Godly or Ungodly?

Psalm 1

Out of all the countless number of people in the world and all their outward differences they are all one race, the human race.  Out of all those people there is one division, one dividing line that is not merely cosmetic, one dividing line that is real.  The bible plainly teaches that all the people in the world are divided into two groups.  Whatever group you are in is going to determine where you will spend eternity.  This one division between men is described as the saved and the lost, saints and sinners, child of light or child of darkness, believer or unbeliever.  Psalm 1 describes this division of humanity in detail.  This psalm gives all obvious physical and practical differences and evidences of who is in which group.  You can't read Psalm 1 and be confused about who is godly and who is not.  It is plain as day.  Psalm 1 describes the godly person and the ungodly person in unmistakable terms inwardly and outwardly.  Someone who is blessed and someone who is not.   You need to learn which group you are in because it is of drastic importance to your welfare in eternity.  Are you godly or ungodly?  What does Psalm 1 teach?

V1-3  "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."    Here is the person who is blessed.  The word blessed means someone who is enjoying God's special favor.  The godly person does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.  The word counsel means advice.  The godly person does not follow the advice of ungodly people, they don't walk in that way.  The advice of the ungodly in our society is this:  don't be moral, do what you want.  Don't talk about sin.  The godly person will not take that advice because he does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.  The word walk means the path of life, the direction.  If you are godly you don't take your direction from the ungodly.  The godly person's life is different.



 Next is  "nor standeth in the way of sinners"  The word way means the course of life, if you are godly your lifestyle is not in the way of sinners whose lifestyle is basically characterized by pride, self-confidence , selfishness, no rules to obey, no absolutes.  Pleasure is the big thing and sin, breaking God's law, they don't worry about that.  The blessed man or woman, the godly man or woman doesn't live like that but strives to be the opposite.  Selfless, obedient to God's word.  

Next is "nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful"  sit remains there and settle down, scornful means the boaster.  Blessed is the person who doesn't boast because they are not proud.  That is an attitude to life, they do not self-promote.  

Here is the positive.  What is the godly person like then?  V2 You will know the godly person  when you see them because they delight in God's word.  They delight in it.  They delight in the statues or precepts of God.  They take their pleasure in God's word.  They value God's commandments and will.  They delight to know there are absolutes.  That there is right and wrong, good and evil, absolutes.  Good things that we must do and bad things we must not do.  The godly person cannot be what most people are.  "it may be right for him but it may be wrong for him"  no absolute, what is right in their own eyes.  The godly person cannot be like that because the law of God is absolute list of rights or wrongs.   If God says it is wrong it is wrong for everybody.  The blessed person loves that, delights in that.  What is obedience? Obedience is obeying God's word.  God has a standard of right and wrong, good and evil and all godly people believe and love that.  David believed that.  There is a love of God's word in the godly person.    The godly person views everything through the grid of what God's word says.  The law of God is like a sieve and only the good gets through.  The godly person thinks about absolutes as he or she lives each day.  God's word says we are to obey the law of the land.  

V3  What are they like?  they are like a tree planted.  if the tree is planted someone planted it, it is not a wild tree it is a planted tree.. chosen, considered as property, cultivated and secured.  The godly person is a planted tree, planted by God.  The rivers of water  constantly supplying the daily need, bringing forth fruit in the proper time.  His works will prosper, the things he does will last like a cultivated tree.  They produce something spiritually valuable.  

V4 "The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away."    "not so" is a double negative, really emphasizing that the ungodly person is certainly not like the godly person.  Everything in the first 3 verses, the ungodly are not, not like that.  The ungodly are the complete opposite.  They do walk in the counsel of the ungodly, they do stand in the way of sinners, they do sit in the seat of the scornful, they do not delight in God's law, they do not like absolutes, they do not think about God's word.  They want to remove it.  They are different, there is a big difference between the godly and the ungodly.  

The ungodly are like chaff that the wind drives away.  The chaff is the rubbish that is left when the fruit is gone and the harvest is over.  The chaff is dead, it blows with the wind, it doesn't bear any fruit.  Easily carried away, not planted, unstable.

V5-6  "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish." What are the consequences of an ungodly life?  The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.  When the judgment comes not one sinner will stand up in his own defense.  There will be no defence.  Sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous.  The church of the firstborn, the ungodly will not stand up with the church of the firstborn.   The ungodly person will be noticed by their absence on that day.

Christian, the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish.   The godly way will last forever but the ungodly way will end.  The righteous plow a furrow on earth and sow seed which shall never be fully reaped until he enters eternity.  The way of the ungodly shall perish. 
Where are you plowing in your life?  Are you doing anything that will last?  You need to be saved to go where the righteous go, and if you are not your way of life shall perish.  

Are you godly or are you ungodly?  What does your life prove? What does my life prove?  Compare yourself with the psalm.  Do you follow the advice of the world?  Do you delight in the law of the Lord? in the absolutes of God? Are you planted, solid, refreshed by the rivers of water?  It is very plain to see what we are.  There is no confusion.  The godly person walks in God's direction.  The ungodly don't go in God's way, they have the world's lifestyle.

Which side are you on?  Which side does your life prove you are on?  Trust Jesus and you will be righteous.  Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
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The above notes were made by myself from the sermon by Paul Dowling of Whiteabbey Congregational (Reformed) at Sermon Audio

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12609934303