This term our series is entitled: “For A Closer Walk With God”. We’re going to think about our spiritual health. Spiritual growth happens as the truths of the gospel penetrate into the deepest places of our hearts and souls. Paul prays twice in Ephesians for Christians to grow spiritually: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better” (1:17) ... “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts [make Himself at home and renovate] through faith… may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (3:17-19).

God has given us the Psalms to practically use to help us grow spiritually. The first word of the Psalms is “Blessed” or “Happy”. Everyone wants to live a happy and blessed life. But the Bible tells us that THE BEST LIFE IS FOUND IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LIVING GOD WHO MADE US: TO KNOW AND ENJOY HIM FOREVER! The Psalms want to help us walk closely with the Living God and know more of His fullness in our daily lives.

Tonight we’re going to look at the first two psalms, which were deliberately arranged at the start of the book as the gateway into the rest of the Psalms. They give us two keys for the blessed spiritual life.

Psalms are a different genre (type of writing)

The Psalms are Poetry! Poetry is not like Prose. “A poem (a good poem, at least) uses its poetic form to probe deeper into human experience than ordinary speech or writing is usually able to do, to pull back a veil and allow the hearer or reader to sense other dimensions: ‘I have felt exactly like that, but I’d never seen it so clearly… I’d never seen that angle before, but now that I’ve seen it, I won’t forget it’.” (N.T. Wright)  It works differently to history, gospel or letters. Wants to really engage with our hearts and emotions, so uses lots of figures of speech.

The Psalms use Parallelism (repetition of ideas)! Slows down and invites us to ponder and pray. “Most poetry suffers when translated into other languages because it relies for its effect on the sound and rhythm of the original words. It’s true that the Hebrew of these poems is beautiful in itself for those who can experience it. But the Psalms rely for their effect on the way they set out the main themes. They say something from one angle and then repeat it from a slightly different one. This happens line-by-line, or in different sections”

BIBLE STUDY: Bear that in mind as we turn to Psalm 1 and 2, which have deliberately been put at the start as the gateway to the rest of the Psalms.

• Psalm 1 begins “blessed”; Psalm 2 ends “blessed”
• Both Psalms use the word translated “meditates” and “plots”
• Psalm 1 is individual focus; Psalm 2 is international focus.

(1)   Go through Psalm 1 picking out the contrasts between the community of the righteous and the wicked?

(2)   Summarise in your own words the main points made about the righteous and the wicked. Who are they?

• The righteous and wicked are defined by their response to God’s Word, their relationship with God. The righteous are close to God because they receive His Word, the wicked are far from God because they reject His Word.
• Psalm 1 says there are “Two Ways To Live”. We have not consistently lived as the blessed righteous man…. we have acted more like the wicked.

(3)   What things do we learn about God in how He responds to the rebellion of the wicked in Psalm 2? How does God want us to respond?

• Laughs/mocks at their rebellion (like an army of toy soldiers vs a real tank)
• Appoints King to Judge and Rule to end the rebellion in the world
• God’s Word of advice to the wicked is to take refuge in God’s King and Son to be spared from the judgement to come. “There is no refuge from him, only refuge in him” (Kidner)

(4)   Psalm 2 is the most quoted by the NT church. How should Christians understand Psalm 2 in light of: Mathew 3:16-17, Acts 4:25-28, Revelation 19:11-16?

• Jesus is God’s “King” and “Son” in whom we can find refuge from the judgement coming on the wicked and rebellious world. Jesus alone is the “blessed” and “righteous” man who take the place of the wicked, suffered the judgement of God for our rebellion, so that we can share in His life and the eternal blessings He alone has earned.

(5)   These two Psalms are the “gateway” to the rest of the book. In summary, what two things do we need to trust to experience the blessed, righteous life?

• Trust in God’s Word (1:2)
• Trust in God’s King (Messiah) (2:12)

Let’s look at what Psalm 1 says about “HOW TO” grow…

Psalm 1 is all about the Bible. Because God’s intended means to nourish and grow our faith is His Spirit inspired Word in the Bible: 1 Peter 2:2: “The grass withers, the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever…Like new-born infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation”

A PICTURE of the Growing Spiritual Life (Psalm 1:3-4)

In the past we were out dying in the desert… but now through faith in the gospel we have been transplanted into Christ indwelt by the nourishing living water of the Holy Spirit. We need to have roots in place to take in and absorb the good stuff, if we’re to grow up and bear fruit.

A MODEL for Daily Devotions (Psalm 1:1-2)

The key question is how can we get God’s Word deep into our hearts so we grow and are fruitful?

When we read v.1-2 in reverse we see the process:

Read God’s Word -> Meditate on God’s Word -> Pray to God based on what He’s said asking Him to work in us

Meditation is to ponder and question what we’ve read, use the mind intensely, filling it with God’s truth rather than emptying the mind. Tim Keller says: “In the Psalm meditation is likened to tree roots taking in water. That means not merely knowing a truth but taking it inside and making it part of yourself. Meditation is spiritually ‘tasting’ the Scripture – delighting in it, sensing the sweetness of the teaching, feeling the conviction of what it tells us about ourselves, and thanksgiving God and praising God for what it shows us about Him. Meditation is also spiritually ‘digesting’ the Scripture – applying it, thinking out how it affects you, describes you, guides you in the most practical way. It is drawing strength from the Scripture, letting it give you hope, using it to remember how loved you are.”

Read through Psalm 2 and discuss how it leads you into meditations and prayers of:

Adoration: Praise God

Confession: Be honest with God

Thanksgiving: Thank God

Supplication: Ask God for help

How are you doing spiritually? Sailing, rowing, drifting, sinking?

If we want to get better at our sport…our instrument… our subject…we put in time and effort and discipline to develop and grow. HOW MUCH MORE IS THAT PRINCIPLE TRUE IF WE ARE TO GROW SPIRITUALLY! To walk closely with God and experience more of the blessed life found in relationship with Him will require us to invest time and effort into meditating on the Word of God, so we can grow and bear fruit for Him.