“Where To Invest” – The Word – Psalm 1:1-3

We are continuing this week to talk about investing for eternity.  Last week I started by asking you how you can know the difference between investing and wasting and we talked about how you first need to know the purpose of your investment.  I want to start today by asking how you know if you are successful in something.  How do you know if, at this point in your life, you would be considered a success?

Well, again, I think we need to know what the purpose of your life has been.  If the purpose of your life has been to make a lot of money, then just look at your bank account and your stock portfolio and at all your stuff.  Do you have a lot of it?  Well, then good for you, Mr. Success Story.

But what if your goal in life is to minister to widows and orphans like we talked about a few weeks ago?  Success in that will look way different than a big bank account.  But whatever your goal in life, you want to be successful in that.  Nobody wakes up in the morning and wants to fail at their goal.  We strive toward our goals because we believe that will make us happy, right?

I researched the winners of the lottery and found out some interesting things.  Of course, when I say “research” I mean I Googled it.  I was shocked at what I found out.  Dozens and dozens of similar stories popped up so I just grabbed one.  Bob Harrel, Jr won $31 million and started out really well.  He donated some of it and loaned some to relatives but within 2 years, he was broke.  Being broke led to a failed marriage and the failed marriage led to suicide less than 2 years after winning.  I picked that one because it was pretty tame and could be said from the pulpit.  Most of the other stories about people winning the lottery ended too gruesomely. 

It was story after story of people who had way more than enough money to live comfortably the rest of their lives.  It was financial security.  They bought everything they wanted and person after person after person said, “I wish I had never bought that lottery ticket.”  Why do you think that is?  Is it the curse of the lottery, as some people think?  The Bible tells us a lot about money.  We all know the verse that says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil but that verse goes on to say, “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

That pretty much nails it, huh?  The richest man in the world at the time wrote in Ecclesiastes, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”  (Solomon, Ecc. 5:10)   Have you ever had poison ivy or poison oak?  It itches so bad!  But you can scratch and scratch and the itch just never goes away.  That is just how money is.  Make all you want.  It will never be enough.

So, if money won’t make us happy, where should we look?  What do we need to be doing to be happy in this world?  What if I told you I know where to look to be happy in this life and that, as a bonus, it will make you happy in the life to come?  Sound pretty good?  I know.  I ought to write a book about it, huh?  The problem is, it’s already been written and it is probably right in front of you.

Turn to the wonderful book of Psalms and let’s see what the Bible says we should do to find happiness in this life and the next.  Psalms is right in the middle of your Bible in the Old Testament.  Turn to the very first Psalm, Psalm 1, and let’s read just verses 1-3.  Psalm 1:1-3.

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers, ² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night. ³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

Have I told you before that I have the best job in the world?  I do.  I really do.  I love everything about this job.  How many of you can say that about your job?  I love it for any number of reasons but one thing I love is that part of my job is to study the Bible.  How great is that?  Doesn’t sound like much fun to you?  Let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed this past week studying this passage and it wasn’t until the end of the week that I figured out why.

The reason I enjoyed it so much is actually written in the passage I was studying.  In fact, it is the very first word.  Do you see it?  “Blessed” is the first word and almost every commentary I looked at made mention of this word.  Do you know what it means?  It is the same word that Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.  Blessed are the meek, the merciful,” etc.

When we think about the word “blessed” I don’t think we give it enough credit.  We think it means that God gives us a condescending little smile and we are blessed.  We are blessed to be able to come here and sit quietly and we are blessed to be able to pray and stuff like that.  That’s not necessarily wrong but it just doesn’t do the word justice.  It would help if the word always came with three exclamation points and a smiley face after it.

It would help us to understand the magnitude of this word if every time we read it, we sing, “We are the champions!” afterward.  Do you want to try that?  It might help.  No?  Ok.  Let’s just say that this word is big.  It means happy.  It means joyful.  And not just a little bit.  It means satisfied and content and very happy.  So, no wonder I was having a good time this past week.  I was studying a passage that talks about how to have a good time by studying the Bible!  Duh!

So, let’s see what we have to do to be happy and blessed in this life and how it spills over into the next life.  It starts out by telling us what not to do and it shows three stages; a regression, really.  To be blessed and happy we should not walk in the council of the wicked.  It starts off with just a casual walk.  You don’t really intend to do evil or be evil or even associate with those who do but you find yourself just kind of walking in the same way.  Today we might say that you’re just hanging out.

Just hanging out leads to standing in the way of sinners.  It’s like you were walking along and somebody starts to talk to you and so you then decide to just stop and give them a listen.  You know, just for a minute so as not to be rude.  Pretty soon you find yourself sitting in the seat of mockers.  You were walking along minding your own business and stopped for just a second and you let your guard down and now you find yourself right in the middle of it.

We have all been there.  You didn’t start out with sin on your mind but before you know it one thing leads to another and you find yourself, mentally or even physically in a place you don’t need to be.  How many times have you said that?  “One thing just led to another…”  How do you feel when you find yourself there?  Certainly not blessed.  You feel miserable.  Or at least you should.  A believer will always feel miserable at this point.

I want you to think about how you feel when you are at this point; when you find yourself swept away by sin that you didn’t intend to do but one thing just led to another.  How are you going to keep that from happening again?  How are you going to keep from doing that and feeling that way again?  Is it through positive thinking?  Maybe you need to get out and exercise.  Maybe that will keep it from happening again.  Is that what the Bible says?  Is that what Jesus did?  When Satan came to Him and tempted Him did He just turn that frown upside down and think happy thoughts?  Did He just go for a jog?  No.  What did Jesus do? He quoted scripture.

According to Matthew 4, three times Satan tempted Jesus and three times Jesus said, “It is written.  It is written.  It is written.  Now get away from me Satan!”  And Satan left Him.  Once, Satan even quoted scripture to Him, trying to twist the meaning but Jesus knew scripture and set him straight.  Jesus had invested time in the Word of His Father and He knew what the scripture said and was able to remain sinless because of it.

You know how miserable it feels to find yourself in sin once again.  How do you feel when you overcome temptation?  Some of you are thinking, “I don’t really remember.  There was that time once back in ’84…”  You feel great when you overcome, don’t you?  Psalm 119 says, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word. ¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands. ¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you. ¹² Praise be to you, Lord;
    teach me your decrees. ¹³ With my lips I recount
    all the laws that come from your mouth. ¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
    as one rejoices in great riches. ¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
    and consider your ways. ¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
    I will not neglect your word.”

Now go back to verse 2 of Psalm 1.  It says don’t be like the guy who walks, stands and then sits with sinners “² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”  He starts out saying what we should not do but then tells us what we should do if we want to be blessed; if we want to be happy; if we want to be sinless and if we want to be like Jesus.  He agrees with the other psalmist in 119.  He tells us to invest in God’s Word.

Read it.  Delight in it.  Meditate on it.  Deuteronomy 6:7-9 says to “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

I heard a story that happened years ago.  When their son left for his freshman year at Duke University, his parents gave him a Bible, assuring him it would be a great help. Later, as he began sending them letters asking for money, they would write back telling him to read his Bible, citing chapter and verse. He would reply that he was reading the Bible--but he still needed money. When he came home for a semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not been reading his Bible. How? They had tucked $10 and $20 bills by the verses they had cited in their letters.  John T. Spach, in Reader's Digest.


You’re probably not going to find cash in your Bible every time you read it but you will find the way to true happiness when you read it and apply it to your life.  Charles Spurgeon wrote about this passage.  He said, “Is your delight in the law of God?  Do you study God’s Word?  Do you make it the man of your right hand – your best companion and hourly guide?  If not, this blessing belongeth not to you.”


So, the psalmist starts off by telling us what not to do.  Don’t be hanging out with people who are going to drag you down.  Then he tells us what we need to do.  We should read, study and meditate on the Bible day and night.  Then he closes by telling us the benefits of doing what we should do.  He says the person who reads, studies and meditates on the Word of God will be like a tree planted by streams of water.


Have you ever seen a tumbleweed?  I know you’ve seen one on the old westerns but if you have ever seen one in person, you know they are all over the place.  Whichever way the wind blows is where they wind up; first over here, then over there and then up against the fence going nowhere.  Do you ever feel like that in your life?  Do you ever feel like you don’t know where you are going or what you are doing or you feel like you have no direction in your life?


Compare that to a tree that has been planted.  You have to make a bit of an investment in a good tree but when you do a good tree will last for years and years, growing and thriving and providing shade and beauty, unchanged by the wind or the hot sun or the freezing cold.  It stays put, healthy and happy.


I get asked some pretty strange questions sometimes when people find out I’m a pastor.  Rarely does anybody want to talk about what propitiation means or how to be redeemed or should we be amillenial or postmillenial.  Do you know what one of the most popular questions is that I get?  When someone hears I’m a pastor, I don’t know why but one of the most popular things to ask is, “So, what happened to the dinosaurs, huh?”  And they look at me like they really asked something profound.


Really?  Dinosaurs?  From Genesis to Revelation, that is the burning question in your mind.  I’ll just tell you right now about dinosaurs.  Who cares?  How is that going to bless me or change my life?  I look at those people who ask me questions like that and I see a tumbleweed.  I see somebody who is not grounded, planted and watered in the Word.  I see somebody who is all over the place and yet going nowhere.


I want to be a tree.  I want to be this tree that the psalmist talks about.  I want to be strong and firm and beautiful with fruit in season and a bright green leaf.  I want to prosper.  That is exactly what happens when we invest in the Word of Almighty God.  We become that tree and we become more like Jesus.  There’s nothing wrong with studying about dinosaurs and I plan to do just that as soon as I get the rest of this book figured out.


As soon as I understand all there is to know about grace, I’m gonna get on that.  As soon as I figure out how prayer works and all that we are going to do in Heaven and why God loves me and as soon as I have preached all the sermons there are about Christ and Him crucified, then I’ll check out what happened to dinosaurs but until then I want my delight to be in the love letter that is the Bible. 

I want to know more and more about Jesus so I can become more and more like Him and the more I study this book, the happier and blessed I become.  Investing in the Bible is one of those great double rewards.  Did you know that Bible study is a blessing here in this life and also in the life to come?  Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:8 that, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Serious Bible study can’t help but change you.  It transforms you into a new and different and better person.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  We are not saved by Bible study alone and Jesus didn’t die to make you a better person.  He died to make you a living person but if you want an abundant life like He promises in John 10:10 and if you want to be a strong and beautiful tree even when the harsh winds blow then you will make time for serious Bible study. 

Martin Luther said, “God is everywhere. However, He does not want you to reach out for Him everywhere but only in the Word. Reach out for it and you will grasp Him aright.”  Hebrews 11:6 says, “He rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Seeking Him always begins with a relationship with Him.  You’ll never understand Him even if you memorize the whole Bible if you don’t have a relationship with Him.  I know I say this every week but don’t worry, I will say it again next week too.  It’s that important.  Jesus died on the cross to be the perfect sacrifice that the Father commands that we could never be.  You don’t have to understand everything in the Bible.  You just have to believe that.


Believe and repent of your sins.  Turn away from them and ask God for forgiveness today and invite Him into your life to be Lord and Savior.  Neither church membership nor Bible study will save you but you will never grow without them and you will never know the blessedness that comes when you invest in God’s Holy Word.