Psalm 1 Wedding Toast

As an architect I learned that the goal of architecture, and much of what we do in general, is to recreate an Edenic environment for ourselves. We build our dream home in an attempt to create our personal Eden. We are constantly trying to recreate Eden in almost everything we do, but without one key element. Adam and Eve were in this perfect environment, and then paradise was lost. We have been trying to recreate Eden ever since. We see people building dream home after dream home, taking trip after trip, having children, acquiring toys, possessions, money, boats, planes, extra cars, second homes, chasing sex, food, careers, sports, etc. – but no success, it is never enough. What is missing?

God is what is missing. Eden is really Adam and Eve and God in the garden. That is paradise regained – having God in our life, having God in our marriage. So how do we get this blessed life?

When God says “blessed is the man” in Psalm 1, and we read in Genesis that God “created man in His own image, male and female He created them“, we can also read Psalm 1 as “blessed is the marriage…blessed is the husband and wife…the couple…the man and woman joined in marriage to become one flesh, created in the image of God, male and female…” Together in marriage, as husband and wife, male and female, we become the “man” that God created in His image.

PSALM 1 Reads:
How blessed is the man (or marriage) who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night .
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers .
The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away .
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous .
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

• This psalm is not about being high and mighty, but God’s advice for success in life and in marriage. It is God’s counsel on how to live our life, how to do marriage well, how to succeed, how to keep Him in our life and our marriage, how to be blessed.

• Psalm 1 makes it clear that the quintessential characteristic of a godly person is not that they go to church a lot, do lots of missions work, give to the poor, are nice to everyone, etc., but that they delight in God and meditate on his word day and night. They delight in God and His word. God is their delight. They want to know Him, walk with Him, spend time with Him, follow Him, obey Him, be with Him, etc.

• Walking in the counsel of the wicked – Counsel is listening – who are we listening to regarding how we live as a married couple, God’s counsel, the culture’s counsel (godless counsel), the counsel of our past (that is always how we do it, how my family did it), etc.? Our counsel is where we get our thoughts and beliefs. This becomes what we base our life and our marriage on. It becomes the foundation of how we decide to live, how we walk thru life. Who are we spending time listening to? They say that people go to movies to learn how to live. That we become what we expose ourselves to, not what we want to be or intend to be, but what we expose ourselves to. On skis, on a bike, in sports, you go where you are looking, the ball goes where you are looking. If you listen to what the world tells you about marriage, your marriage will not go well. If you base your marriage on how your family was, it also may not go well. But if you listen to what God says about marriage, your marriage will be blessed. (add here what it means to listen from Deut 6 writing)

• Standing in the path of sinners – we go from listening to joining in, our actions, the actual living out of the beliefs that we have settled on. It has gone from listening to doing. Following the counsel of the culture, we live a godless lifestyle and end up with a godless marriage – good luck with that. If you do what the world says to do in your marriage, your marriage will probably not go well. If you do what God says to do in your marriage, your marriage will be blessed. By acting on the counsel of God’s word, our marriage is blessed.

• Sitting in the seat of scoffers – we join with those who say there is no God and who disagree with God’s word, influencing others to do the same, encouraging or manipulating others to sin, to turn away from God, etc. Perhaps this is where we get the adage “misery loves company”. It is defending godless ideas, promoting the nonsense of the world over what God’s word says. If you encourage others to do what the world says to do with their marriages, your marriage will not go well and neither will theirs. If you encourage others to do what God says to do in their marriages, your marriage will be blessed, and maybe theirs will be as well (if the listen).

• Why am I talking about this? Because God says that you are blessed if you don’t do these three things. If we don’t listen to bad counsel, the ideas the world is pushing, godless counsel. If we don’t act on bad counsel – Don’t defend it – Don’t base our life on it – Don’t follow it with our actions. And don’t encourage others to do it as well. We are blessed if we don’t do these three things. So how do we avoid this downward trend in a marriage…what does God say we should do or be to ensure that we don’t fall into these three traps?

• He says we are to be a person/marriage whose delight is in God’s word. We are to spend time putting God’s word into our hearts and minds, putting God’s word into our life and our marriage. Find ways to act on God’s word in our marriage. Invite God Himself into our marriage. The Psalm does not say “he delights in”, but “his delight is”…it is the main thing….German proverb – The main thing is that the main thing remains the main thing…..if knowing, acting on, and encouraging others to live according to God’s word is our delight, our main thing, we will be blessed as individuals, and if we do it as a couple we will be blessed as a married couple.

• We are to delight in what God has said over what is being said in the world.
We are to listen to His counsel. Base our life and marriage on His word. On what it says. Living it out daily. Doing what He says. Being obedient to His word Encouraging others to base their life and marriage on God’s word as well. We are to be obedient to God’s word.

• Trees planted by streams of water – If we follow God’s counsel we will do well even in tough times. Bear fruit. Be healthy (leaves do not wither). We will prosper, we will not perish…our marriage will last and be fruitful. We will make it through the tough times, because tough times will come. Life has rain and life has droughts. There is wind and there is calm. Just as the tree must go thru seasons, so will our marriage. Knowing and following God’s word (and encouraging others likewise) is what will build a life and a marriage that will stand against the storms, prospering and bearing fruit in its season. (also see the parable of the two foundations)

• In John chapter 1 we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

• Jesus is the Word. So not only is God’s written word our delight, but knowing Jesus and walking with Him is our delight. He is the very word of God incarnate. Jesus is our delight.

• The key advice from God – Going to church, joining bible studies, doing missions trips, giving to others, etc., does not ensure a blessed marriage. Not that there is anything wrong with these things. But that is not God’s counsel to us.

• God’s counsel to us is….When God and His Word are THE DELIGHT of the man/marriage – created in the image of God male and female, husband and wife, then the one flesh husband and wife/marriage will be blessed. It will be like a tree firmly planted beside streams of water. Prospering. Bearing fruit in its season. Even surviving hard times.

• God is telling us we control the destiny of our lives and our marriages, whether we are blessed or not. It is our choice, personally and as a couple. Either we believe God and we base our life and marriage on what He says, or we don’t believe Him and we listen to some other counsel. It is a matter of trust. Prov 3:5-6. It is as simple as that.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

• As Moses said to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy I now say to the two of you, and to everyone in this room.

“I set before you today life and death, a blessing or a curse. Choose life.“

BLESSING
May God and His word be your delight.
May He be the delight of your life and your marriage.
May you listen to His counsel.
May you base your life and your marriage on His word, living it out daily.
May you encourage others to do the same.
May He bless you with children and grandchildren who have a heart for God and His word.
May God bless you and prosper you in all that you do.
May He deliver you from temptation and deliver you from evil.
May you enjoy walking with God all the days of your life here on earth, as husband and wife.
In Jesus name, amen.

To Joseph and Michelle. May they choose life! Lechayim!