Sermon Extras

SERMON NOTES

Summer in the Psalms: Psalm 1

INTRO> We start a new book of the Bible today! The Psalms! We always take time each year in the summer to walk through this book! Before we get started this is a picture of my Aunt BB. Aunt BB was that super fun Aunt growing up, my kids love Aunt BB! One thing I will alway remember about Aunt BB is her purse or her bag. Aunt BB was the type of person who carried everything that you could ever need, gum, snacks, tylenol all that stuff. Always in zip lock bags. 

CONTEXT> That is what the book of Psalms has been like for the people of God for over 2,000 years. 

• “The book of Psalms is the souls medicine chest.” – Puritians 
• “Whatever your particular need or trouble, from the same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you not merely hear and pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill.” -Fourth-century bishop Athanasius
• “The Psalms are a mini Bible.” Martin Luther
• The word “Psalm” translates from Greek to “song” the Hebrew name means “praises”. Israels hymnbook. 
• It has many authors, David writing the majority, Mosses even writes one! 
• They span a time frame of about 1,000 of Israels history!
• The Book of Psalms is the longest book in the bible with 150 chapters. 
• It is the most quoted OT book in the NT over 100x!
• It is ancient Hebrew poetry that is arranged in 5 particular “books” or sections. (5 books, which mirrors the law, it’s literally like a sound track to the law!) 
• The Psalms are ultimately about Jesus. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27 

PSALM 1 > The Psalms are arranged in a particular way we said, and Psalm 1 is the first Psalm and most scholars agree that it’s there for a very important reason. *ILL> WE recently visited the Saint Louis Arch (PIC) did you know I thought that was the name of it, the Saint Louis Arch. It’s not, it’s “The Gateway Arch” symbolizing the “gateway to the west”. That’s what Psalm 1 is! It is the “gateway to the other Psalms! It is the key to the rest of the book! And there is gold here, what is this Psalm really about: 

• It is a compare and contrast. The Godly and the ungodly, the blessed life and the cursed life. 
• On the surface this Psalm could be about, “what not to do” sit, stand, walk all of that stuff. 
• There is ONE key determining factor that separates these two paths, these two people and the KEY to the book of psalms and it’s found in verse 2 “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

APP> The key to this psalm and to the entire book of Psalms and even the Bible… is meditation! The word “meditate” is used used 17x in scripture and 14 of those is in Psalms! We need to know the difference as to what we are talking about, we are not talking about emptying your mind. 

• Everybody knows how to meditate. *ILL> Remember back in the day when you were dating someone you put their picture in the dash of your car? Thats meditation! 
• *ILL> My father in law is into cooking and smoking meats. One of the things that he does is marinate the meet in something. That meat soaks, its actually breaks down the tissue and make it better! 

Biblical Meditation is the slow act of soaking and saturating in the scriptures so they move from your head to your heart. 

APP> God promises us 3 beautiful things in this Psalm if we will give oversell over to meditating on his word: 

3 promises from meditating on God’s Word: 

1. Blessings. v1
2. Stability v3a
3. Prosperity v3b

How do we meditate on God’s Word? (Luther’s T.A.C.S) 

• Teaching- What does this teach me about God?
• Admiring- How can I admire God for this truth?
• Confessing- What sin can I confess in light of this truth?
• Supplication- What can I ask God for? 

CLOSE> The name Hariet Tubman is familiar to all of us. The woman who was born into slavery and eventful became a leader to free slaves themselves. She was a devout and dedicated Christian and practiced meditating on scripture constantly she told her biographer: “I prayed all the time,” she told her biographer, “about my work, everywhere; I was always talking to the Lord. When I went to the horse trough to wash my face and took up the water in my hands, I said, ‘Oh, Lord, wash me, make me clean.’ When I took up the towel to wipe my face and hands, I cried, ‘Oh, Lord, for Jesus’ sake, wipe away all my sins!’ When I took up the broom and began to sweep, I groaned, ‘Oh, Lord, whatsoever sin there be in my heart, sweep it out, Lord, clear and clean.’”

• Do you want the blessing, stability and prosperity that Psalm 1 speaks of? 
• Then pick up the book!