Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Psalm 1
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  January 31, 2021

Psychologist Roy Baumeister talks about human behavior like an iceberg. He’s found that only about 5-7% of what a human does in a given day is the outcome of conscious deliberate choice. Everything else is done subconsciously. Everything else is under the water, so to speak. Over 90% of what you do in a day, 90% of your words, your actions, your tendencies are done without deliberation. They come from the subconscious and are motivated by our desires and tendencies. In other words, deep down we aren’t primarily thinking beings, we are desiring beings. We aren’t heads walking around on sticks, we are souls motivated by desire.

This is something that advertisers understand implicitly. Like this Coca Cola ad. It doesn’t tell you anything about the product, just tries to connect their drink with happiness. I once saw a beer commercial. A group of macho guys just get done working at a construction site. They were going to get into a car to go home. But the car that pulled up was old and rusty. So one guy opens up a beer and blows across the top of it. The vapor from beer suddenly transforms the car into a hotrod convertible. Then the scene changes. They are on a beach and it’s cloudy and there are some girls walking towards them in shorts and t-shirts. And then that guy pulls out another beer. He blows over the top of it and poof! Now the sun is shining and the girls are in swimsuits and they are all having a great time. It seemed like an idiotic commercial but the people who made it don’t care about what we think. They are aiming at what we want. This happens all the time in advertising. Pay attention to this next week during the Superbowl. They sell to our hearts, not our heads.

I think we all realize this is true from experience. I know that it isn’t healthy to eat donuts, but that has rarely stopped me. I eat them because I desire them. As is usual, when it comes to the truth about human nature the Bible explained it first: Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  

But if the heart is what shapes our behavior, what shapes the heart? The answer is Habit. Here’s how… Human desire is what cognitive psychologists call a type of automaticity. That is, love is learned subconsciously in what is called the system 1 brain. We acquire certain automaticities intentionally through practice and repetition like learning to ride a bike or driving. At first you have to learn them, but after a while, you “don’t need to think about it”. But we gain most automaticities unintentionally. Dispositions and desires are inscribed into our unconscious through habits, even when we fail to recognize these habits as formative. For instance, the young child who sees his father habitually watching football will usually grow up with an innate desire to watch and play the game himself. Or a young woman who habitually uses her phone will grow an innate desire to pick up that phone again and again and to become like the people she habitually admires. Through habit, her heart is formed. Formational habits take place all the time whether we are aware of them or not. Like right here, coming to church or watching the service. This habitual time in God’s Word is formational. It isn’t just something we do, it affects us, it trains us to love what God says. The repetitive habitual activities in which we are involved shape what we love, our habits shape our hearts. Your life is primarily a story of Heart and Habit. We see this reflected in Psalm 1.

The Psalm begins like this: 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… In Hebrew poetry, this is a classic example of what is called climactic parallelism. The lines not only relate to each other but build upon one another in meaning. This first verse is a picture of habitual formation. First, one is walking in step with the wicked. He is doing what is wicked, he is forming a habit of walking in the footsteps of those who are wicked. This is a more general term for those who do not respect the Lord. It isn’t like he is robbing a bank with a band of wicked thieves, he is simply starting to form habits which do not honor God. Maybe he begins to sleep in on Sundays and it becomes a habit, maybe he begins to look at pornography habitually, maybe he is hanging out with friends who glorify sinning. This person begins to walk in step with the wicked. But soon they find themselves standing in the way that sinners take, a term relating to the transgression of God’s law. So now he or she is willing to stand in the way of the sinner, to be associated with this. And finally, they are permanently seated in the company of mockers. Now they look at those who trust in God and they mock them. They have themselves become part of the sinful influence.

This sin is about heart and habit. Nobody walks in the way of the wicked out of duty. Terrifyingly, we walk and stand and sit there because we want to. We might know it is wrong, but we keep doing it because it is what our sinful heart longs to do, no matter how destructive it may be spiritually. How many times haven’t we found ourselves doing what we know to be wrong, not because we’ve thought about it, but because we try not to think as we satisfy our desire? This brings us to a scary question. If our heart doesn’t lead us where our head wants, do we actually love what we think? Wrestle with this question: You are shaped by what you love, but do you love what you think?

In the end, this Psalm is pretty simple. It’s about heart and habit. The first step to blessing according to the psalm is realizing the fact that we may not love what we think. My friends, do you realize cultural practices are effectively training your heart, automating a kind of orientation to the world that seeps into you. We must be aware of our habits, customs, and tendencies–the content which is shaping our hearts and causing us to run after idols without even knowing. For example, we need to recognize that the issue may not only be what we look at on our smartphones, but also the habitual manners of individualistic or selfish behavior that they inspire in us as we spend time glued to our screens. A place of buffered comfort, where we control everything and everything is catered to the user. It’s designed to capture your heart. The first step to blessing is uncovering cultural customs and daily habits which are shaping our hearts and evaluating whether they are forming us for God or if they are leading us in the way of the wicked. 

Do you remember when Jesus talked to Peter after his three-time denial? Do you remember what he said to him? He didn’t talk to his head. He didn’t say, “Don’t you know that was wrong to do?” Or “Do you promise never to do that again?” No, Jesus focused on his heart. He asked, “Do you love me?” And he asked it three times which cut Peter deeply. Jesus asked if Peter loved him because he knew that he needed Peter’s heart, specifically, if Peter were to serve as his apostle. It’s what Jesus is always after, even today. My friends, I know that you love your Savior. Out of love for Him, be ruthless in eradicating those habits which deny the One you love. 

The second step naturally follows the first: If our loves are expressed and formed by habits, we not only get rid of the bad habits, but we need good habits that point our hearts towards God. That is exactly what Verse 2 says: “but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” You see their heart, their delight is in the Word of God, and their formational habit is found in meditating or thinking about those teachings day and night. The point is that the only hope against the pleasures of the world is delight in the Word. And just like the pleasures of the world are awakened by looking at them long enough (meditating on them, even though we wouldn’t call it that), so a heart that loves God’s law is awakened by the Holy Spirit through meditation—habitually thinking about God’s Word.

To help us grasp this the Psalmist paints a picture. Look at verse 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. A tree doesn’t consciously think about bearing fruit, it is simply a tree! You wouldn’t go to an apple tree and say, “Wow, look at those apples! You made a lot of good choices!” No, an apple tree produces apples because it has been designed by God to do so. And the same is true of you and me. Ephesians chapter 2 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Just like a tree that is planted by water, if we are in the Word habitually, the Holy Spirit is going to create in us hearts that yield fruit for our God. As Jesus himself said,”I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” 

Really all of God’s Word is focused on Jesus. As he said, “These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” So to meditate on God’s Word is really to constantly keep Christ in mind. Do you want to be a naturally kind person? Please do seek to make kind choices, but the most genuine and natural way to become kind is granted through the Holy Spirit as you meditate on the kindness of Christ who gave us his life for you. Do you want to be a better friend? Meditate on Jesus who was such a friend to you. Do you want to be more patient? Habitually meditate on the patience of our God who is always patient with us. How about more forgiving? Sink your roots deep into the knowledge of your forgiveness in Christ and forgive others as he forgives you! In other words, becoming like Christ happens naturally when you are in the Word habitually. The Holy Spirit promises to work in our hearts, to create a new heart, in fact, which has Christ-like desires. He gives us good and genuinely God-pleasing desires which drive what we do, many times—and this is the best part—without us even having to think about it. You will be blessed when you meditate on God’s Word. You will be like a tree planted by streams of water and you will naturally bear fruit to God’s glory and prosper in all that you do.

 Amen.