Psalms 1 &2, "Rooted in the Sitting King"
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We will begin a journey today in the Psalms. This book is a compilation of the “greatest hits” of worship and devotional material for the nation of Israel. Some of the Psalms go at least as far back as Moses. Others are nearer to the time of Jesus than they are to Abraham.
They are timeless because they span every human experience in our relationship with God. If you are seeking wisdom and answers from God, there are psalms for you. If you want to express your deep affection for Him, if you are in awe of His attributes or His works, there are psalms for you. If you are lamenting loss or abandonment or injustice or the betrayal of a friend, there are psalms for you. If you simply want to sing God’s praises to lift up your soul and set your mind on Him, this book has psalms to guide that experience.
This book is a worship hymnal. But it is also meditation literature. As you read these psalms, you are guided on a journey of knowing God in all His attributes that also encompasses every aspect of human existence. Like any journey worth taking, there are mountain vistas, quiet meadows, and deep, dark valleys. The writers to invite us to pause and contemplate God’s person and work in each of these way-points. What I hope for each of us over the next seven weeks is that we take the first eight way-points and meditate on who God is and who we are. But digging a little deeper, I want to show you that Jesus Christ has been in each of these way-points all along the way. And I hope you meet Him there. He will minister to you as we journey with Him to the final way-point on His earthly journey, the cross of Calvary and the empty garden tomb.
The message for us today is that Jesus is the seated King, and we can root our lives in Him.
Walk, Stand, Sit, Planted
Walk, Stand, Sit, Planted
Psalm 1 is like a story with a twist. David uses imagery of a person walking along a way, then standing in one place, and finally sitting down somewhere. Each of us has a choice between two contrasting lifestyles. We can walk in the advice of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, sit among scoffers, or delight in the instruction of the LORD. And this is where the psalm takes a twist. The imagery completely changes. As you walk through life, the place where you come to stand and sit down could become the place you get planted. People become trees.
The truth is that wickedness does become a lifestyle in which people walk. There is a stream of people going along with wherever the current trend is taking everyone else. The problem with following trends is that often they have been shaped by clever people with agendas. The psalmist calls this the “counsel of the wicked”. Other people take their stand in that path where sinners are walking and give their approval, if not cheering them on, certainly not helping them off the path, just passively watching the world go by. And some have sat down among the cynics, the “scoffers”. The imagery is striking. Picture a group of people who sit around talking about the world’s problems all day, blaming everyone, mocking those trying to help, but don’t rise or lift a finger to help or change anything.
So pay attention to the path you’re walking, to where you make your stand, and with whom you take your seat. Who’s guiding that conversation? Is it shaped by the righteous or the wicked? Verses 4, 5, and 6 warn us about the results of living a lifestyle out of step with God. Rather than becoming fruitful and prosperous,
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
People become trees, and this life rooted in rebellion to God and His ways is an insubstantial life, like straw. It’s empty. And it ends in your destruction. This psalm is a word to the wise. But it’s not just a warning. It’s a blessing for those who will not walk, stand, or sit with the wicked, sinful scoffers. Blessed is the person whose lifestyle is not shaped by the current trends crafted by the wicked, but rather shaped by the instruction of the LORD.
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
The word for law here is torah. It means instruction. It also became the Hebrew name for the Bible. The Bible is the instructions of the LORD (Yahweh) God to people. The psalmist is inviting us to delight, make ourselves happy, enjoy, the instruction of Yahweh. Meditate on it day and night. When you do, you will find yourself living a lifestyle that contrasts with the wicked. The imagery is so different.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
This is a fruitful, meaningful life. This is the kind of person that is always ready to help others, overflowing with generosity to the world around them. The prophet, Jeremiah uses the same tree imagery to say that the person who trusts in the LORD is free from fear and anxiety. They can do this because they are feeding on the nourishment that comes from Torah, the instruction of the LORD God. The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden is the image of God’s word to us. For the person who eats from this tree, who listens to God’s voice and delights to obey, they are promised a prosperous life. When you regularly feed on God’s word, you always have something to offer someone else, and your life bears good fruit. The best part is, the LORD, Yahweh, the Eternal God, “knows your way”. The word in verse 6 is the word for intimate knowledge. He is paying attention to you to guide your way.
Are you ready for another twist? Jesus, in John 15, says that this imagery was about Him all along.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus is the living Torah, the Word of God incarnate. He invites every one of us to root ourselves in Him.
The Seated King
The Seated King
Which brings us to Psalm 2. The truth is that the blessing of Psalm 1 has been experienced to some degree by anyone who has shaped their lifestyle around God’s Word. But none of us has done that perfectly. We often find ourselves struggling to delight in the instruction of the LORD. We have delighted ourselves in other things and spoiled our appetite. Or we’ve even sometimes followed a trend rather than rooting our lives in God. We find ourselves on the wrong side of the contrast between the wicked and the righteous.
So Psalm 2 gives us another contrast. It offers us a hero we can look to. And he is contrasted with all the clever plans of all the wicked leaders behind the scenes of the trends in our world. The imagery in Psalm 2 is of world leaders who are plotting the overthrow of their emperor. C.S. Lewis, in his Chronicles of Narnia, pictures God as the Emperor Beyond the Sea. Jesus is pictured as Aslan the Lion, the King of all creatures. This imagery matches Psalm 2.
God has seated His Son on the throne of the world. The nations can plot and scheme in their cleverness, but the LORD just laughs at them all. The word used in verse 4 for “holds them in derision” is the same as when one person is doubling down on a stupid argument and the other person is talking over them saying, “Da Duh, da duh, da duh...”
But this laughing and derision doesn’t last long. He will answer the plans of the rulers in his wrath (read verses 5, 6).
The LORD God has made His Son the anointed King. He has plans for Him, to possess the earth and rule over it with justice. And if these aren’t your plans for your world, your end is destruction. There is a passage in the very last book of the Bible that reflects back on the themes of Psalms 1 and 2 as a picture of Jesus as the one who is filled up with the word of God, pictured as a sword from His mouth, who uses it to rule in perfect justice.
Psalm 1:2 - 2:9 - Revelation 19:15
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
The point is that while none of us has perfectly shaped our life according to every word that comes from the mouth of God, Jesus has. He has fulfilled Torah, Yahweh’s instruction, and He has been given an eternal throne over the world. So, what had we better do?
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
His wrath is not quickly kindled like an irritable or maniacal dictator, like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. His wrath will take time to build, but once it’s reached the top, it will come quickly, all at once.
What image do you have of Jesus? If it doesn’t sober you to fear God more, you’re missing something. He is the one who has fulfilled all righteousness. He is the one who resisted sin to the point of shedding His blood (Hebrews 12:4). He knows the depths of the darkness of wickedness, sin, and the mockery of the world and its rulers, and He embraced it.
Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)
Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus is the One who delighted in the instruction of Yahweh to such a degree that He was willing to obey even if it meant enduring the cross. He was able to mock the mockers. He held the shame they meant for Him by nailing Him to a cross in derision. God was using it for our good, to atone for our sins, but also as an enthronement for His Son. He is the God who turns shame into glory. Our sin and inability to perfectly abide by God’s word leads us to Jesus who did. What will you do with Him?
The psalmist invites you to worship Him. Serve, rejoice, and kiss His feet. But also take refuge in Him. In a world in which everyone around you is swimming in the currents of the trends devised by the clever leaders and their agendas, stop here, at the foot of the cross, and take refuge in Jesus, sink your roots deep into His authority to forgive your sins and renew your delight to follow God.
Communion
Questions for Triads
What is something you’re celebrating this week? What was hard this week? Highs and lows...
What did you learn about God in our passage today?
What did you learn about yourself as you reflect on this passage?
What is one way you can put this passage into practice this week?
How can we pray for you?