibrate - resonate - taking on the movement - the sound - of God’s word - and pretty soon - your head vibrates - then your whole body starts to vibrate.  What comes out - what comes out of our mouths - are words that glorify God.  What comes out - physically - are actions that glorify God.

That’s the idea in meditation.  The word of God goes in and, as we dwell on it - ponder it - think about it - memorize it - allow it to confront and change our lives - from deep within God’s word takes over our lives.  So, how we live looks like - is like - what God’s word says.  We begin to live in the happiness - the blessing - that God intends for our lives.

Consider that image - “A tree firmly planted by streams of water.”  In a dessert - the importance of tree being planted by a stream.

Jesus was traveling through Samaria and He stopped in a little town called Sychar.  There - by the well of that town - Jesus had a conversation with a woman about her life.  It was very personal conversation with Jesus very gently talking with her about the deeper issues in her life.  This woman was a like a tree desperately in need of watering.  Her soul was dry - longing to be satisfied.

We all face times like that.  When there are needs in our lives - fears - concerns - that take everything from us. 

Jesus uses the well as an illustration.  He says to the woman, “Everyone who drinks of this - well - water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:13,14)

Drink the best water on earth - SunnySelect or Arrowhead - whatever - and we get thirsty again.  Life is like that - a restlessness - a longing deep within that never quite gets satisfied.

But, the water that Jesus gives is always available - the stream never stops flowing.  The water that Jesus gives always refreshes - it brings life - life that satisfies - with a love and joy and peace and purpose to it.  A life that begins now and goes on forever.

As our roots get into that water - verse 3 says that the Godly man’s “leaf doesn’t wither.”  He, or she, becomes a person of usefulness and value - that produces godly fruit - a godly character.  He thrives throughout the seasons of life - however the circumstances of life may change for better or for worse - the godly thrive.  And, whatever He, or she, does God brings to prosperity.

That’s the godly life.  That’s the secret to true happiness - being in the place where God pours out His blessing on us.

Verse 4 brings us to The UnGodly.  Let’s say that together, “The unGodly.”  In contrast to all that God blesses the Godly with - it takes two words to describe the ungodly:  “not so.”  Say those with me, “Not so.”  All that’s offered to the Godly for the unGodly is “not so.”

Verse 4:  The wicked - the unGgodly - are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. 

Harvesting wheat - the bundles of wheat are thrown into threshing machines - straw is blown out and stacked - grains of wheat come out and are taken to granaries.  Floating in the air is chaff - an immense - useless  - empty - dirty nuisance.  Its a cleansing experience when the wind blows the chaff away.

Here today - gone…  tomorrow.  Whoosh.  Nothing of permanence or value.  Just emptiness.

Sometimes we’re tempted think that maybe God’s justice is out of balance just a tad.  Why is it that the wicked seem to prosper?  A lot.  Usually at the expense of the Godly.  Why do the unGodly always seem to be getting ahead while we’re living in righteousness.  Here we are trying to do the Godly thing and the wicked seem to get all the breaks - all the toys - all the perks of life.  Ever think that? 

We get jealous.  We compare.  We complain.  We get bitter.

The unGodly may be very successful in the eyes of this world - a beautiful home - nice cars - all the things of life - but ultimately their lives are like giant empty clouds of chaff waiting to be blown wherever the wind - or the philosophies and ideas of this world blow them.  They’re living by a world system that’s designed to deceive - to suck people in and chew them up.

In that system there’s no happiness.  Pseudo happiness - yes.  Real happiness - no.  So many people come to end of their lives - realize that what they’ve lived for is empty - then they try vainly to find some purpose for their being here - some legacy to leave behind.   But, only God can bless us with real meaning - real value - real purpose for our lives.

Verse 5:  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount - a sermon that He began by teaching about the true happiness of the godly - Jesus in that sermon also speaks of judgment.  Speaking of that future day when each of us will be judged by God - when we come to the moment of entering eternity with God or without God.

Jesus said, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:22,23)

God knows those who know Him - those whose hearts are surrendered to Him through Jesus Christ.  God knows those who may even be in the church - producing works of service - honored and respected by man.  But, they live excluding God from control of their hearts.  When God evaluates our lives the unGodly will not stand with the Godly.  Without Jesus as our Savior - without God at the center - the present and eternal future of the unGodly is hopeless.

Psalm 1 contrasts the God-centered life and the self-centered life - an encouragement to us - as we are looking back and looking forward - thinking about how we’re living our lives - true happiness comes only as we give our lives to God through Jesus Christ.

One thought of application. 

When the Psalmist describes the unGodly, it would be so easy for us to think about murderers - rapists - drug addicts - criminals - wicked people - people who have ruled God out of their lives - other people.  It would be very easy for us in vanity and pride to think that the verses describing the Godly are speaking of our lives.  The contrast - the unGodly is about someone else.

But how often do we walk in the ways of this world.  How often we stand in sin.  How often in our actions and words do we profane what is holy.  How many things in our lives distract us from meditating on God’s word?  How open are we to God’s transforming our lives?  Is the prosperity and reputation we experience ours or because of God’s work in us and through us?

That’s hard for us to hear.  It may makes us deeply uncomfortable.  But, the question remains:  What in our lives is truly blessed by God?  What in our lives is worthless and wasted because we’re living according to this world’s counsel and reason?

Coming to the precipice of a new year - in humility we need to come and renew our surrender - to let go of what needs to be let go of and to cling to what needs to be clung to - so that we will be in the place of God’s blessing - God creating His life in us for His honor and His glory.

_________________________

1. RBC 10.11.94

2. Steve Zeisler, “Real Riches” - Matthew 5:1-6

3. USA Today 01.19.98

4. Leadership, Summer 2001

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.