Introduction: The Book of Psalms is one of the most well-loved books of the Bible. It is easy to find, because if you open your Bible in the middle, you will be at Psalms (unless you have a big concordance or a lot of notes in the back of your Bible!) The Book of Psalms is a collection of Hymns. Until only a few hundred years ago, it was the only songbook of the Church. We still have Psalms in our hymnbooks, and many of our modern "praise songs" are from the Psalms. The Book of Psalms was compiled over a span of 1000 years. Moses lived about 1500 BC, and wrote Psalm 90. Someone wrote Psalm 137 during the exile in Babylon (sometime after 586 BC). Other authors were David (73 Psalms), Asaph (he wrote 12 of them), Hezekiah wrote 10, and many other authors. We don't know who the final compiler was, but it may have been Ezra the Scribe around 450 BC. Psalm One was chosen to begin the Book of Psalms, and it is a wonderful description of the differences that exist between the children of God and the wicked.

I. What Qualities Characterize the Children of God?

A. The children of God don't fellowship with the bad crowd.

(That doesn't mean we become hermits and live in lonely caves far away from the world of men. Jesus has commanded us to be salt, light and witnesses.)

• 1. They don't take the counsel of the wicked.
• 2. They don't hang out with the wicked. (The Pharisees accused Jesus of hanging out with the wicked, but it was a false charge. He sometimes visited the lost in their homes, but He never chose the wicked to be his friends and companions.)
• 3. They don't join in the mockery of the wicked. They don't become one of them.

B. The children of God love God's Word.

• 1. They delight in God's Word. We accept no other holy book, we accept no other "revelations."
• 2. They meditate constantly on God's Word. Christian meditation is not like meditation of Eastern religions. They seek to empty their minds. We seek to fill our minds with God's Word, and to think about what it means, and how it applies to ourselves personally.
• 3. Their lives are formed and guided by God's Word. We are not conformed to this world. We have a Christian "world view."

C. The children of God are like healthy trees.

• 1. They soak up the water of the Word and the Spirit.
• 2. They bear fruit. (Galatians 5:22-23) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance..."
• 3. They live and never die. The cedar of Lebanon was a well-known Old Testament tree. It was an evergreen tree, still a symbol of eternal life today. The tree in full leaf is a symbol of life and beauty. We have eternal life in Christ.
• 4. They prosper spiritually, and usually materially.

II. What Qualities Characterize the Wicked?

A. They are like chaff.

• 1. Virtually worthless: Good for mattress stuffing.
• 2. The Chaff is dead--contrast to the green leaf of the righteous.
• 3. Blown away: light. After threshing the wheat on the threshing floor, they would throw it into the air. The light chaff would blow away, and the heavier wheat kernals fall to the ground, and be saved. The chaff is here today and gone tomorrow. This life is very short. We need to be ready for eternity.

B. They will be condemned by God on Judgment Day. WE don't condemn anyone, but Jesus will (Matthew 25:31-46).

C. They won't stand in the assembly of the righteous. I.E. they won't be in Heaven with God's people (Revelation 21:8).

Conclusion: God watches over His children. He provides and protects. But the wicked, and all their ways, are going to perish. Note: You can't choose to be neutral. You must choose sides. You must either be for Jesus, or against Jesus. What will YOUR choice be? Come to Christ. Amen.