1. God’s Plan for Human Happiness Psalm 1

2. Psalms 1:1-6 1.How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers! 2.Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. 3.He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

3. 4.The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5.Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous. 6.For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

5. God Has a Plan for Your Happiness Vs. 1 “How happy is the man…!” Happy is plural… NLT: “Oh, the joys of those…”

6. Things You Cannot Do And Be Happy

7. You Cannot Accept the Thinking of the Secular World Vs. 1 “…Happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked”

8. You Cannot Adopt the Ways of Those Who Indulge in Sin Vs. 1 “Happy is the man who does not… take the path of sinners”

9. You Cannot Acquire the Cynical Attitude of Those Who Ridicule Spiritual Things Vs. 1 “Happy is the man who does not… join a group of mockers!” Mockers: to scorn, make mouths at, talk arrogantly

10. You Cannot Pick the Wrong Friends Vs. 1 “How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers!” The wrong friends take us down a slippery slope –NAS95: “Walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers”

11. You Cannot Pick the Wrong Friends Vs. 1 “How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers!” The wrong friends take us down a slippery slope Walk stand sit –NAS95: “Walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers”

12. Things that Put You in the Path of the Happiness God Has for You

13. Delighting in the Lord’s Instruction Vs. 2 “His delight is in the Lord’s instruction”

14. Thinking About the Word of God Vs. 2 “Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.” To consider by talking to one’s self out-loud. John Gill: “diligent reading and serious consideration of it; and of the employment of the thoughts, and of deep study upon it, in order to find out the sense and meaning of it”

15. Portrait of a Happy Life A Word Picture

16. Planted for Maximum Nourishment Vs. 3 “He is like a tree planted beside streams of water” “Such an one is compared to a tree ‘planted’; not to one that grows of itself, a wild tree… but to one that is removed… and planted elsewhere” – John Gill

17. Fruitful Vs. 3 “He is like a tree… that bears its fruit in season” Matt 7:16 “You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?”

18. Protected from Drought Vs. 3 “He is like a tree planted beside streams of water… whose leaf does not wither.”

19. Successful throughout Life Vs. 4 “Whatever he does prospers.”

20. The Lord Takes a Personal Interest in Their Lives Vs. 6 “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous”

21. Those Who Will Never be Happy

22. An Entirely Different Story Vs. 4 “The wicked are not like this” Living: “But for sinners what a different story!”

23. Useless Vs. 4 “They are like chaff” The husk and other materials separated from the kernel of grain during the threshing or winnowing process. It blew away in the wind or was burned up as worthless — Holman Bible Dictionary

24. Unable to Stand at the Judgment Vs. 5 “Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment”

25. Will Not Be in Heaven Vs. 5 “Sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.”

26. Final Ruin Vs. 6 “The way of the wicked leads to ruin”

28. Translations That May Have Been Used: Abbreviations & Copyright Info AMP or Amplified: © Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ESV: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. HCSB: Holman Christian Standard Bible © 2001, Broadman & Holman Publishers, LifeWay Christian Resources 127 Ninth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37234 JPS: The Holy Scriptures (Old Testament) By the Jewish Publication Society All rights reserved MSG or Message: The Message © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson NAS: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NAS) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. Copyright 1960, 1988, by The Lockman Foundation, California. All rights reserved. NAS95: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NAS95) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. Copyright 1960, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation, California. All rights reserved. NET: The NET Bible, New English Translation (NET) Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998 By Biblical Studies Press, LLC. All Rights Reserved The Holy Bible: The NET Bible(r) Copyright © 1998 By Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved www.netbible.orgwww.netbible.org NIV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by The International Bible Society. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Scripture quoted by permission. NJKV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NKJV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved. NLT: Quotations designated (NLT) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW LIVING TRANSLATION Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, 60189. All rights reserved. New Living, NLT, and the New Living Translation logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. NRSV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NRSV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION. Copyrighted 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved. Phillips: J.B.Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition, published by HarperCollins, is presented here with the kind permission of Mrs Vera Phillips and the J.B.Phillips estate http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/JBPNT.htmhttp://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/JBPNT.htm RSV: Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (RSV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: REVISED STANDARD VERSION. Copyright 1946, 1952, 1973 by National Council of Churches of Christ. All rights reserved. Weymouth: WEYMOUTH NEW TESTAMENT: NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN SPEECH by Richard F. Weymouth 3rd Edition (1912)--Revised & edited E. Hampden-Cooke YLT: Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible by J.N. Young, 1862, 1898 (Author of the Young's Analytical Concordance)