What if you could follow a formula that would lead to a blessed life? The Bible gives us that plan, and Psalms chapter one is a powerful one we can follow today.
When we follow it, it can bring, joy, prosperity, and true happiness. While there have been false teachings that preach prosperity, we can learn about it what it means to live a blessed life according to God’s Word.
This Psalms sets the tone for the rest of the book, and we learn that there are two options we can choose from. We can live God’s way, the narrow path that leads to life, or we can live the world’s way, the path of death.
The Psalmist focuses on what both of these paths mean for us and what they look like. Today, we will go over what it means to live on the path of life.
Blessed is the person 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 on His Law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by 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 blows 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. (Psalms 1 [NASB]).
Did you start 2022 with a New Year’s resolution to be fit or to get on a fitness plan? Some of us reading this might be hesitant to admit it. Why? We know statistically that it won’t last long. But like any good fitness plan, success starts with a formula: you have a diet, exercise routine, and a very clear set of goals.
The spiritual life is similar. You must cut out the bad things and add the good things to grow. It is a daily process of removal, and you must delight in God’s Word. When we remove the wicked things and influences of our lives, we open the door to a new level in our walk with God.
AVOIDING THE WICKED
We live in a distracted society and if you let it, every minute of your day will be consumed by lesser things, and you will not have time for the Lord. While neutral things can take us away from God, there are also pressing, dangerous influences that we need to cut out immediately.
For example, not those who are not following God but who are anti-God. These people or these influences may not only be morally neutral, they may be trying to harm you. They are on the offensive. These are the things that you must remove from your life.
You must first see their path as bad and their influence as dangerous. Jesus talks in Matthew 7 about a broad and narrow gate. It is the narrow, the good path, that leads to everlasting life.
You cannot walk both paths, just like you cannot serve two masters. Jesus must be the gate you enter through to gain access to this narrow path so you can live with Him forever. If you have not trusted in Christ as your savior, you are on the broad path of destruction.
But why do we allow wicked things and people to so easily influence us? Why would you receive counsel from the wicked? We need to intentionally avoid the things that compromise our walk with God.
If we want to live for God and prevent influence from the wicked, we need to ask questions daily. Ask yourself how you are being counseled by the wicked.
In college, I had this friend and we thought it would be fun to see a South Park movie together. South Park is disgusting. You might laugh at times but at its core, it isn’t funny because of what it stands for and the vulgar content it includes.
We’re sitting in this movie. I laughed a couple of times. Then a scene came on with the devil and Jesus. They were mocking my savior. My buddy and I looked at each other as the movie mocked our faith. We stood up and walked away from the room. We chose to walk away from the wicked. It was a lesson I would learn and take with me as I grew in my faith.
The most dangerous tools of the wicked include movies, digital content, and social media. Be careful what you watch and listen to. Remove some of these things for a short period and reflect on which negative media you should cut out from your life.
If it’s hard to let a certain friend, TV program, or influence go, ask yourself what you truly desire. Is entertainment worth compromising your relationship with God? Would you sacrifice a blessed life for a few minutes of what the world likes? Reflect on what you truly desire and recalibrate your life.
DELIGHT IN HIS WORD
Instead of putting our happiness and life in the hands of the world, which will fail us, we can choose to give it all to God. When we delight in Him, we live a life full of joy and peace. It starts by delighting in the Scripture.
Delighting in His Word is about living and thinking through the Gospel. If you have a hard time with this, ask God to give you a burning desire in your heart to seek more of Him and what He has for your life. Ask Him to change you. When we remove the wicked, we can fully experience delight in Him.
As we learn in Psalms, we must meditate on His Word day and night. The term meditate means to babble or to speak. This is you speaking God’s Word over you and others at all times in all seasons of your life. Meditating on God’s Word will only come because you delight in it. It will take time. It’s not easy, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get.
FIRMLY PLANTED
In the Bible, we learn about the metaphor of the tree. The wicked are not firmly planted and will fall at any challenge. The firmly planted is protected and can withstand great obstacles through Christ.
One of the amazing benefits as a Christ-follower is that we can always be firm, we can always be planted, we can always be strong in who we are because of whom we belong to. You will always be nourished. You will still go through storms. But you can trust in God, knowing He will walk beside you. You will bear fruit for His glory, and you will never wilt under the pressure of the world.
Finally, we hear what prosperity means in the Biblical context. It doesn’t mean everything you want will be yours. The blessed person who lives the blessed life by turning from wicked, delighting in the Word, will prosper in what he does. The difference is what God defines it as. It is through His plan for you that He will lay out a path and bring your victory in your life as a Christian.
Don’t worry about the definition of prosperity if you let God define it. It will be good, whatever it is.
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When we live a life through the Gospel, God promises that we will live a blessed life. Church, let’s celebrate this and work hard to grow spiritually so that we can fully experience God’s plan for our lives.
