Psalm 1 – Discipleship is like a tree

Introduction

Destination without direction

When was the last time you got in a car with a destination in mind but had no plan on how to get there? You haven’t? Why not? Maybe because of the following possible outcomes:

1. We don’t get there.
2. We get there late.
3. We run out of gas.
4. We get lost.

We plan how we get there because we want a guarantee we are going to get there. Not many people like to live life flying by the seat of their pants.

No destination or direction

Yet, many of us live the Christian life this way. And sometimes even worse. At least in our car trip analogy, they knew where they were going. But often all we know is that we are supposed to be going on a trip, and don’t even know where the trip will lead us.

This is the way it is for many Christians. We know we are supposed to be disciples, and yet many of us don’t even have a working definition of what a disciple is. If I asked you to tell me what a healthy disciple is, could you do it? What would you say a disciple does? And how do you do it?

Knowing where we are going

So, my question for us is, how can we even begin our journey if we don’t know where we are headed? The answer is quite simple…we can’t. Therefore, throughout the next half a year we are going to make sure we know what a healthy, maturing disciple is and how we can be one. We will map out the path of discipleship in very clear, practical ways.

So, what is a disciple? Before we answer that question, let’s talk about the background to Psalm 1, the passage we are looking at to help us see the picture of a healthy, mature disciple.

Background

The anatomy of all parts of the soul 

Of the Psalms, John Calvin says they are, “’An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul;’ for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.” He says that they, “…draw, each of us to the examination of himself in particular, in order that none of the many troubles to which we are subject, and of the many vices with which we do a lot of, may remain hidden." And so, through the psalms we learn to pray, for here we see our desperate need and the great and many promises of God.

Two paths set forth: life or death

Psalm one is a fitting preface to the whole book of psalms. It begins by setting forth two ways: one way leading to true happiness and ultimate fulfillment; the other way leading to sure, eventual and eternal ruin.

Jesus talked about these two ways (the wide and the narrow) in his sermon on the Mount in Matt. 7:13-14. In this psalm we see the wide way in the picture of a wicked person, a lover of self. The narrow way is pictured in the wise person , a lover of Christ. It ultimately asks us a question, “Which person are we?”

If we want a blessed life, psalm one gives us guidance and direction. It shows us what a healthy disciple of Jesus looks like.

Exposition

Happiness comes from Yahweh’s Word

Instead of following sinners we follow Jesus (v. 1)

This psalm starts out with the word blessed as an exclamation, “Oh how blessed is the man…” The word blessed points to the idea that the one who doesn’t take the path of wickedness is supremely happy.

Isn’t happiness what we are all searching for? We try to find it in sports, families, work, and entertainment. So, if there was an answer to how we can get it, shouldn’t we listen closely? Well, Psalm 1 is going to tell us the secret to happiness.

And it isn’t simply doing everything we want. In fact, this kind of path is shown as a path of wickedness away from true blessedness. This path looks like this, first, they walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly who forget God. Their evil is practical, not habitual. Second, they are habituated to evil and stand in the way of open sinners who willfully violate God’s commands. Third, they become teachers and tempters of others. They want everybody to sin like they do. But the psalmist tells us that this is a fast road to emptiness and frustration and ultimately judgment will come for them.

Delighting in Yahweh’s Word brings permanence

Instead of being blown away we stand firm in Jesus (v. 2)

Yet the righteous is not described in terms of his associations, rather he is described in terms of one who “delights in the law of the Lord”, and “meditates day and night” on it. The happy man follows Yahweh’s law or in the Hebrew, Torah.

David says the Torah of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul (Psalm 19:7) and he delights in it. What does it mean to delight in the Torah of the Lord? What is it? When David wrote this psalm and others, he would have understood it as the Scripture. Torah is a way of life, God’s way of life, the way to be fully human, to be fully alive. So, what then is it to us? It is all of Scripture, God’s word. It is the whole Bible which is the revelation of Jesus Christ. What David delighted in wasn’t simply something to study like history or painting that we do because we enjoy it. No, the Bible is the place where we come to know God through Christ. We delight in knowing God through Christ, the word of God (John 1:1).

We meditate and delight in knowing and meeting God both day and night. The word meditate can refer to the sound of a lion over its prey. Imagine the way a lion devours its prey. Imagine a meal that is so delicious that you never want it to end, you try to get every bit. Meditation is like chewing on and devouring God’s word and then thinking about it as you walk along the way. It is absorbing and feasting on it and making it a part of us.

The purpose of meditation is very important. It is not to demonstrate intellectual superiority. The fool hears Jesus’ words and fails to put them into practice. The wise man hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice. We hear the word and make it part of our lives.

What is the difference between these two ways? The wicked man loves sin. The righteous man loves God. The wicked man loves the ways of sin and chases after them. The righteous man loves God and follows God, pouring over God’s word because that is where Jesus is revealed, he chases after God in Christ.

So, the psalmist here is talking about “blessedness”, happiness, not as reward for doing good, but as the result of simply living it.

Instead of being in judgment we abide in Jesus (v. 3)

But as we move to verse 3, the psalmist shows us the results of pursuing or not pursuing God in Christ. The first picture is a fruitful, flourishing tree and the second is chaff during harvest time. And so, in our introduction to our Tree Spirituality series, we are going to look at the life of a disciple as one that is like a tree, a tree planted in the right place, producing the right fruit at the right time.

The blessed or happy man is like a tree. But this tree has been planted strategically, by streams of water in order that it might survive and thrive. This is a great picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus. We are like a tree rooted in good soil. We are like a tree that is solid and growing slowly but surely. It is rooted and stable. It’s not like a crazy race to grow and produce fruit. The truly righteous man is like a tree that grows and changes slowly, gradually, but the growth is long-lasting, permanent.

The person who delights in God and in his law gets spiritual nourishment from Christ. Just like a tree soaks in the water from a stream. The land could be dry, the air could be hot, but the tree is next to the stream and its roots draw nourishment from it. Thus, it will prosper and yield fruit. Those who delight in the Word of God, Christ, yield the fruit of the Spirit.

If we look at Jesus’ upper room discourse in John and in particular 15:1-17, we will see a very similar picture where Jesus likens himself to a vine and us to branches. He explains that there is no way for a Christian to produce fruit unless they abide in Christ. A grape branch must be connected to the vine in order to bear fruit, and so must a fruit tree have a root system to live and produce fruit.

Thus, the fruit tree of Psalm 1, just like every tree, must have a root system that is connected to a water source to live. What is our source of water if we are to bear fruit? The living water, Jesus. We must be rooted and solid in our union with Christ. Why?  We must be rooted or united with Christ, in his love and grace, knowing that we are loved by the Father through Jesus Christ and so joined to him. Why? So that when the winds of life come and blow, we remain.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus described what life should be like in the kingdom (Matt. 7:24-27). A kingdom-minded person is like a house that is built on a solid foundation, the work of Christ and the love of the Father. A worldly-minded person is like a house that is built on sand. When the storms of life come, or God’s judgment, the kingdom-minded person will survive, their life, their house will survive. Why? Because they are joined to the Way, Truth, and Life who lived and died for us but is alive and has raised us from the dead with him. But, the worldly-minded person, their life, their house will be destroyed. Why? They are joined to the Liar, Thief, and Murder Satan who will be punished forever in hell.

Back to the parable…Jesus then, after telling it, says that whoever hears his words and puts them into practice is wise. They are those who have built their foundation on the rock, Christ. They are the ones who are true disciples and are like trees. They will be healthy disciples that have the roots to sustain the storms of life that will keep them from falling.

Despising Yahweh’s Word brings impermanence

Those without Christ are counted as worthless (v. 4)

The wicked person is not even close to rooted. They are like the worthless outer shells of grain that are scattered or burned at harvest time. Just like chaff, their lives are futile, empty, and worthless. They will one day face inevitable judgment.

The wicked can’t see this because they are listening to the world that shouts the opposite of what God teaches. The world says that to be religious is foolishness. Religious people never have any fun or accomplish anything. If you want to get somewhere, follow the fast track of sin, if you see what you want, go after it and take it.

And while it may be true that religious people never have any fun or joy, it is not true that disciples of Jesus don’t. Because we don’t follow a religion, we follow Jesus, we are his disciples. And because we abide in him, the true vine, his joy is in us, and so our joy is full (John 15:11).

Those without Christ will be judged and kept apart from God and true happiness (vv. 5-6)

The ultimate destiny of the righteous and the wicked is described in the last verse. The way of wickedness will ultimately lead to death. But, the way of the righteous is the way of Jesus Christ. It is the way that is true, and it leads to life (John 14:6).

The perfect man pictured in this psalm is not David or us, it is actually Jesus. Jesus was really the only one who was like this. The man described here never existed apart from one man, the Lord, the God-man, Jesus Christ.

The bottom line of all we have said is this, we must delight in what God has given to us. This delight begins when we realize that God has given us Jesus Christ. Our Savior was nailed to a tree so that we could be like a tree. You see, Jesus was nailed to a tree that was chopped down so that we might be rooted and be a tree that abides forever. We can thrive as we follow and live for him and abide in him.

Discipleship defined

So, what is a disciple? Quite simply, a disciple is a follower of Christ. So, what does a healthy disciple look like?

Jesus talked about this a lot. In the Gospels (Mark 1:17, Mark 8:34-38, and Matt. 28:18-20) we see that discipleship is directional, not destinational. In other words, being a disciple of Christ is not about simply learning something in a class, e.g. Christianity 101, but rather, it is about pursuing or following Jesus. It is about giving him first place in everything, going where he goes, listening to what he says, doing what he does, and teaching others to do the same.

So, if this is the way that Jesus defines discipleship, then how do we follow him and do it in a healthy way? Psalm 1 gave us a good picture of a healthy disciple. It showed us that a healthy disciple looks like a tree. A healthy disciple delights in Christ and is deeply rooted in their union with Christ, so they are unmoved by the storms of life. It is like being planted by streams of living water, Christ. And it is like having healthy leaves that produce the right fruit at just the right time.

Application

What do we learn from all this?

Exalt and treasure Christ because of our union with him

First, we should exalt and treasure Christ, because he truly was the happy and blessed man. He was the right man, the perfect man, who did all that was required, and lived in devotion to God. His life was a fruitful tree that is still bearing fruit, even your and my souls, and the souls of countless others. We as believers are in Him, and His Spirit is in us, this means that we not only are partakers of Him, but we have His power in us.

The ramifications of this are that we are to put off our old way of living. We are to live and strive, because of our love, to be like our Savior both in our external actions and our internal desires. We are to delight in the law of the Lord. We are to meditate on the law of the Lord. When we do this we will be delighting in Christ, meditating on Christ, and because of our union with him, we will experience his blessings and joy. As we meditate on him, we will be drawn more into his love, and this love will make the things of this world go strangely dim. And we will say with Paul, "But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ." Phil. 3:7-11.

Exalt and treasure Christ because we have living water

Second, we should exalt and treasure Jesus, because we were cursed, we ran with sin, and sat in sin, our judgement was sure, yet, Jesus took our punishment and gave us his perfection. And now, we can enjoy the blessings of being planted by the water, as a tree. We are planted by/in the living waters, even Jesus Christ. And one day, we will partake of the tree of life, and be face to face with him. Rev. 22:1-5 speaks of the river of living water that flows from the throne of God, and Christ. This water brings life everywhere it goes, and the same source of this water lives in you, even Christ's Spirit. If this water brings life to all it touches, are you bringing life to all you touch?

Is your life a testimony to the living water? Are you bringing life with your speech, with your actions, are you sharing the hope in you with the lost, are you giving to the poor and needy, are you pouring yourself out as a living stream available to all. This is the picture here. You will be like a tree planted by water. A place for shade, bringing comfort and joy to those who are weary as they can find the true living water to quench their thirst. A place to make a home in, like the birds do. A place for bees to nest in and make honey that is sweet and refreshing for those who search. Christ was all this, and since he lives in us, we should be all of this too. We need to look to him, and let his power control us.

Proclaim the message of Christ to others

Third, we should proclaim this message of hope and excitement to those who are running and sitting in their sin. Their hope is empty, their end is sure, and they desperately need our beautiful Savior. We should have pity for them, for their lives are empty, their hope is on things that rust, that the moth eats, their barns can be taken in a moment, and so they are people who desperately need a Savior and need to live their lives so they can have meaning and purpose. How could we have such a great gift and not share it with others, when the very testimony of the one who saved us was that he came to search and save the lost. If the essence of the Savior's work was a rescue mission, then why wouldn't our lives have that same flavor?

Run to Christ

Fourth, to be happy we should look at what Jesus says about it. In Matthew 5, Jesus says that the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the peacemakers, and the persecuted, will experience happiness, because they will have the kingdom of heaven, they will have comfort, they will inherit the earth, they will be filled, they will receive mercy, they will see God, and they will be called sons of God. It is not that we must work hard to have these things, but rather, that we are joined with Christ, through faith, and because of this, these things are a part of us. Thus, today, we look to Christ, run to him, and ask the Spirit to fill us anew and afresh. We need to live out the truth that is already in us. We can only do this by giving our lives over to the power of God in Christ Jesus on a day-by-day basis. Every day we must pour out our lives to God, and make our souls happy in Christ. We must seek Jesus first thing in the day, and the last thing at night, and all throughout the day. Really, we are not strong in and of ourselves, for we are great sinners in need of an even greater Savior. And praise be to God that we have such a great Savior. So let us live like this is true. Amen!