Sunday
Morning Bible Study
August 31, 2003
Introduction
Every year the Gallup News Service conducts a poll of the Most Admired
people in America.
In 1996 the list was topped by President Clinton, followed by Pope John Paul
II, Colin Powell, and the Rev. Billy Graham.
In 2002 the list of most admired men was topped by President Bush, former
President Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell, Pope John Paul II, and former President
Bill Clinton
The 2002 most admired women list was headed by Senator
Hillary Clinton, then Laura Bush, and Oprah Winfrey. Interestingly, when only women were polled,
Oprah came out on top. When Americans
18-30 years old were polled, the top gal was … Jennifer Lopez.
The record for being on the top ten Most Admired list has been on the list
more than forty times since 1948, almost twice as much as the next person, is
held by …Billy Graham.
Who do you admire?
Psalm 1 – The person to admire
:1 Blessed is the man
Blessed – ‘esher –
happiness, blessedness
There are two verbs in Hebrew meaning “to bless.” One is bārak
and the other ‘esher. There are
some important differences between the two words.
Bārak is sometimes used in relation to God where God “blesses”
someone, whereas ‘esher is never used
in relation between God and man. ‘Esher is solely used towards man and seems to carry
the idea of “envious desire”, as in “I wish I had what you have”. God doesn’t
“bless” man with the word ‘esher
because God doesn’t wish He could be like us (it’s us who wish we were more
like Him).
What we’re going to look at is not as much the idea of “God’s blessing” on
a person, but the idea of being a person that others wish they could be like. The one to admire.
Lesson
Who do you want to be like?
We live in a world where certain types of people are held up as heroes and the
ones we want to be like.
There is something kind of thrilling to have a man like Arnold
Schwarzenegger run for governor. I’m not
trying to make a political statement here, but think about what’s so
exciting. I don’t think most people are
attracted to Mr. Schwarzenegger because of his views or his experience in
leadership. People are attracted because
he’s a cool guy.
There’s a disturbing new movie out called “Thirteen” that follows a young
girl who wants to be popular and accepted.
It follows her rapid descent into stealing, ditching school, wearing
raunchy clothes, drinking, taking drugs, promiscuous sex and self-mutilation.
She admires the wrong people.
I can’t help but think of the story that hit this week about the MTV music
video award show. Apparently the show
started with two ex-Mickey Mouse club members, Britney Spears and Christina
Aguilera, performing a song that was done at the first MTV award show in 1984
by Madonna. They apparently dressed up
like Madonna, sang her song, and even did the same dance steps that Madonna
did. It sounded to me that perhaps they
“admired” Madonna a little. And then
Madonna showed up and gave each girl a full on kiss. I don’t mean to sound judgmental, but I’m not
sure Madonna is someone to admire. And I
guess neither are these two gals either. From Mickey Mouse to Madonna. Very sad.
Madonna herself has admitted, “I’ve found that fame and
fortune are not what they are cracked up to be.” (Madonna,
April, 2003)
The Psalmist is going to give us some character traits of a person we ought
to want to be like. First there are
things this person doesn’t do. Then
there are the things he does do.
:1 that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly
counsel – ‘etsah –
counsel, advice, purpose
:2 nor standeth in the way of sinners
sinners – chatta’ –
sinners; from chata’ – to sin, miss
the way, go wrong, incur guilt
:3 nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
scornful – luwts – to mock,
talk arrogantly; speak words which show no respect for the object, and make fun
of the object
There seems to be a progression here.
It starts off by “walking” along with ungodly people, paying attention to
the kinds of advice or counsel that a wicked person might give.
From there you start to slow down from walking with God and spend more time
standing in the place of a person who is missing what God has for them.
Then finally you get comfortable enough to sit down and stay. You join the ranks of the people who want to
thumb their noses to the things of God.
Lesson
Admire the person who doesn’t follow
the world
Who is the truly “blessed” person?
Who is the one we ought to be wishing we were like?
It’s the person who is strong enough to say “no” to what the rest of the
crowd is doing.
Illustration
God, give us men! A time like this
demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo!
Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.
-- J. Gilbert Holland, God,
Give Us Men!
Even though we get caught up in the moment and want to go the direction
that the crowd goes, I think that deep inside the person we’re envious of is
the person who takes a stand and goes the right direction, even if it’s not
what others do.
Now we’re given two things that a blessed person does:
:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD
delight – chephets –
delight, pleasure. This is a word that
carries the idea of emotions. To experience emotional delight.
A blessed person is one who finds great pleasure in God’s Word.
Lesson
Delight in God’s Word
Take a minute to think about the kinds of things you take “delight”
in. If you had a few minutes, an hour,
or a day to do whatever you wanted, what would you do? Honestly.
Things like Jamocha Almond Fudge at Baskin Robbins. Those are the things that you “delight”
in. My parents were with one of my sons
last night and they took him to a park, where he seemed kind of bored. Then they took him to Baskin Robbins. He wasn’t bored.
My goal isn’t to make you think about taking away the things you “delight”
in. My goal is to get us thinking about
what it would take to “delight” in God’s Word.
One of the reasons we struggle with delighting in God’s Word is because we
don’t recognize the treasure in God’s Word:
(Psa 19:7-8 NLT) The law of
the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are
trustworthy, making wise the simple. {8} The commandments of the LORD are
right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving
insight to life.
Another reason we struggle with delighting in God’s Word is because we’ve
forgotten just what it is. Love letters
from a distant land.
Illustration
A childhood accident caused poet Elizabeth Barrett to lead
a life of semi-invalidism before she married Robert Browning in 1846. There’s
more to the story. In her youth, Elizabeth
had been watched over by her tyrannical father.
When she and Robert were married, their wedding was held in secret
because of her father’s disapproval. After the wedding the Brownings sailed for
Italy, where
they lived for the rest of their lives.
But even though her parents had disowned her, Elizabeth
never gave up on the relationship.
Almost weekly she wrote them letters.
Not once did they reply. After 10
years, she received a large box in the mail.
Inside, Elizabeth found all
of her letters; not one had been opened!
Today those letters are among the most beautiful in classical English
literature. Had her parents only read a
few of them, their relationship with Elizabeth
might have been restored.
In a very real sense, God's Word is his love letter to us. Nothing has the power to free us from
destructive behavior and revitalize our relationship with Him like His Word.
Perhaps love letters from a distant land don’t seem so thrilling any
more. Perhaps we’ve moved away from that
place of “first love” with the Lord.
Jesus said to the church in Ephesus:
(Rev 2:4-5 KJV)
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy
first love. {5} Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and
do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
If you’ve been away from the Lord, it’s time to come back.
:2 and in his law doth he meditate
day and night.
If we delight in God’s Word, then we need to learn to meditate on it.
When we talk about meditating on God’s Word, be careful that you don’t
think I’m talking about some sort of eastern meditation as we focus on our
belly button, cross our legs, and say “ohmmmmmmm”. Not exactly.
By the way …
*** Did you hear about the
Buddhist who refused his dentist’s Novocain during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication.
meditate – hagah – to
moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate.
The word apparently carries the picture of a person walking around
muttering ideas to himself.
Lesson
Chew on God’s Word.
Another way to look at it might be to think of a cow chewing on its cud.
Cows are ruminants,
members of the suborder Ruminantia. Ruminants have more than one chamber in
their stomach. Most ruminants have a
four chambered stomach, the first chamber being called the “rumen”. Cows eat
fast and store large quantities of grass or foliage in the rumen, where it
softens. In medium sized cattle, the rumen by itself can hold between 25 to 75
gallons. Protozoans and bacteria break
down the food while it’s in the rumen.
Some of the nutritional material is absorbed by the stomach, but some of
it (called “cud”) is regurgitated, where the cow chews on it some more,
breaking down the stuff until it is more easy to digest. Then the material goes on to the other
chambers of the stomach.
We have a word in the English language, “ruminate”. The definition is: to a chew again what has been chewed slightly
and swallowed; to chew repeatedly for an extended period; to go over in
the mind repeatedly and often casually or slowly.
I think we ought to consider putting some of God’s Word into our system
every day and “chewing” on it during the day.
Illustration
H.P. Barker writes, “As I looked out into the garden one day, I saw three
things. First, I saw a butterfly. The
butterfly was beautiful, and it would alight on a flower and then it would
flutter to another flower and then to another, and only for a second or two it
would sit and it would move on. It would
touch as many lovely blossoms as it could, but derived absolutely no benefit
from it. Then I watched a little longer
out my window and there came a botanist. And the botanist had a big notebook
under his arm and a great big magnifying glass.
The botanist would lean over a certain flower and he would look for a
long time and then he would write notes in his notebook. He was there for hours writing notes, closed
them, stuck them under his arm, tucked his magnifying glass in his pocket and
walked away. The third thing I noticed
was a bee, just a little bee. But the
bee would light on a flower and it would sink down deep into the flower and it
would extract all the nectar and pollen that it could carry. It went in empty every time and came out
full.”
Are you a butterfly, botanist, or a bee?
Sometimes we’re going too fast and making too much noise to really
understand what God is saying.
Illustration
From Mrs. Lettie Cowman’s book, Springs
in the Valley (pp. 196-197):
In the deep jungles of Africa, a
traveler was making a long trek. Coolies had been engaged from a tribe to carry
the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The traveler had high hopes of a speedy
journey. But the second morning these
jungle tribesmen refused to move. For
some strange reason they just sat and rested. On inquiry as to the reason for
this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast
the first day, and that they were now waiting for their souls to catch up with
their bodies.
Then Mrs. Cowman concludes with this penetrating exhortation:
This whirling rushing life which so many of us live does
for us what that first march did for those jungle tribesmen. The difference:
they knew what they needed to restore life’s balance; too often we do not.
Slow down and meditate on God’s Word.
When you read God’s Word each day – make sure you find something to
“meditate” on. Find some principle, some
verse, some promise, something to chew on as you go through your day.
Make God’s Word the foundation of how you start each day.
:3 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’s what happens to this person we want to “envy”.
What is fruit?
It’s a result, a byproduct. It’s
what a tree produces.
It also may be the kinds of things that the Spirit of God wants to produce
in your life.
(Gal 5:22-23 NASB) But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no
law.
For a Christian, it may be the fruit of leading another person to the Lord. Jesus said,
(John 15:8 NASB) "By
this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My
disciples.
It simply may be the results of a work that God has been leading you to do.
Joshua was the man that God used to bring the nation of Israel
into the Promised Land. He led a very
“fruitful” life. And there was a secret
to his “fruitfulness”. Before entering
the Promised Land, God gave these instructions:
(Josh 1:6-9 KJV) Be strong and of a good courage: for unto
this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto
their fathers to give them. {7} Only be thou strong and very courageous, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant
commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou
mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. {8} This book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that
thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then
thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. {9}
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou
goest.
Soak yourself in God’s Word.
Note: Fruit it seasonal. Fruit doesn’t grow on trees all year long. But when it’s fruit season, a good tree
produces good fruit.
We too will have times when we are “out of season”. We aren’t going to bear bucket loads of fruit
every day.
But there will be times when fruit is “in season”, and that’s when the
payoff comes for the person who has invested his time into God’s Word.
For example, when someone hurts your feelings, it’s the “season” to forgive. Can you?
The Psalm goes on to give us the contrast of the person we don’t want to
admire, the person who cannot stand before God.
:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth
away.
chaff – it’s the skin that covers a seed, like that red skin that
covers the peanuts you get at the ball park.
In the ancient farming days, after the wheat was harvested, the grain was
taken to the top of a hill where the wind blew.
The grain was then crushed to loosen the chaff from the wheat and when
it was all tossed in the air, the chaff was blown away with the wind while the
edible grain fell to the ground.
The ungodly will be “blown away” by life.
:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous.
Because they did not do the things written about in God’s Word.
Doing the things written in the Word begins with believing in Jesus.
(John 6:28-29 KJV) Then said
they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? {29} Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him
whom he hath sent.
:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the
ungodly shall perish.
He knows the way of the righteous, but to the unrighteous He will say, “I
never knew you”.
Jesus said,
(Mat 7:21-27 KJV) {21} Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. {22} Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done many wonderful works? {23} And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
It’s not good enough to be religious.
It’s not good enough to do religious things. You need to be one that God “knows”.
{24} Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: {25}
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. {26} And every one
that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: {27} And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:
and great was the fall of it.
It’s not just knowing God’s Word, it’s doing God’s Word. And that starts with believing in Jesus.
A person to admire:
Doesn’t follow the world.
Chews on God’s Word.
Obeys God’s Word.