1 00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:04,500 All right, this morning we are going to be in Psalm chapter 1. 2 00:00:04,700 --> 00:00:08,800 Looking at as coal, describe the practice that spiritual 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:17,200 discipline of scripture. So Psalm chapter one, We need 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:24,000 like a cup holder right there. All right, so Psalm chapter one. 5 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:33,700 I love brisket. I really do you folks here know, 6 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:38,000 I do love me some barbecue beef, rib. 7 00:00:41,500 --> 00:00:45,800 I don't it's not that. I don't like, I'm just in 8 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:52,200 different and not real excited and kind of scoff at a ham 9 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,700 sandwich. Right. 10 00:00:54,700 --> 00:00:59,100 I think about a ham sandwich like my typical ham sandwich 11 00:00:59,100 --> 00:01:02,600 that I eat is going to be like that cheap 98, Cent Walmart 12 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,700 bread. That's got no nutrition to it. 13 00:01:06,100 --> 00:01:08,400 The mustard when it comes out it's going to spray a little bit 14 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,700 of that juice that comes before the mustard on the bread and 15 00:01:12,700 --> 00:01:14,600 then the hand that we get because, you know, we're 16 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,200 Thrifty, my wife likes a good deal, it's the ham that comes 17 00:01:18,300 --> 00:01:23,900 rectangular that has multi colors of ham in it, and a 18 00:01:23,908 --> 00:01:27,500 little Thin layer of like slime on it. 19 00:01:27,900 --> 00:01:30,600 You know what I'm talking about. And when you look at that, when 20 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:35,300 you look at that, when you look at that ham sandwich, you're not 21 00:01:35,300 --> 00:01:38,200 looking at a going. Oh, I can't wait to eat that. 22 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,300 It's just, it's just fuel to get through your day, right? 23 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,600 It's just but when you think about brisket, Talking about 24 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,700 something different and the reason I'm talking about 25 00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:50,500 sandwiches and food is not just to make everyone hungry and 26 00:01:50,500 --> 00:01:52,300 really impatient for me to get done with the sermon, so we can 27 00:01:52,300 --> 00:01:55,400 go eat. The reason I say this is because 28 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,500 some not some of us, I would say, the majority of us have a 29 00:01:58,500 --> 00:02:03,300 tendency have a tendency to look at the scripture, more like a 30 00:02:03,300 --> 00:02:07,500 ham sandwich. Then we do brisket, we tend to 31 00:02:07,500 --> 00:02:12,400 see the Bible more as like a ham sandwich that we have to deal 32 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,900 with a ham sandwich that we would throw in the trash. 33 00:02:16,900 --> 00:02:21,800 If anything better came along. And our lives, bear this out. 34 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,700 It's why it's why you? And I struggle to make the 35 00:02:26,700 --> 00:02:31,600 discipline of reading the Bible, a reality, in our life. 36 00:02:32,100 --> 00:02:35,100 It's why we struggle to spend time in the students why we 37 00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:37,400 struggled to enjoy the Scripture? 38 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:43,100 It is, we use vaulted and lofty language about the Bible. 39 00:02:43,100 --> 00:02:45,500 We talk about it, like it's brisket, don't we? 40 00:02:45,900 --> 00:02:51,700 It's God's word, right? It's Fallible inerrant. 41 00:02:51,700 --> 00:02:56,100 It is glorious. The Bible is everything in all 42 00:02:56,100 --> 00:03:00,300 of its glory and yet despite our lofty language despite the 43 00:03:00,300 --> 00:03:04,200 language that would we would use for something like brisket, we 44 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,700 end up treating it, and it ends up being in our life, something 45 00:03:07,700 --> 00:03:11,300 like a ham sandwich. And for a moment, I want to just 46 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:16,300 take a minute and wrestle with that reality and just think 47 00:03:16,300 --> 00:03:19,500 about why it is that we feel that way because there's good 48 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,400 Good reasons why we feel that way. 49 00:03:21,700 --> 00:03:23,500 We're it's not it's not like that. 50 00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:26,400 Just comes from nowhere. It's not like it just comes from 51 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,300 some malice against God makes sense. 52 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:35,000 It's a 2000 year old book written during the Bronze Age 53 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,200 with stories. That sound more like Marvel 54 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,400 movie plots than your day-to-day life. 55 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,200 It's weird. There are commands in it. 56 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:49,000 That makes zero sense. That even seem morally repugnant 57 00:03:49,100 --> 00:03:53,100 there are rituals that are just plain disgusting and weird like 58 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:55,300 sprinkling blood all over the place. 59 00:03:56,500 --> 00:03:58,600 There are names, we can't pronounce. 60 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:03,400 There are little, it's written in languages that are dead to a 61 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,600 people that no longer exists to a culture. 62 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,400 And in a culture that no longer is this, it's just foreign, it's 63 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:19,200 weird and it's really long, and in a lot of places, really 64 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,800 boring. So it's no wonder that we're 65 00:04:24,808 --> 00:04:27,200 tempted to think it's like a ham sandwich than brisket. 66 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,500 It's no wonder that we talk about it. 67 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,300 Like it's honey on our lips but treat it and in our lives, 68 00:04:35,500 --> 00:04:39,100 easily dismiss it and set it aside for a few more minutes of 69 00:04:39,100 --> 00:04:41,800 sleep. Or for whatever next video pops 70 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,600 up on your feet and YouTube or Facebook or wherever you're at, 71 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:48,900 It's not surprising that we would do this. 72 00:04:49,300 --> 00:04:51,600 Now it's not my desire here this morning. 73 00:04:51,700 --> 00:04:56,300 I'm not my intention to stand up here and demean or devalue the 74 00:04:56,300 --> 00:04:57,900 Bible to you. That's not what I want to do. 75 00:04:57,900 --> 00:04:59,600 In fact, I want to do the opposite of that. 76 00:05:00,700 --> 00:05:03,300 But I want to get to the heart of why it is that we struggle 77 00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:06,000 with the discipline of scripture, when I get to the 78 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,500 heart of it and that requires us looking this demon in the eye 79 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,600 and contending with the reality that we do. 80 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,600 Not believe what we believe about the Bible. 81 00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:25,000 That's pretty much what it is. We just don't believe what it is 82 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,700 that we believe about the by. We believe it's God's word, but 83 00:05:28,700 --> 00:05:32,700 we just, we don't believe it. It and that if you read the 84 00:05:32,700 --> 00:05:36,300 scripture carefully, you'll know that this is this is a common 85 00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:39,100 theme throughout scripture. People believe things that they 86 00:05:39,100 --> 00:05:42,700 don't really believe. This is why Paul in Ephesians 87 00:05:42,700 --> 00:05:46,800 chapter 3, praise to the church that he just talks about as 88 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,700 being in Christ and the love of Christ, he prays that they would 89 00:05:50,700 --> 00:05:55,300 know the love of Christ. Why would he pray that? 90 00:05:55,300 --> 00:05:57,700 People who know the love of Christ, know the love of Christ. 91 00:05:58,500 --> 00:06:00,900 Because they don't believe what they believe and that's that's 92 00:06:01,100 --> 00:06:05,000 our situation here. We don't actually believe what 93 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:10,200 we Proclaim to believe about the Bible and so if that's the case, 94 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,000 it's not going to be helpful for me or anyone to stand up here to 95 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,900 give you some new strategy for reading the Bible. 96 00:06:17,100 --> 00:06:20,300 Here's 12 steps for reading the Bible. 97 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:23,100 Well, this year, it's not going to help you to just get a course 98 00:06:23,100 --> 00:06:26,200 on hermeneutics to be able to read the Bible better. 99 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,200 It's not going to help you for me to stand up here. 100 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:32,400 Shane you into it, either we have to get to what's at the 101 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:38,900 heart and what is in our hearts is that Our experience and our 102 00:06:38,900 --> 00:06:43,500 interaction with the Bible seems far less impressive than the 103 00:06:43,508 --> 00:06:46,500 words. We use to describe it and we 104 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:51,200 have to be able to manage that, and we need God's help. 105 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:56,100 We need God's help badly, to help us perceive that the bible 106 00:06:56,100 --> 00:07:00,900 really is what we say about it and experience that to some 107 00:07:00,900 --> 00:07:03,400 degree. So that we can be changed and be 108 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,300 helped in our pursuit of discipline ourselves with it. 109 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,300 So, that's my goal this morning, it's my goal. 110 00:07:08,300 --> 00:07:11,700 I want to spend time. As we look at Psalm chapter 1. 111 00:07:11,900 --> 00:07:16,200 I want to spend time. Trying to do this to help you 112 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:21,700 see maybe just one degree more in your life that the Bible is 113 00:07:21,700 --> 00:07:24,700 brisket. It's not a ham sandwich and I 114 00:07:24,708 --> 00:07:28,400 believe that if we can do that, if we can grow in our, in 115 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,000 believing what we believe about the Bible, that will make all 116 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,700 the difference for you in terms of your discipline and reading 117 00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:35,400 the scripture, because here's the reality. 118 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:42,500 I will never get up at 3 a.m. to make a ham sandwich and look at 119 00:07:42,500 --> 00:07:46,300 it and longed for it all day. But I will every day of the week 120 00:07:46,300 --> 00:07:50,900 get up and trim a brisket at 2:00 in the morning and then 121 00:07:50,900 --> 00:07:55,100 I'll smell the wood and I'll think about it all day and I'll 122 00:07:55,100 --> 00:07:57,400 check the temp and I'll wrap it and butcher paper. 123 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:00,400 And then I'll do a little happy dance when it comes out of that 124 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,000 butcher paper. And I take the first bite, that 125 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,100 is how the Bible is experienced by David through the Psalms 126 00:08:08,300 --> 00:08:10,200 that's how God wants us to experience it. 127 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,200 That's what is for us and I want us to get one step closer there 128 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,600 so someone will help it. So stand with me as we read 129 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:22,000 God's word. And hear what someone has to 130 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:32,400 say. Blessed is the man who walks not 131 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,799 in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of 132 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:41,400 Sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. 133 00:08:42,299 --> 00:08:45,600 But his Delight is in the law of the Lord. 134 00:08:46,300 --> 00:08:53,300 And on his law, he meditates day and night He is like a tree 135 00:08:53,300 --> 00:08:57,300 planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season 136 00:08:57,300 --> 00:09:01,500 and it's Leaf does not Wither in all that he does. 137 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:06,900 He prospers the wicked are not so but are like chaff that the 138 00:09:06,900 --> 00:09:10,500 wind drives away, therefore the wicked will not stand in the 139 00:09:10,500 --> 00:09:13,300 Judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 140 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,700 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the Way of the 141 00:09:17,700 --> 00:09:22,500 Wicked Will perish You could be seated in God's presence. 142 00:09:28,300 --> 00:09:31,500 Let's pray and ask the Lord for help this morning as we think 143 00:09:31,500 --> 00:09:36,200 through this. Lord, we ask now that the words 144 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:43,100 of my mouth would be used by you empowered, by your word and by 145 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:51,100 your spirit to cause our hearts to perceive all the riches, the 146 00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:54,600 sweetness, and The Delectable nests of your word this morning. 147 00:09:54,700 --> 00:09:57,800 We need your help in Jesus name. We ask this. 148 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:03,000 Amen. So Psalm 1, if you as you read 149 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,100 it with me teaches us that the scriptures brisket it's not a 150 00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:11,200 ham sandwich. It teaches us that it's all we 151 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,800 have been salivating for throughout our whole lives and 152 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,700 my hope is that as we consider it, you'll come to believe is a 153 00:10:17,700 --> 00:10:22,900 little bit more. Psalm 1 is a Hebrew poem, it's a 154 00:10:22,908 --> 00:10:26,500 Hebrew poem. And as a poem, it's one of those 155 00:10:26,500 --> 00:10:29,800 reasons we tend to see the Bible more as a ham sandwich because 156 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,300 it doesn't even rhyme. I mean, how many times have I 157 00:10:33,300 --> 00:10:35,100 heard this complaint about the Bible? 158 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:39,200 It's got poetry. That doesn't even rhyme again. 159 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,100 It's because it's written by a very different culture with very 160 00:10:42,100 --> 00:10:44,400 different ways of expressing things. 161 00:10:46,100 --> 00:10:50,100 In this poem, in this, and in Hebrew poetry, in general, it's 162 00:10:50,100 --> 00:10:51,700 right words. Don't rhyme. 163 00:10:52,100 --> 00:10:54,200 It's not only because it was written in Hebrew, is also 164 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,500 because of the design of Hebrew poetry is not intended to do 165 00:10:58,500 --> 00:11:00,600 that. Instead, what you find or weird 166 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,500 things that we don't see a lot, we don't use this word a lot, 167 00:11:03,500 --> 00:11:07,200 it's called a parallelism. And here we have a triplet, 168 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:11,700 triplet triplet parallelism where Paul is comparing things 169 00:11:11,700 --> 00:11:13,100 and mayor. Not Paul. 170 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,100 I said, Paul didn't I did not Paul. 171 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:20,100 I'm in New Testament too much. We see we see the writer of this 172 00:11:20,100 --> 00:11:24,800 Psalm making comparisons and using repetition to make a 173 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,300 point. And in, in this Psalm, he's 174 00:11:27,300 --> 00:11:30,800 making drawing a contrast drawing, a contrast between two 175 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,900 different kinds of people, he's setting up, a contrast of 176 00:11:33,900 --> 00:11:38,500 dichotomy, two different lives, the blessed life, and the wicked 177 00:11:38,500 --> 00:11:43,200 life, the blessed, man, the Blessed woman, and the Wicked 178 00:11:43,300 --> 00:11:47,100 Man, The Wicked Woman. And we Find that the blessed and 179 00:11:47,100 --> 00:11:49,800 the wicked have two different kinds of lives. 180 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,500 And so let's, let's let's see. This verse 1. 181 00:11:52,500 --> 00:11:57,100 The very first line is blessed. Is the man, this is talking 182 00:11:57,100 --> 00:12:01,800 about a blessed person. Could also be translated as 183 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,300 happy. Could also be translated as 184 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,800 joyful, this is the happy life. This is the joyful. 185 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,000 Like this is the blessed life, the blessed, man. 186 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,000 Filled up with satisfaction a person's settled in their own 187 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:19,500 skin. They're blessed. 188 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:22,900 Their life is good. Things are well with them and we 189 00:12:22,900 --> 00:12:26,800 see the degree to, which it is in verse 3, that they are 190 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:31,000 flourishing in their life. This is a blessed person whose 191 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:36,300 life is marked by flourishing fruit and prosperity. 192 00:12:36,300 --> 00:12:38,700 We see that. Clearly in verse 3, he is like a 193 00:12:38,700 --> 00:12:43,600 tree strong rooted planted by streams of water. 194 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:48,200 Where there's plenty and provision and sustenance. 195 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:53,300 The that yields its fruit in its season it's productive. 196 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,800 It's Leaf, does not wither, it doesn't shrink up and shrivel 197 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,100 up. There's no winter and imagine 198 00:12:59,100 --> 00:13:05,100 that no winter, no time, of not producing, it is healthy. 199 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,300 And all that he does he prospers. 200 00:13:09,700 --> 00:13:12,300 This is amazing. This is this is the life we all 201 00:13:12,300 --> 00:13:15,800 long for. This is the life we dream about 202 00:13:15,900 --> 00:13:18,700 this is brisket, this is what we do. 203 00:13:18,700 --> 00:13:22,700 Happy dance for this is what we long for we pursue this. 204 00:13:22,700 --> 00:13:26,500 We all want this, and this is what Adam and Eve had in the 205 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:28,900 garden, in the beginning of the scriptures, prior to their 206 00:13:28,900 --> 00:13:31,600 fallen sin. They had this productive life. 207 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,300 And what you see here is basically the image of a garden. 208 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,700 You basically see the Image of this identical Paradise here, 209 00:13:39,700 --> 00:13:44,000 and this is what marks the person who the blessed person 210 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,500 this is what marks their life. The blessed man, not only lives 211 00:13:48,500 --> 00:13:52,900 in Paradise, but he produces and brings that new create that 212 00:13:52,900 --> 00:13:57,400 creation, the new creation to the world around him prospering 213 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:01,200 and bearing fruit. What simply could be better than 214 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,200 that. What could be better than that? 215 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,100 What kind of life could be? That it's so good. 216 00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:11,300 It seems beyond reason and yet we see this contrast then in 217 00:14:11,300 --> 00:14:14,600 verse 1 as well. It's no, not only talking about 218 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:19,000 the blessed man, but he talks about the wicked and you see 219 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:21,800 that comparison there. And here we see, one of those 220 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:25,300 Hebrew parallelisms where he describes the wicked in three 221 00:14:25,300 --> 00:14:29,200 different ways. He does not walk in the counsel 222 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,100 of the wicked stand in the way of Sinners, nor sit in the seat 223 00:14:33,100 --> 00:14:35,600 of scoffers and we see this parallelism, three. 224 00:14:36,100 --> 00:14:37,800 Lines. That are basically saying the 225 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,400 same things with a little bit different wording to give nuance 226 00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:44,000 and to give color to what he's talking about. 227 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,300 About the wicked and verse 4. He comes back to this and he 228 00:14:48,300 --> 00:14:56,400 says the wicked are not so Wicked sinner scoffer, these 229 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:01,200 terms Sinner and scoffer kind of these terms kind of work. 230 00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:06,100 Like, like nuancing different colors of what it means to be 231 00:15:06,100 --> 00:15:08,900 Wicked. A sinner is someone who Rebels 232 00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:14,200 against God Rebels against Authority, they twist, and 233 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:19,400 pervert truth, and then scoffer gives us a little bit different 234 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,400 color asked offered. We don't use that word very 235 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,300 often. It's not very Common word that 236 00:15:24,300 --> 00:15:26,100 we use. But essentially what it means is 237 00:15:26,100 --> 00:15:29,300 someone who turns their nose up at something with a little bit 238 00:15:29,300 --> 00:15:33,400 of disgust, my wife and I were out having a drink with some 239 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:37,000 friends. And as we're sitting there in 240 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,500 this bar on the TV up behind us are behind. 241 00:15:41,500 --> 00:15:45,100 The couple were sitting across from, I see a TV screen and a 242 00:15:45,100 --> 00:15:49,800 press conference comes on and in this press conference my beloved 243 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,700 Cubs catcher. Willie. 244 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:59,200 Willie, Contreras is sitting there and he now has on a 245 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:04,300 cardinal shirt. He got traded, I didn't expect 246 00:16:04,300 --> 00:16:07,100 it, I didn't, I did. I knew it happened. 247 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:11,700 And I grieved in my heart about it, but I wasn't prepared to see 248 00:16:11,700 --> 00:16:14,200 it. And when I did, my wife will 249 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,500 tell you. I scoffed, I was like, ah, ah, 250 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:18,900 turn it off. Get it away. 251 00:16:18,900 --> 00:16:23,700 I can't see it. That's coughing. 252 00:16:25,300 --> 00:16:27,700 And what you've, what? And the silly illustration. 253 00:16:27,700 --> 00:16:31,100 But the point is that someone who scoffs looks at something 254 00:16:31,100 --> 00:16:34,500 with a degree of disgust, they look at something and they feel 255 00:16:34,500 --> 00:16:39,700 an inner sense of And this describes the wicked person, 256 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,300 they not only rebel against God, the Intolerable against his 257 00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:49,100 purposes but they find it gross, God's gross, his ways are gross. 258 00:16:49,300 --> 00:16:53,900 I don't want anything to do with them and then Verses 4 through 259 00:16:53,900 --> 00:16:57,400 6. Explain to us what that kind of 260 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:58,300 life. Looks like. 261 00:16:58,300 --> 00:17:04,099 What it produces if the blessed person is basically in Paradise, 262 00:17:04,300 --> 00:17:06,700 what does the wicked person's life look like it. 263 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:08,300 It's what would says there in verse 4. 264 00:17:08,500 --> 00:17:11,500 There are like chaff that the wind drives away. 265 00:17:12,700 --> 00:17:17,099 Which means essentially that their life is meaningless, it's 266 00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:21,800 it's in vain, chaff is the little husk little husk, very 267 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:26,300 light husk that lives on the outside of a grain of wheat. 268 00:17:26,500 --> 00:17:31,000 And when it is lying on the ground, a slightest Breeze, will 269 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:32,900 pick it up and carry it away, like it's nothing. 270 00:17:32,900 --> 00:17:35,300 It's like a Mist. It's nothing. 271 00:17:35,500 --> 00:17:39,800 It's light. And in, it's inconsequential and 272 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,400 it's what he says. The wicked's life is like it is 273 00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:46,500 Inconsequential. It is vain, it's accomplishes 274 00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:49,500 nothing productive. Unlike the blessed man. 275 00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:52,800 But then he says in verse 5, he goes on and says they're not 276 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,900 going to stand in the Judgment. In other words, they may be 277 00:17:55,900 --> 00:17:57,800 rebelling against God but they're going to be brought to 278 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:02,700 their knees. Nor sinners in the congregation 279 00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:04,900 of the righteous. And here what you have is an 280 00:18:04,900 --> 00:18:10,200 image of community people gathered together and they're 281 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:13,500 not going to be among them, they're going to be out in 282 00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:20,300 darkness separated from Community isolated and alone. 283 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,800 And then verse 6 the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the 284 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,000 Way of the Wicked Will perish God doesn't know their way 285 00:18:30,100 --> 00:18:31,800 because he's not been down their path. 286 00:18:33,700 --> 00:18:35,900 They don't know, they aren't on the path. 287 00:18:35,900 --> 00:18:43,800 That God knows and death creeps into their life death surrounds 288 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,300 them. That's what the that phrase. 289 00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:47,600 The Way of the Wicked Will perish. 290 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,600 They're not among the congregation, they're sent out 291 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:58,000 of the garden, their life is not in Paradise, but it's outside of 292 00:18:58,008 --> 00:19:02,200 the presence of God and isolation and alone. 293 00:19:04,100 --> 00:19:06,200 And they disappear as if they're innocent nothing. 294 00:19:06,300 --> 00:19:10,400 This is this, a nightmare. This is an absolute nightmare of 295 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:15,800 a scenario. And we've all known maybe have 296 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:21,600 been or even are this person. people in our Lives who we the 297 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,500 very common phrase that we use today, is someone who's toxic 298 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:32,900 The kind of person that scoffs at their friends and their 299 00:19:32,900 --> 00:19:37,400 family, and it God, the kind of person that stirs up division. 300 00:19:37,700 --> 00:19:40,400 The relationships are marked by quarreling. 301 00:19:40,700 --> 00:19:46,100 The relationships are marked by retreating and isolation, and 302 00:19:46,100 --> 00:19:52,700 they live in kind of Darkness alone and sad and feel and 303 00:19:52,700 --> 00:19:55,100 experience the meaninglessness of this. 304 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:01,100 There's no Oh, there's it's not. It shouldn't be surprising to 305 00:20:01,100 --> 00:20:03,100 us. That Jesus would describe hell 306 00:20:03,100 --> 00:20:08,800 this way as outer darkness, and isolation and alone. 307 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,700 So, you have this picture. Then this contrast the blessed 308 00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:16,000 man in Paradise. The Wicked, Man. 309 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:23,200 In a kind of hell. And you got this horrifying, 310 00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:28,600 scary contrast. What we haven't touched on is 311 00:20:28,700 --> 00:20:30,800 what leads to these two different outcomes? 312 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:34,300 What we what we haven't mentioned and you probably 313 00:20:34,300 --> 00:20:39,800 already know by implication is how these two outcomes come to 314 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,600 be. And what's interesting is the 315 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,000 way this song describes it because it describes it as a 316 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:52,200 kind of attention that a person has in their life, what they 317 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:58,300 give their attention to Is what leads to these two very 318 00:20:58,300 --> 00:21:01,500 different outcomes in their life to these two very different 319 00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:05,400 kinds of experiences in the world two. 320 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:07,100 Very different kinds of attention. 321 00:21:07,100 --> 00:21:11,400 We see that the blessed man does not give his attention to the 322 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:15,500 things and life and input of the wicked. 323 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,400 His attention is directed something somewhere. 324 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:23,300 Very different in verse 2. It tells us that his attention 325 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,000 is given to the law of God, which is another way of saying 326 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:36,200 the Bible the scripture. and when when the scripture here 327 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:41,800 gives us this idea of focusing, our attention I'm reminded just 328 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:48,000 to give us a the degree of attention that is being depicted 329 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,600 in this Lane, in this in this text is, is well, it can really 330 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,100 only be illustrated by my father again and I promise that my 331 00:21:56,100 --> 00:21:58,600 sermons are not just going to be commentary on my father's 332 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,200 hunting experiences. It's not where I'm going. 333 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,200 But this just is too rich and too helpful to avoid and he's 334 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,100 not here to be embarrassed by this. 335 00:22:07,100 --> 00:22:09,100 So, he'll have to listen and hear. 336 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,700 My father experienced this in his own life, he as is a deer 337 00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:17,300 hunter, if you weren't here last week, he was in his deer stand 338 00:22:17,300 --> 00:22:21,900 with his bow and he was using his bow to hunt deer during the 339 00:22:21,900 --> 00:22:25,400 rut, which is basically time when deer mate and the Bucks. 340 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,800 The male deer get very interested in the females and 341 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,500 they're very, very upset when they hear another male deer and 342 00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:34,300 their area and they want to fight them. 343 00:22:34,700 --> 00:22:37,700 And so hunters will carry with them, what's called a grunt 344 00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:40,200 call, which mimics the sound of a male deer. 345 00:22:40,700 --> 00:22:43,900 So that they say other bucks will come in and fight one 346 00:22:43,900 --> 00:22:46,500 another, and it gives them an opportunity to get a shot. 347 00:22:46,500 --> 00:22:50,700 Well, my dad has his has his grunt call on his around his 348 00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:53,300 neck. So he can have it at the ready 349 00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:56,600 to use and he's using it. And he's telling me I called 350 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,400 this deer in forever. It came in from ever forever 351 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,400 away, it gets in front of him and as it doesn't, he's got his 352 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,700 bow drawn back. Focused attention. 353 00:23:06,700 --> 00:23:11,300 So tight on this deer. He drops the grunt call from his 354 00:23:11,300 --> 00:23:15,200 mouth and does not realize because his attention is 355 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:19,500 focused, the grunt call Falls over the string, and as he 356 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:22,800 releases the arrow, his whole body goes with it. 357 00:23:23,300 --> 00:23:24,900 And the arrow goes down into the dirt. 358 00:23:24,900 --> 00:23:26,600 Nearly comes out of the deer standing mrs. 359 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,800 The deer. Never has a shot, doesn't get 360 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,600 it. It's just a tall tale that he 361 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,100 tells everybody with great distress. 362 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,900 And I could just I just had this picture of my dad going through 363 00:23:38,900 --> 00:23:41,000 all of this in the tree and it just makes me laugh. 364 00:23:42,100 --> 00:23:45,700 But the point is in that story. And what we see here in the 365 00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:51,300 scripture is that We give our attention to things that matter 366 00:23:51,300 --> 00:23:55,800 to us. And we give very focused clear 367 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,800 attention to the things that matter to us. 368 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,900 We don't give very much attention to things like ham 369 00:24:02,900 --> 00:24:05,800 sandwiches, which is why I don't throw the bread in the trash. 370 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,900 When that little juice comes out of the mustard bottle, I just 371 00:24:08,900 --> 00:24:13,600 eat it and deal with it but brisket There's a lot of 372 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,300 attention their attention that would get caused me to fall out 373 00:24:17,300 --> 00:24:20,400 of a tree if I'm not careful. Like my father and same with 374 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:25,000 deer hunters, they experience the same thing, attention 375 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:31,100 focused directs and shapes our life in a certain direction. 376 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:36,400 It shapes our life in ways that we can't imagine in here what we 377 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,800 see very clearly in verses 1 through 3. 378 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,600 Is that the blessed man has a different kind or different. 379 00:24:42,700 --> 00:24:46,100 Aunt different point of focus with his attention. 380 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:51,700 Then does the Wicked Man his attention is given to the law of 381 00:24:51,700 --> 00:25:00,100 God, the law those scriptures, he gives disciplined Focus 382 00:25:00,100 --> 00:25:04,700 attention to what God has said rather than scoffing at it 383 00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:09,900 turning his nose up at it and finding it, gross or 384 00:25:09,900 --> 00:25:15,900 unpalatable, he Delights in it. Rather than rebelling against 385 00:25:15,900 --> 00:25:19,300 it, he accepts it and conforms to it. 386 00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:23,500 He stands with the law of God, look at, look at how he talks 387 00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:29,200 about the way in which the blessed man does not engage with 388 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,700 the attention of the wicked. Notice the words, their walks 389 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,300 stands sits. You get the picture there of a 390 00:25:38,300 --> 00:25:42,600 person's whole life, every posture available to them. 391 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:47,100 Our whole life is given attention and rather than 392 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,900 walking standing and sitting in the counsel of the wicked. 393 00:25:51,100 --> 00:25:56,100 He is walking standing and sitting in the word of God in 394 00:25:56,100 --> 00:25:58,500 God's law. And we know this, because of the 395 00:25:58,500 --> 00:26:02,400 way, it's modified in verse two that he thinks about it, he 396 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:08,200 meditates upon it day and night. It dominates his attention at 397 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,100 2:00 in the morning, he wakes up and like me going after brisket, 398 00:26:12,100 --> 00:26:15,300 he thinks About the law of God, he relishes and he does. 399 00:26:15,500 --> 00:26:20,400 He finds in it? Something, sweet and glorious. 400 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,300 His attention is given to it full attention. 401 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:31,200 And he does this over time. He does this over time in his 402 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:36,000 life, takes shape because of it, and he becomes as it were a mini 403 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,500 version of the Garden of Eden, a new creation, a little outcrop 404 00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:45,400 of Heaven on Earth is what comes he bears fruit? 405 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,000 He's filled with delight. He's filled with joy. 406 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,900 He's filled with happiness and this dominates his life. 407 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:57,500 So know this, know this, if you want a life of flourishing and 408 00:26:57,500 --> 00:27:03,100 joy in Jesus, there's one way delighting yourself in God's 409 00:27:03,100 --> 00:27:08,100 word meditating on it day and night disciplining yourself, 410 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:18,500 daily reading meditating upon devouring tasting consuming the 411 00:27:18,500 --> 00:27:24,900 scripture as if it's brisket. But there's 33 implications that 412 00:27:24,900 --> 00:27:28,500 I'm going to run through and I've got plenty of time to do 413 00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:29,300 it. Yes. 414 00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:32,300 Three things, three implications. 415 00:27:32,300 --> 00:27:38,600 This has for us. This is great. 416 00:27:40,100 --> 00:27:42,300 Sounds great. Let's meditate on the law of 417 00:27:42,300 --> 00:27:45,000 God. We still feel like it's ham 418 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:49,700 sandwich. Set a lot of great things, 419 00:27:49,700 --> 00:27:52,800 right? Oh man, it's gonna lead us to 420 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:58,200 Paradise. it's still feels like a sandwich. 421 00:27:59,700 --> 00:28:06,300 What do we do with that? We need to know Jesus is the 422 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:08,600 blessed man in whom we find our blessedness. 423 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:15,500 Jesus is the blessed man of Psalm chapter 1 and we need to 424 00:28:15,500 --> 00:28:18,600 hear that. All of us fail to give proper 425 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,300 attention to God's word as we are. 426 00:28:20,900 --> 00:28:25,700 And we're too often encumbered by the death of our attention, 427 00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:29,000 being diverted to things in this world. 428 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,800 We know it because we feel it because we the, I mean, the 429 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,500 Facebook algorithm or the Algorithms on like, they know 430 00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:40,800 what we find to be brisket and it just it just sucks Us in, 431 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,500 right? And if it were up to you, if it 432 00:28:44,500 --> 00:28:48,800 were up to me, we would never find flourishing and joy because 433 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,700 reality is our default mode. In our flesh, is to scoff at 434 00:28:52,700 --> 00:28:56,400 God's word. Look at it like a ham sandwich. 435 00:28:57,900 --> 00:29:00,800 And move on to what we think to be bigger and better things. 436 00:29:01,900 --> 00:29:03,900 That's that's that's the reality of our lives. 437 00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:07,500 So many of our lives, but there's good news. 438 00:29:07,500 --> 00:29:11,800 There's good news here because we are not God does not leave us 439 00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:15,700 in a hopeless condition where the Way of the Wicked would 440 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:20,400 Define us apart from God's grace that this likely would be our 441 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,800 end. All of us, but there's good 442 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,900 news. God has not left us in our 443 00:29:24,900 --> 00:29:28,600 ignorance. He has sent his son Jesus. 444 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,400 Who delighted himself in the law of God? 445 00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:40,100 Jesus practiced, the discipline of scripture, he studied it from 446 00:29:40,100 --> 00:29:45,600 his youth, we know this from the gospels, Jesus engaged in Bible 447 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,900 study in his youth to the point where, as a kid, he was going 448 00:29:49,900 --> 00:29:53,400 into the temple and debating, the leaders of the Jewish 449 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:58,700 Community, teaching them what to believe, and teach about the 450 00:29:58,700 --> 00:30:02,000 Bible, he memorized it. We know that because, as he's 451 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,000 out doing battle with Even in the desert, which is like one of 452 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,300 the most epic chapters of the Bible, Jesus is literally 453 00:30:08,300 --> 00:30:11,500 battling Satan in the desert, and he does it by quoting 454 00:30:11,500 --> 00:30:15,800 scripture at him, because he memorized it, he knew it, he 455 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:20,400 debated the scripture, he taught the scripture, he used it to 456 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:25,200 bring healing to people raise people, from the dead deliver 457 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,100 them from demons. He used it when he was hanging 458 00:30:28,100 --> 00:30:33,100 on the cross paying for our sin, he disciplined. 459 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,800 Himself in the scripture and he didn't just discipline himself 460 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,300 in it. He spent time meditating on it 461 00:30:38,300 --> 00:30:40,300 and chewing on it and savoring it. 462 00:30:40,300 --> 00:30:46,500 Like it was brisket in his mouth like honey on his lips He used 463 00:30:46,500 --> 00:30:50,200 it to say, he used the scripture to save us from sin. 464 00:30:51,300 --> 00:30:55,700 And he is the Fulfillment of this. 465 00:30:55,700 --> 00:30:59,800 He is the blessed man and we know this because Jesus rises 466 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:05,100 from the dead as new creation. And from him comes the fruit of 467 00:31:05,100 --> 00:31:09,200 Salvation that we all get to walk in New Life. 468 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:13,600 New Hope New Hope. Flourishing forever flows from 469 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:17,100 him. He is the man of Psalm 1. 470 00:31:17,300 --> 00:31:23,800 Psalm 1 is Jesus, which is Hopeful for us because what that 471 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,700 means is we don't have to approach someone as if it 472 00:31:27,700 --> 00:31:31,400 depends upon us to realize the hope of it. 473 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,700 We don't have to take that world upon our shoulders because if we 474 00:31:35,700 --> 00:31:39,500 did, we just fail and what's so helpful theater and help me with 475 00:31:39,500 --> 00:31:45,200 this, this last week. Luke 24:44 this passage in Luke 476 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:49,500 chapter 24. I've always known that Jesus is 477 00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:51,900 the Fulfillment of the Old Testament and the Fulfillment of 478 00:31:51,900 --> 00:31:54,500 the Psalms. But I always just miss this 479 00:31:54,500 --> 00:31:58,900 little nugget in Luke 24, verse 44, is it up on the screen? 480 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:03,200 Look you here. These are My words that I spoke 481 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,600 to you while I was still with you, this is Jesus talking that 482 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,800 everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets. 483 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:14,900 And what the Psalms are fulfilled, Jesus fulfilled this 484 00:32:14,900 --> 00:32:20,100 for us and he wants you to know that you might feel discouraged 485 00:32:20,100 --> 00:32:22,900 that you would not be the blessed man in this text and 486 00:32:23,100 --> 00:32:28,100 you're right. You're not on your own. 487 00:32:29,300 --> 00:32:33,000 But there's glorious news. Jesus is and he invites, you 488 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:37,600 into his flourishing with him. To transform you and change. 489 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,900 You and bring new life and New Creation out of you. 490 00:32:40,900 --> 00:32:45,500 As you come to him, your Delight in God's law, then is a 491 00:32:45,508 --> 00:32:48,700 delighting in Jesus, and finding your hope, and your flourishing 492 00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:53,600 in your happiness and him. Not as the means to your own 493 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:58,400 self attained joy. And rather than this relieving, 494 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,500 you of the discipline of God's word, it frees you to engage it 495 00:33:01,500 --> 00:33:05,500 knowing that your flourishing is already guaranteed and that it's 496 00:33:05,500 --> 00:33:09,000 already one for you in Jesus. So you never have to fear being 497 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:13,900 caught up with the wicked. So, you can Feast freely and 498 00:33:13,900 --> 00:33:16,200 glut yourself on God's word without fear here. 499 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:22,100 Psalm one should not stand over you as a Christian as some angry 500 00:33:22,100 --> 00:33:27,600 schoolmarm threatening you, it's calling you to joy in Jesus. 501 00:33:28,700 --> 00:33:32,000 Which is amazing. The second implication is this 502 00:33:32,300 --> 00:33:37,300 that it is good and it is right to pursue the Bible as a means 503 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:41,200 to pursue a life of flourishing. It's good. 504 00:33:41,300 --> 00:33:46,000 And it's right to be motivated by wanting to flourish by coming 505 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,600 to the scriptures. Why read the Bible? 506 00:33:49,900 --> 00:33:54,000 You might ask. One answer because it's your 507 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,300 duty. Sure it is. 508 00:33:58,700 --> 00:34:03,200 It's not just that. There's more than that, God 509 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,600 created you for the purpose of delighting in him. 510 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:10,500 He created you for the purpose of enjoying him, he created you 511 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,800 so that you would flourish. And what this means is that you 512 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,900 can, and you should have a motive behind reading your 513 00:34:17,900 --> 00:34:22,300 Bible, you can, and you should have a motive for doing that 514 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,000 when I cook brisket, I don't cook brisket just so that 515 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,000 there's food on the table. I do it because I look forward 516 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:32,000 to that little happy dance. When I take the first bite, And 517 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,699 God wants you to do that. When you read the Bible, it is 518 00:34:35,699 --> 00:34:39,600 not just something God says to do just do it and shut up and do 519 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,400 it. He does it because he wants to 520 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:45,699 bring joy and flourishing in your life and you can accept 521 00:34:45,699 --> 00:34:49,000 that as a legitimate real motive in some Christians, have a very 522 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:50,699 hard time with that. They think they need to have 523 00:34:50,699 --> 00:34:56,600 some, some lack of self-interest when reading the scriptures are 524 00:34:56,699 --> 00:35:01,100 obeying God and God never in the Bible just says do it and 525 00:35:01,100 --> 00:35:04,700 doesn't give you some kind of self-interested motive. 526 00:35:04,900 --> 00:35:07,800 It's some weird actually. It's from Emanuel cotton. 527 00:35:07,900 --> 00:35:10,200 Anyway, we won't go into all that you don't care about the 528 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,200 flaws. Philosophical history of it. 529 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:14,800 But there's a reason why we westerners don't want to think. 530 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,400 We want to think that we can't have self-interest when we 531 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,000 pursued obedience to God and it's not biblical. 532 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,700 It's a secular philosophy that has infected the mind of the 533 00:35:24,700 --> 00:35:28,600 church that's really harmed us. And what you need to know is 534 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:33,300 that God designed you to have a self-interested motive in 535 00:35:33,300 --> 00:35:36,600 obeying him and engaging him and it's your joy in him. 536 00:35:36,900 --> 00:35:40,000 The two are not different things, they're not separate 537 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,500 realities. He's as if your joy in him was 538 00:35:43,500 --> 00:35:47,400 somehow fight against his glory for himself there. 539 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:51,700 One reality, they can be one married reality, and what God 540 00:35:51,700 --> 00:35:54,000 wants you to do. When you see the scripture is to 541 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,100 look at it and say, oh I get a happy dance with that, I that's 542 00:35:58,100 --> 00:36:03,100 honey on my lips and that brings him more Glory than if you just 543 00:36:03,100 --> 00:36:05,800 merely obey him because well that's just what you got to do. 544 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:09,400 John Piper says, it better than me. 545 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:11,400 But that's that's that's what it is. 546 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,300 So do you want to be happy? Do you want to flourish then 547 00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:17,300 make reading the Bible, a discipline in your life? 548 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:22,100 Jesus doesn't just say pick up your cross and follow me. 549 00:36:22,700 --> 00:36:24,600 He says, do you want to live then? 550 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:26,000 Pick up your cross and follow me. 551 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,500 Do you want Paradise then? Pick up your cross and follow 552 00:36:29,500 --> 00:36:30,800 me. That's why the covenants are 553 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:35,800 filled filled with blessings. If you obey them, it's why God 554 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,700 is constantly putting his drug before. 555 00:36:37,700 --> 00:36:43,300 And it's also how Jesus obeyed God, when Jesus is on the cross. 556 00:36:43,500 --> 00:36:47,600 He's not merely saying, well, this is just what God does. he's 557 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:49,700 saying, no, there's joy out in front of me that I'm going to 558 00:36:49,700 --> 00:36:57,500 pursue and so in Hebrews 12:2, God wants you, he demands that. 559 00:36:57,500 --> 00:37:01,100 You come to him, finding joy and Paradise in him. 560 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:06,100 And so engaging, the scriptures is not just a duty for you to do 561 00:37:06,900 --> 00:37:12,600 engaging, the scriptures here as verse 2 says, is a delight It's 562 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,200 a delight. There is a brisket kind of. 563 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:19,600 Happy dance in it. Then last. 564 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,700 And I think this is, I hope this is helpful for someone this 565 00:37:23,700 --> 00:37:30,200 morning. This is a process. 566 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:37,700 It is not something that happens in a moment in a person's life. 567 00:37:37,900 --> 00:37:44,000 Look there at verse 20 verse 3. He's like a tree planted by 568 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:50,000 streams of water. My wife and I, we planted a tree 569 00:37:50,100 --> 00:37:56,100 and our yard a few years ago, that's things still is not 570 00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:02,100 throwing shade in my yard. We gotta wait years for that to 571 00:38:02,100 --> 00:38:08,100 happen and it's irritating frustrating and there's a little 572 00:38:08,100 --> 00:38:11,300 bit of anxiety when is it going to happen and is this winter 573 00:38:11,300 --> 00:38:14,300 going to be the one that kills it off, right? 574 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,600 But it grows a little bit, just not enough for me to feel 575 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:25,000 satisfied with it. No, this this is how God is 576 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,800 shaping you in his word when you come to it and you're like, what 577 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:34,500 the heck, am I reading? What are all these silly names 578 00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:41,100 in these long genealogies? What in the world is up with 579 00:38:41,100 --> 00:38:45,700 Paul saying in 1st Corinthians chapter 9, that threshing out 580 00:38:45,700 --> 00:38:48,400 the grain? The doloxan threshing out. 581 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:52,200 The grain is being allowed to thresh the grain. 582 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:56,700 While he does his work is the reason why pastors should be 583 00:38:56,700 --> 00:38:58,500 paid. And that's what Moses really 584 00:38:58,500 --> 00:39:02,100 meant when he wrote that law. I've been studying the scripture 585 00:39:02,100 --> 00:39:08,500 for 20 years, more than that and that is the craziest thing I've 586 00:39:08,500 --> 00:39:11,800 ever heard. Where did Paul come up with that 587 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:14,700 idea? I can make no logical sense of 588 00:39:14,700 --> 00:39:17,600 that, it frustrates. It's me and I'm like, Paul what 589 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:19,400 are you doing? I can't. 590 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:23,800 I don't I don't know how to deal with it or when you read read 591 00:39:24,500 --> 00:39:27,800 some of the Psalms imprecatory Psalms, where they're calling 592 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,900 for the destruction of enemies or you just read Joshua and 593 00:39:30,900 --> 00:39:32,900 you're like whoa there's a lot of blood there are you just look 594 00:39:32,900 --> 00:39:36,000 at the Tabernacle and God's please with blood being spilled 595 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:38,000 it? Like these things are hard. 596 00:39:40,100 --> 00:39:45,200 And God puts us in a situation where we don't find all of the 597 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,100 glory at one moment. There's a process. 598 00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:51,500 We're like little trees. That frustratingly. 599 00:39:51,500 --> 00:39:55,600 Grow small little bits over time. 600 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,800 And so if you're struggling with finding the scripture to be 601 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:03,400 honey, on your lips to be brisket in your mouth. 602 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,000 Be patient. Be patient. 603 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:12,700 God seems to be weirdly interested in doing things that 604 00:40:12,700 --> 00:40:16,300 I find irritating, which is not giving me everything I want in a 605 00:40:16,308 --> 00:40:20,400 moment. He is very comfortable. 606 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,200 Happy for you to struggle through it and to come through 607 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:27,600 it. And the reality is, that's a 608 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:33,000 really good thing because what that means for you is that there 609 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:38,900 are millions upon Millions. Of little taste of brisket for 610 00:40:38,900 --> 00:40:45,000 you forever to enjoy. I am I've learned to be really 611 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,800 happy that I don't understand for its Corinthians 9:9, but I 612 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:52,300 know that one day I will and I'll do a little happy dance 613 00:40:52,300 --> 00:40:55,400 when I figure it out. I know that just like feed and 614 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:58,000 when he brought up, Luke 24 24 last week. 615 00:40:58,300 --> 00:41:01,800 I knew that the Psalms fulfilled were fulfilled in Jesus, but 616 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:05,600 when he said it, I literally and everyone at my community group 617 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,400 contested, I literally Get a happy dance in our living room. 618 00:41:09,100 --> 00:41:11,000 I was excited. It was like, oh my gosh. 619 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:13,600 There it is. I knew it, but I didn't know it. 620 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:18,000 And what this means is that God is giving us something like an 621 00:41:18,008 --> 00:41:23,200 adventure of exploring him and knowing him and experiencing 622 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:27,900 little incremental bits of the reality of who he is. 623 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,300 And every little bit of it, satisfies our soul. 624 00:41:31,500 --> 00:41:35,100 And at the same time transforms us into those works of New 625 00:41:35,100 --> 00:41:37,800 Creation, which is Is just incredible. 626 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,300 It's literally the best of all worlds. 627 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:48,100 So, Be patient. You're on a long exciting, 628 00:41:48,100 --> 00:41:53,900 never-ending Adventure ride. and you'll forever get to take 629 00:41:54,100 --> 00:41:59,100 greater take in greater and greater glories as you as you 630 00:41:59,108 --> 00:42:03,200 not only learn more as you read the scriptures but as you are 631 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:09,300 transformed into the image of God, through the scriptures, And 632 00:42:09,300 --> 00:42:14,100 that if you haven't already concluded, this is better than 633 00:42:14,100 --> 00:42:16,700 brisket. It's better. 634 00:42:17,500 --> 00:42:19,100 It's better than anything in this world. 635 00:42:20,500 --> 00:42:23,800 So why is a church where we going to discipline ourselves in 636 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:26,500 the reading of scripture? It's not just because we want to 637 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:33,300 look like academic Scholars who've mastered an ancient book, 638 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,800 it's because there's joy and New Creation in it. 639 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,500 So let's pursue that as Jesus did and be like him in that way. 640 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:46,000 Let's pray and ask his help to do so. 641 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:58,100 God, we confess that we are tempted to just be frustrated 642 00:42:58,100 --> 00:43:04,600 sometimes with your word because it's hard and will admit that 643 00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:10,900 sometimes reading it feels boring. we know, we know though 644 00:43:10,900 --> 00:43:17,200 that it's not, it's our ignorance and our foolishness 645 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:24,600 and are just hardheadedness and Smallness that lead us to these 646 00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:28,400 conclusions, but I pray this morning that your spirit would 647 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:34,700 give us just even one degree further unawareness of all the 648 00:43:34,700 --> 00:43:39,200 glory that there is, so that we would be encouraged to delve, 649 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:42,300 even deeper and more profoundly into your word. 650 00:43:42,300 --> 00:43:45,100 Together, in Jesus name, we pray and ask this. 651 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:59,700 Amen. Tell me about the smell. 652 00:43:59,700 --> 00:44:01,400 What's the smell in this apartment? 653 00:43:58,500 --> 00:44:00,600 Tell me about the smell. What's the smell in this 654 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:01,400 apartment?