God’s Forecasting

1. Read: Psalm 1

2. About the Text:

1) Psalm 1 is an introduction to the book of Psalms.

2) It is designed to encourage the singer to be righteous and not ungodly.

3) The Psalms speak to these two categories of persons frequently.

4) God is telling us what will happen to the righteous and the ungodly.

5) This is God’s forecast for the future.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. They stay away from wickedness.

1) They do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.

2) They do not stand in the path of the sinner.

3) They do not sit in the seat of the scornful.

4) Walk, stand, and sit indicate progression.

5) “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God” (3 John 1:11).

2. They delight in God and His law.

1) It is a joy for them to think about God and His law.

2) They meditate upon God’s law constantly.

3) “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

3. They are like a tree.

1) Planted – cultivated, cared for – “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

2) By the rivers of water – source of nourishment – Matthew 5:6.

3) Brings forth fruit – productive – “not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

4) In its season – timely – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

5) The leaf does not wither – an evergreen – constant – 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Wherefore my beloved . . .”

4. All they do prospers.

1) They prosper because righteousness governs their actions.

2) They prosper because God upholds them.

1. They are not like the righteous.

1) They involve themselves in wickedness – “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good” (Psalm 53:1).

2) They don’t delight in God’s law – “Who rejoice in doing evil, And delight in the perversity of the wicked” (Proverbs 2:14).

3) They don’t meditate on God’s law day and night – “He devises wickedness on his bed; He sets himself in a way that is not good; He does not abhor evil” (Psalm 36:4).

4) They are not like a planted tree – “he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8).

5) They have no real nourishment – “For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb” (Psalm 37:2).

6) They are unproductive, untimely, and not dependable.

2. They are like the chaff that the wind drives away.

1) Chaff is the unusable husk of the grain.

2) It is light and has no substance to it.

3) “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).

3. They shall not stand in the judgment.

1) This may or may not be speaking about eternal judgment.

2) When it is time to be tested, they will not pass the test – “Now If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18).

3) They will fail eternal judgment also – “to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (Jude 1:15).

4. They shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous.

1) Sinners don’t typically stand with the righteous, but against them.

2) The righteous will not permit the ungodly to be among them unchecked.

3) “Therefore ‘put away from yourselves the evil person.’” (1 Corinthians 5:13).

4) “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17).

5. (The Lord knows the way of the righteous).

1) He knows the way because He made the way.

2) “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

6. The way of the ungodly shall perish.

1) “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:41).

2) “And these will go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).

1. God’s Forecasting

1) The Righteous Have a Future

2) The Ungodly Have a Fate

2. Invitation