In his sermon 'True Happiness and True Misery,' Jamey Stout explores Psalm 1’s depiction of the godly and ungodly, emphasizing that true happiness is found in God and His ways alone. Stout elaborates on the meaning of being 'blessed' as living under God's favor and contrasts this with the misery of following ungodly counsel. The godly person delights in God's law, meditating on it day and night, which protects them from false teachings and leads to spiritual growth. Using a tree planted by rivers of water as a metaphor, Stout highlights the stability and fruitfulness that result from a life rooted in God's Word. He argues that meditation involves deeply reflecting on the scriptures, which brings joy and spiritual enlightenment. Through various biblical references and anecdotes, the sermon underscores the transformative power of God's Word, urging believers to make it the foundation of their lives for eternal prosperity.

Okay, let's look to the Lord in prayer. Father, we are so grateful for what we just sang. That great is your faithfulness, your steadfast love, your loyal love. Set upon us your children freely. Oh Father, thank you so much.

Thank you that we can bank on it, Rest in it. And Lord, wake up tomorrow enjoying it again. Oh Lord, thank you for who you are. And Lord, would you come and would you minister to your people through your precious word? We ask it in Jesus' name, amen.

We've been looking at Psalm 1 and looking at true happiness and true misery as it's laid before us here in the picture of the godly man, the picture of the ungodly. And we got to get we were in like verse one I think we just finished verse one and so today Lord willing we'll get into two and three and we looked at what the word blessed means. God's free favor rests on your head that produces a life well pleasing to him. And so this is why I've been titled it true happiness and true misery because both are right here in our text in Psalm 1 and let's read the text. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit and its season, whose leaf shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like chaff, which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish." Brothers and sisters, one of my goals for us as we look at such a psalm as this is that you and I are convinced that our complete happiness is found in God and His ways alone. Here's how Brother Calvin puts it in his institutes at the very beginning of the Institute.

He makes a statement like this. He says, For until men recognize that they owe everything to God, that They are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him. They will never yield willing service. Nay unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him." And so this is the picture of the godly person. The godly person knows that God himself is the only satisfying fount to go to.

And his ways are the best ways and that's why they gladly render themselves up to him because everything else is just a lie, just a facade. So this is what we have before us. And that's my goal. My goal is that we would embrace true happiness, we would reject the true misery that's here in the text. And so we'll pick it up here in Psalm 1 verse 2.

We've looked at the negative aspect of the truly happy man, woman, boy or girl is that they do not conduct their life by godless counsel, lawless conduct and stiff neck resistance to the truth. It correlates with what we heard just a few moments ago and we want to kill every single tendency that we see of the false teacher as we see how much God hates those tendencies. We want to hate them with our God and kill them by his spirit and word in our hearts. So positively though, positively, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night. This is that provision that Brother Trent brought before us of how we can be protected from false teachers.

It's the word of the living God to saturate our souls with it. To delight in something is to desire it, to care about it, to derive joy from it. As one dictionary says, it's a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction. See the fallen world has its pattern, doesn't it? And we see that in verse 1.

It has the counsel of the ungodly, the way of the sinners, the seed of the scornful, but the new creation, the new man in Jesus Christ has a pattern too. And it's called the law of the Lord and in his law He meditates day and night. So Romans 7 22 Paul talks about the Christian and I joyfully concur with the law of God and the inner man. And Calvin As you think about what is going on here with this, does that mean only the first five books of the Old Testament? Calvin puts it this way, when David here speaks of the law, it ought not to be understood as if other parts of scripture should be excluded, But rather since the whole of scripture is nothing else than an exposition of the law under it as the head is comprehended the whole body.

I think he had a high view of the law. Very high view. And so should we. And a man that's been born again sees the beauty and glory of God's holy commandments that it's holy it's good. And in his law he meditates day and night.

One Hebrew dictionary says this about this word meditate. It's to utter a sound, to moan, to read in an undertone, to mutter while meditating. Other definitions they give, plot, speak, proclaim. Another dictionary says to meditate to reflect deeply on a subject. Well let's go to the book of Psalms and think about it as it's laid out there and some of the ways it's translated.

In Psalm 2 verse 1 you'll notice it's the word plot. The people plot a vain thing. There's our word meditate. In 3528, my tongue shall speak, meditate of your righteousness. In Psalm 63, 6, when I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches.

Here's, it's used synonymously with the word remember, to remember. Verse chapter 77, Verse 13 of Psalms, I also will meditate, ponder on all your work, and then synonymous with that and talk or muse of your deeds. I remember the days of old, I meditate on all your works. I muse on the work of your hand." And then as you think about this word muse, which is a different Hebrew word, there's some Psalms that help us understand our word as we think about this one. Psalm 104, 34, may my meditation be sweet to him.

What does that look like? Next line of the song, I will be glad in the Lord. I will be glad in the Lord. It develops the meaning of sweet meditation to God. The result of our meditation calls us to be happy in God.

Psalm 119 verse 15, I will meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways. This is once again that word muse found in Psalm 143.5 that's used with our word meditate in Psalm 1. Psalm 119.27 make me understand the ways of your precepts so shall I meditate on your wondrous works. We need illumination as we contemplate and use the word of God. Psalm 119, 148, here's an example of day and night.

My eyes are awake through the night watches that I may meditate on your word. Psalm 145, 5. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works. So in summary, here's some of the words used that go along with our word. Speak, plot, remember, muse, contemplate, and all of this needing illumination.

And what's sweet about it in God's sight, I will be glad in the Lord. Brother Matthew Henry helps us out as we seek to whittle this thing down to get our hands around what does it mean to meditate on God's word? Meditating God's word is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great things contained in it with a close application of mind that you're a fixedness of thought. Now here listen this very important statement. Till we be suitably affected with those things and experience the savor and power of them in our hearts." I'll read that line again before we go on in the quote.

"'Till we be suitably affected with those things and experience the savor and power of them in our hearts. This we must do day and night. We must have a constant habitual regard to the Word of God as the rule of our actions and the spring of our comforts. And we must have it in our thoughts accordingly upon every occasion that occurs. Whether night or day, no time is amiss for meditating on the Word of God nor is any time unseasonable for those visits.

We must not only set ourselves to meditate on God's word morning and evening at the entrance of day and of the night. But these thoughts should be interwoven with the business and converse of every day." How easy is it to seek God in the morning and forgetting by lunchtime, whatever you read or whatever you were meditating on. These thoughts should be interwoven with the business and converse of every day and with the repose and slumbers of every night. When I awake I am still with thee." So what are we talking about? I love I don't know how many have been able to go through that study, Behold Your God by John Snyder, but there was one thing that he said in that study.

I can't remember if it was the first one or the second one, but anyway, we want to read our Bibles until Psalm 1 is not just David's mail. It's my mail. This is my mail that I've received and the weight of it, the significance of it now rests on me. That this is not just David's experience with God, this is mine. Does that follow what I'm saying to you?

That's what we want. That's what we want. And I think it's very helpful, too, to put the two phrases together because they're synonymous. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night.

So if I'm delighting in the Word, what am I doing? I'm meditating on the Word. You know, when the Word is bringing me supreme satisfaction, what am I doing? I'm meditating. That's what it looks like.

So, you know, we just ate a meal. I don't know who made some, there was some like bean stuff today that I ate. I mean, I just really liked it. It was really, I got satisfaction from that. Well, brothers and sisters, let us, as in our Bible readings this year let us not be satisfied to go away from it unmoved unnourished Sink your teeth in the word until you're happy in the word.

Amen? And the God of the word. Let's do that this year. Let's make it the meditation of our heart and our souls. And if we do, guess what?

There's a promise, right? Verse three, we'll get to here. But before I do that, this is what Romans chapter 12, verse two is all about. Do you remember what that says? First of all we have the response of what we should do in light of the gospel of mercy, the gospel of grace, and the mercies of God to present ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship.

It was the very next thing. And do not be conformed to this world. There's verse one of Psalm 1. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. How am I going to do that?

By the renewing of your mind. That's how. So if ungodly counsel gives no weight to God and his word, we must fill ourselves by meditation on the word so that we sense the weight of who it is we have to do. Right? And what he says.

And now we have the golly man's picture. What's the what's the benefit of making the law of the Lord your delight, your meditation. Well, it's given to us as a picture in verse 3. This is what's such a commitment. This is what makes it so worth it.

And I'm using that title. I know Thomas Watson wrote a book called The Godly Man's Picture. I've read only bits and pieces of it, but what I did read of it is very good. Here's our Lord's picture given to us in verse 3. The first thing he says is he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

Notice the word like and that's why I'm using the word picture. Our author here David is giving us a metaphor to describe this man And he says he shall be like a tree. And the first thing that strikes me is in light of the contrast. You've got a tree picturing the godly man, but what do you have as the picture of the ungodly man? What's verse 4 say?

How different is that? Tree, chaff. Fallen man on his best day is chaff. Redeemed man, tree. You know, as you think about what we are before salvation, Romans 3, verses 10 through 12, none is righteous, no not one.

No one seeks for God, no one understands. All have turned aside, listen to what he says, together they have become worthless Because they can no longer do what they were created to do, to be a worshiper of God. And so their affections and their heart is set on all the things, all the creature comforts of this world. Until God causes them to be born again. Worthless.

That's what chaff is. But the one, you know, if you think about the tree, stability, think about 1st Corinthians 15 58, therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast and movable always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord, your labor is not in vain in the Lord." Isn't that wonderful? What a contrast. What a contrast. Because we have a risen Christ whom we will follow.

What we do in him has eternal consequence, eternal value. We are now operating according to what we were created to be, worshipers of the living and true God restored in Christ taken out of Adam and put in Christ and all the ramifications of that. Notice he says planted. It's a tree planted. This tree does not plant itself.

It has to be planted. I think our Lord's words help us understand what's going on here. Matthew 15, 13. The Pharisees are very put out by his doctrine of the fact that it's not unwashed hands that defile a man, but it's a man's own heart. And what comes out of that.

And so he says in Matthew 15-13, but he answered and said, every plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted. Did you notice that? That the heavenly father is planting and there are some plants that he didn't plant. Isaiah 61 3 to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness, that they may be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be, God may be glorified. The planting of the Lord.

Our Lord actually quoted Isaiah 61 in Luke chapter 4 where we get the beginning of that chapter in Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind. He said at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and then the Lord sits down and what does he say? Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

The very one that Isaiah and I love how Calvin puts it Isaiah is the fifth gospel and as you read the ministry of our Lord it's like you're reading Isaiah the blind shall see and the deaf shall hear and the lame shall walk and the poor shall have the good news preached to them." That's like just stepping right out of Isaiah. And here he is. He's come to take the devil's weeds and transform them into his kingdom to become the Father's wheat. It's a miracle. It's an absolute miracle.

And so I ask you today, are you the devil's weed or are you the Lord's planting? And I'm telling you right now, having been a weed in my life and been transferred out of the domain of darkness and placed into the kingdom of my dear Savior, the Beloved son of God, you don't have to stay a weed. There is a Savior. There is a King who will transfer you. And as we sing by simple faith, only trust him, only trust him.

Fall upon Christ and you'll find yourself secure and having a new heart. It's a miracle of God that we can't even fathom. So Don't stay a weed. I plead with you. So what are we talking about when we think about this picture that's given to us?

The godly person is planted by the sovereign grace of God. As you think about what that looks like, what that means. So we think about the chain of salvation from Romans 8.30. These can be predestined, he also called, and these can be called, he also justified, and these can be justified, he also glorified. And this truth should cause us as believers to be absolutely humble to the dust.

And why do I say that? Well, brother and sister, do you know why the only reason any good comes out of you and I? You're the Lord's planting. He took you at the root, man. And he changed the root issue problem with you, your heart.

And he took out the heart of stone, he put in a heart of flesh in you. All glory goes to God. All glory goes to God. He's the one that gives the good gifts. Every perfect and good gift comes down from the father of lights.

And so we need to be reminded as we think about, you know, What separates me from this man who can't stand in the judgment and will not be in the congregation of the righteous? The grace of God. The Lord's planting. The Lord's sovereign grace to take an old knucklehead like Jamie Stout and make him a child of God. What a miracle.

What grace. What kindness. By rivers of water, notice where he's planted, And rivers and waters, both those words are plural. It's used in Psalm 119, 136 and Lamentations 3, 48 of tears. It's river of waters run down my eyes.

What's the purpose of the way it's being expressed? To express the abundance of tears, right? Well here in our text, it's to express the abundant supply of grace that the Word of God provides for those who delight in it. Matthew Henry says it this way that he is placed by the means of grace here called the rivers of water. Those rivers which make glad the city of our God.

From these a good man receives supplies of strength and vigor but in secret and undiscernible ways. So our context is the law of the Lord. Here's this river. Here's this abundant waters. We've got 66 books of abundant waters to wash over our souls and supply all that we lack all through our lives till heaven.

And I couldn't help but think of Psalm 19 and just the Word of God it gives a description of what the Word of God is and then because of what it is how what it does in our lives and I'm just going to look at what it does in our lives. And I'm just going to look at what it does in our lives. And here's some of the things that are said in Psalm 19, 7 through 9. It converts. This means to restore liveliness, vitality, to refresh.

It's used in Ruth 4.15 as Ruth has the child, the son, and the ladies around say this to Naomi, and may he be to you a restorer of life. That's our word. And a nourisher of your old age for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons born. Seven sons has born him. It really is to bring back the soul.

That's what our expression here is. To bring back to original existence, use, function, or position. And so Matthew Henry says, bring us back to ourselves, to our God, to our duty. How many times has the Word of God come to you? I don't know about you, but when I wake up in the morning I'm a mess.

I'm a wreck. My mind is since I don't know how many different directions and it's usually not a good direction. Okay? And I come to this book and open up this book and all of a sudden I'm brought back to what I need to be brought back to and to see myself as I need to see myself by seeing my God for who he is. This is what I need.

I need to be brought back day after day after day after day after day till I croak and then I see him and what I saw in a mirror darkly I see now face to face. Hallelujah, amen, right? I need this. I need the converting work of the book, Making Wise the Simple. Brothers and sisters, how do we know how to do church?

How do we know how to worship the living and true God? Because He's told us. He's told us Worship. How do we know how to be a husband? How do we know how to be a wife?

How do we know how to be a child in our homes? All of it given to us as a gift by God in His Word making wise the simple. Every good work, parenting, you name it, to make us adequate for every good work. And in Psalm 19 he says this as well, rejoicing the heart to gladden, make someone merry. Have you not found this to be true of the Word of God?

Have you not come to the Word of God with a heavy spirit burdened down and weighed down and all of a sudden you realize, wait up. I'm justified by the grace of God through Jesus Christ's work and by his spirit he is working in me to make me like him. I mean it's just a miracle. It's a miracle. Rejoicing the heart to cause us to come into a state, our heart, our very inner man, the core of our being.

That's one brother, the causal core of who we are to a state of happiness in God. Enlightening the eyes to give spiritual insight. Ezra 9-8 uses our word there. And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a peg in his holy place and here it is that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. And here, Ezra's just grieved to the core of his being at the breaking of God's law again by these people.

And yet here there's been a reviving going on and he's just in light of what God's done how can we do this again and yet here he says that our God may enlighten our eyes. How about Ephesians 1 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance and the saints, and then he talks about knowing the power of God toward us who believe. Brothers and sisters, this Word comes to us in our darkness and shines the brightest light that we could ever imagine upon our souls to enlighten our eyes. Oh, why would we neglect such a book, right? We come to it many a time dull and darken in the blazing light of God's glory shining through his word enlightens our understanding to what really matters.

I love children and I we've been reading through the Psalms together and Psalm 112 for stuck out to me in our reading, I think it was last week, to the upright there arises light in the darkness. Hallelujah, what a King. So we have All we need to make it safely home, to be with our God for eternity. What does these rivers communicate to us? Well it communicates this, it screams it very loudly to you and me, the sufficiency of scripture to carry us all the way home and to do what God has called us to do.

To rebuke us when we need to be rebuked. To correct us when we need to be corrected. To instruct us in righteousness. God's provided everything for you my brother, my sister. Let's go to him.

Let's go to him in the Word. See his face. Which or that that gives its fruit, that brings forth its fruit in its season is the next picture or aspect of this godly man, godly person which yields its fruit and season. Can't help but think of what our Lord said in Luke 6 43 through 45, for a good tree does not bear bad fruit nor does a bad tree bear good fruit, for every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. A heart regenerated by the word and spirit and fueled by the word will bring forth fruit. It will. It's very helpful I think in the parable of the sower to keep in mind Luke 8 15.

But the ones that fell in the good ground are those who having heard the word with a noble and good heart keep it and bear fruit with patience. If I'm not mistaken Luke's the only one that puts that little phrase at the end with patience with endurance. The one who stays with the word in spite of the devil who seeks to rob it from you, in spite of his lies and the temptations, in spite of the cares and the riches and the pleasures of life, they stay with the word. They will bear fruit. They will bring it to maturity with patience.

It's an undeniable correlation between fruit bearing and the Word of God. They are inseparable. You cannot bring pleasing fruit to God without this book. You can't. And brothers and sisters, he's promised, you soak your soul in this book, you will bring forth fruit.

You will. It's a promise. Whose leaf shall not wither. I'll refer for your own time. You could look up Jeremiah 17, 5 through 10, and in that text, you've got the same illustration being used and the the wicked in that text is a shrub in the desert compared to a tree by the rivers.

It says there but his leaf will be green. Here we have the beauty of holiness. 1 Peter 3, 4 says, rather let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is what? Very precious in the sight of God. Peter talking to the wife, that inner man, who you are before God.

1st Timothy 6, 6, now godliness with contentment is great game. And isn't it true when we see the grace of God in another's life, it is beautiful, isn't it? That's one of the joys of being here. It is so beautiful to see a church body seeking to order its life by the Word, to see families seeking to order their life by the Word. You know what happened when Barnabas went to Antioch?

He saw these Gentiles that were converted by the Gospel of Grace and it says in the text that he saw the grace of God. The grace of God on display in the life of a man a woman a boy or girl submitted to Christ is beautiful Isn't it? It is beautiful when we see those around us who are exhibiting poor in spirit. When we see a man who realizes only good in me is because of Jesus Christ and he's not walking with a chip on his shoulder but he realizes that it's Christ and Christ alone. And pride is being destroyed as he sees it rear its ugly head in his life.

As we see our brothers and sisters grieve over sin, and I'm just taking these from the Sermon on the Mount, the attitudes. As we see a person who's meek, who's not overly impressed with their own self-importance, and they'll humbly serve each other, that's beautiful, that's glorious, that's of God. That can't happen without the Spirit of the Living God. It's wonderful to see hungry and thirsting for righteousness, to see those who are sympathetic, merciful, are concerned with others who are in need, who are pure in heart. They shall see God, the text tells us.

Peacemakers, they are endeavoring to reconcile persons who have disagreements. They shall be called sons of God. You look most like your father when you're a peacemaker. He who did not spare his own son for his enemies. He's a peacemaker, isn't he?

Those who are persecuted for righteousness. You know, I'm going to stay the course no matter what. Because my happiness is in God and what He has prescribed. And I'm not going to believe what you're saying, buddy. No matter what.

Oh, that's exactly how we want to be and notice what he says lastly and this is where we'll end and whatever he does shall prosper. This promise has come to me as just a sweetness to my soul. Because of this, all of us experience transitions in various times in our life. Some Transitions are a whole lot bigger than others. But you know what I found?

No matter what your transition is, no matter what the change of life or season that God puts you in, if you'll just stick to this book, Whatever you do shall prosper. It's a truth, it's a promise, it's a reality. You can bank on it, you can take it to the bank and know that it will be yours. Joshua 1-8, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." I end with a quote from Spurgeon on this whole matter.

Blessed is the man that has such a promise as this. We must not always estimate the fulfillment of a promise by our own eyesight, but to the eye of faith this word is sure. And by it we perceive that our works are prospered even when everything seems to be seems to go against us. It is not outward prosperity which the Christian most desires and values, It is soul prosperity which he longs for. I want to be like Christ.

Amen? So let us soak our soul with the text of holy scripture and be satisfied with the God it reveals. Amen. Let's go to Him in prayer. Father, I bless and praise your name.

There was a time for each of us, Lord, where we had no taste for heaven's joys. We had no taste for this book. But when you gave life, Lord, this book became our all because this book has taken you and laid it before us. Lord, I'm reminded of what you told the Pharisees. You search the scriptures because in them you think you have life, but they are they which testify about me.

Lord, these scriptures are here to make us wise to salvation by faith in you, Jesus Christ alone. And we want to praise and bless your name for doing that in our life. And Lord we ask you now for those that are still on the outside, that are still a weed, that are choking and being stumbling blocks to those who are in your kingdom. They will be removed one day. We pray that they would be removed now by salvation.

That today would be the day that they are sick and tired of being a weed in the devil's field. But they would become wheat that will one day be gathered in your barn. God I bless you, I praise you that you're able to do above and beyond anything we could ever think or imagine. And so to you alone be all glory and praise. Amen.

Thank you.