Holding forth the Word of Life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ
Philippians 2:16
Trinity Reformed Baptist Church
Topeka Kansas - 66614
Blessed is the Man
Psalm One
C. H. Spurgeon, in The Treasury of David, calls Psalm One, “The preface Psalm”, since it is a notification of the entire contents found in the remaining 149 psalms. Psalm One, therefore, establishes the “super structure” upon which all the other psalms are built, somewhat similar to the image portrayed by our Lord in His closing words of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-27). Thus, each successive psalm following Psalm One becomes another “brick” to the spiritual house of wisdom.
Like Genesis chapters 1 through 11, Psalm One is foundational to all that follows it. Remove it from its Divine placement, and the rest of the book of Psalms loses its main purpose and meaning.
In Psalm One, we shall discover a Biblical portrait of what a Christian IS. He is one who is blessed (i.e. happy) because he is obedient to His Savior’s Word. He avoids those who advocate false teaching or the wisdom of this world, which James describes as “earthly, sensual, and devilish” (James 3:14-18). Thus, the true believer walks circumspectly, redeeming the time by taking an overflowing love approach to the Word of God. He meditates upon His Father’s every word and applies it to his daily walk, thus becoming a prosperous fruit-bearing tree planted by the Lord.
Ironically, God has chosen to use illustrations from nature to depict both the saved and the lost. (See Isaiah 5:1-7; Daniel 4:19-27; Jeremiah 17:5-8 and Isaiah 5:22-25).
My hope and desire is that through the exposition of Psalm One, you may examine yourself to see if ye be in the faith, and if so, how the true believer acquires true biblical happiness.
To the lost, my prayer is that as you come to see yourself in verses 4-6, you will come to accept your sinnerhood and thus flee to Christ in both repentance and faith (Acts 20:21), to the saving of your immortal soul!
Your Servant,
Pastor Bob Spagnuolo
All the following sermons can be obtained on a FREE mp3 CD by request from: CDRequest@TrinityReformedBaptist.org