Psalm 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither… I. THE PROSPEROUS LIFE IS A LIFE MADE PROSPEROUS BY REFUSAL. 1. The man will refuse to think wrongly. Counsel — that is, the thought or creed of the ungodly. Non-use of thought in certain directions results in inability of thought toward those directions. Mr. Darwin confessed himself "atrophied" toward music, painting, poetry, etc., through the so constant using of himself in ways simply scientific. this atrophy of thought is just as possible in religious directions. A man who "will not" take counsel toward God "cannot" at last. The man of the really prosperous life will not walk in such counsel of the ungodly; he will think toward God. 2. He will. refuse to practise wrongly, "way of sinners." At the battle of Ahna, in the Crimean War, one of the ensigns stood his ground when the regiment retreated. The captain shouted to him to bring back the colours; but the ensign replied, "Bring the men up to the colours." So this man of the prosperous life will maintain high and brave practice of the right, whoever may retreat from it. 3. Will refuse to speak wrongly, "seat of the scornful." Into their sort of speech he will not enter. II. BY RECEPTION. 1. He will receive all ennobling and uplifting objects of affection; but his delight is in the "law of the Lord." The controlling thing in a man is his topmost love. 2. This man loves to think of what he loves. "Meditate day and night." "Hang this upon the wall of your room," said a wise picture dealer to an Oxford undergraduate, as he handed him the engraving of a Madonna of Raphael, "and then all the pictures of jockeys and ballet girls will disappear." III. RESULTS. Noble growth. Propitious placing. Sustenance. Fruitfulness. Beauty of character. Real prosperity. (Wayland Hoyt, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. |
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