Standing on the Word

Standing on the Word in a Shaky World
Psalm 1
April 21, 2024

What’s on your music playlist today?  Or better yet, what kind of playlists do you have on your music app?

If you’re like me, you have different playlists for different times of the day and different activities:

• I have a list of quiet instrumental hymns for when I read my Bible in the morning
• I have a variety of lists for reading and studying at the office
• I have a sermon writing playlist
• I have several “it’s been a full day and I need to disengage my brain on the drive home” playlist
• I have an “I finished writing my sermon playlist” (Scott Joplin, piano rags)!
• I have two primary “get ready for worship on Sunday morning” playlists
• I have a bunch of yard working playlists
• I even have an “I’m going to the ballpark” playlist.
• (I don’t have any workout playlists because that’s when I listen to books)
• And I have variations of most of those for the Christmas season, too.

I use music to orient my mind to various tasks and to stimulate me to finish various tasks (or to enjoy the finishing of those tasks).  The Lord has given us music to help us think (and to calm our hearts, 1 Sam. 16:23).  And He has given us music to conform our minds to Biblical truths.  When we are joyful, or discouraged, or suffering, or in physical pain music can direct us to right thinking and restful attitudes. 

So what is on your go-to playlist?  We’ve spoken much this year about remaining steadfast in a turbulent world.  For a few weeks, I want to direct you to some songs to sing that will give you courage to be steadfast in the shaky world.  You won’t find these songs on Spotify or Apple Music, but you will find them in God’s Word.  I want to start this series in the Psalms, and in the beginning of those Psalms, Psalm 1.  This is a well-known psalm that affirms the power and importance of God’s Word in the midst of the pressures and temptations of this world. 

The psalmist says it this way —

Be steadfast in this shaky world by following the pathway set by God’s Word.

To be steadfast in this world, sing the song of God’s Word, reminding yourself of the two pathways of life:

1. Righteous Road: the Pathway of the Godly Man (vv. 1-3)
2. Evil Avenue: the Pathway of the Ungodly Man (vv. 4-6)

Download the rest of this sermon on Psalm 1.

The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.