The Way of the Righteous and the End of the Ungodly
Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight (his or her joy) is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law, he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish (remember that from God’s perspective wealth is not a success. The rich sinner is still going to Hell unless he or she repents [read Luke 16:19-31]. Unfortunately, because of our blindness, that’s our definition of success).
This is a beautiful portion of Psalms 1. It is as profound as it is simple and clear to understand. However, Psalms can also be offensive. People will say I don’t believe I need God, but that does not make me a bad person. There is a definite sense when reading through the Psalms that there are only two kinds of people, the godly/righteous and the ungodly/wicked or the sinner (we are all sinners, but the connotation is that of a bad person). King David, the author of the Psalms, classifies his writings as such. Here in just Psalm 1 alone, he uses several adjectives to describe the unbelieving; ungodly, sinners, scornful, chaff ( kind of insulting) and for the believing, he uses words like blessed, the righteous, and in other Psalms he uses words such as the upright and the just.
Psalms 7:9-10m
Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
But establish the just;
For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.
I know a lot of people who “fall in the middle,” good people, some even attend church (kind of like positive Karma). Many of our lives are lived in shades of grey. There is also a T.V program called this. It does an excellent job of depicting its title. The verbiage is too colored and secular for me to consider it as entertainment (I’m more along the lines of Spider-Man or the Avengers). Still, the carnality of man definitely comes through. I think most of us tend to keep a moral compass of really good, good, and not so good, and now I am ashamed of my actions.
No one likes to be ashamed of their behavior, so we try to avoid those actions, and it takes too much effort to be really good. So the most “natural” is the middle of the road boundaries, good and not so good (but not so bad either). However, God does not, He lives in the absolute starkness of righteousness. An eye hurting, unable to view without going blind brilliance, which is still a feeble attempt of me trying to describe His Holiness. If you have ever been around a welder, the brilliance of the arc from his torch can blind you, God is so much more brilliant. After spending time with God, Moses could not be seen so that he had to cover his face. What must God be like? Therefore from His perspective, we are all sinners, wicked, ungodly, chaff, etc. No unredeemed person, no matter how good, can stand in His presence. And the redeemed solely stand in His presence because of Christ being our Savior. Here are some verses hundreds of years apart that are in agreement…
Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Psalms 51:5-6
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin, my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part, You will make me know wisdom.
Romans 7:24-25
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ, our Lord!
So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin (my carnal man will always respond to the temptations of the world; however, I no longer am “employed by him,” so I no longer need to obey. My new employer (Jesus) loves righteousness or right doing, both in thought and action).
When a man or woman rightly see themselves in the light of God’s Holiness, pride vanishes like a shadow in the noonday sun. Here in these Psalms, we see King David’s heart, a man who God said had a heart after His own. People may question God’s statement based on David’s sin with Bathsheba, which is a fair question, but I do not believe God labels a man by his sin as we do, but by his (or her) earnestness to repent. Sin is but a deception, we exchange our honor for pleasure or need that we believe that action will satisfy being too immature to realize that all our needs are fully met in Christ, that’s where the deception is.
We have all been deceived, and the higher up you are, the greater the fallout and its effect. David suffered much for his sin, even the loss of a son. Though he repented and acknowledged his sin (Psalm 51, a beautiful psalm of repentance), the consequences of his sin plagued him for the rest of his life. The effects of sin are always more significant than the pleasure derived; there’s always a payday. Galatians 6:8, “whomever sows to his flesh will from his flesh reap corruption for what a man( or woman) sows that shall they reap.”
In Psalm 5, we see the conflict between good and evil and the choices David makes to remain faithful to God, choices we must make as well.
Psalms 5:4-11
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.
You shall destroy those who speak falsehood (lies).
But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You, I will worship toward Your holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face ( a great prayer to pray).
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You (Amen).
I love all these verses, but I love the ones in italics most. There is an acknowledged dependence upon God (lead me) a reverence for Him (In fear of You) a love of Him (I will worship) and a personal relationship (make Your way straight before my face) which speaks of an intimacy and “be joyful in You” is the fruit of a life that exalts Christ.
At the time that David sinned with Bathsheba, he was older, he had conquered his enemies and was now COMFORTABLE (the curse of a righteous heart), and now an open door presented itself, and unfortunately, he took it. Of all the things I fear, I fear the deception of a comfortable heart. When the heart is comfortable, pride finds a way to come out. When the heart is stressed, or in battle, or desperate, there is no time for the lust of the eyes or the pride of life. The goal is to run lean, mean, and to conquer. Here are a couple verses that speak to that…
Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places(and the verses continue to describe the Believers armor).
Ephesians 5:15-17
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is (the fool says in his heart there is no God – hence he becomes his own god and the biggest fool ever. This is how seemingly brilliant people say, do, and believe stupid things).
The best definition of circumspectly is the old fashion lighthouse. It’s light always shining throughout the night seven days a week. As ships came close to shore, they would be warned of any impending dangers. Our mind is to be like that lighthouse, and it’s only by the Holy Spirit and obedience to His Word that we succeed.
Every king had this command from God, he was to read and write the scriptures and meditate upon them so that he would remain in fear of God. When they did not obey that command, the consequences were devastating. Typically the kingdom went into idolatry and often was conquered by another Kingdom (what is true of a kingdom is also true of our heart). The king, who was supposed to represent truth, was killed along with many of his men, including his sons. Disobedience has a terrible price. In the end, all actions, whether they be righteous or self-serving, are accounted for. The scriptures have specific commands, and every command that I have read, whether it be given to Samson, not to drink vine (I do cut my hair), or to the Kings to write out the Word and to meditate upon it has become my command. I never read them as an option.
Deuteronomy 17:18-20
“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.”
The King that obeyed this was blessed, unfortunately not many obeyed. Hence the role of the prophets; they spoke on behalf of God to the Kings. Every prophet had his calling. Isaiah was one of the major prophets in the Old Testament, and this is one of many of his verses that is far-reaching in truth and promise.
Isaiah 64:4-9
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits (trusts) for Him.
You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways (the definition of wait is to bind yourself around, like a cord of rope is made up of three strands, and the braided whole is stronger than the one. We are to figurative speaking wrap ourselves around the Lord).
This is what God seeks from each of us. Unfortunately, the following verses are more true, continuing Isaiah…
,…for we have sinned—In these ways, we continue, And we need to be saved.
But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away. And no one calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities. But now, O Lord,
You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. Do not be furious, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!
Hence Jesus came to redeem man back unto His Creator, Lord, and Father. Man’s capacity to hate and sin far exceeds his ability to love righteousness and forgive. Our own weaknesses become our stumbling blocks, hindering us from getting along with our neighbor, be it our spouse, family member, co-worker or just people in general, so we absolutely need God’s presence in our life if we are to succeed in the life that God has invited us to go with Him on. Amen.
Father God,
The blessed life is not a blessed life because it is absent of struggle, no it’s a blessed life because through the struggles we see your Eternal Hand in our life, and for that, we are blessed. Help us to fight the good fight of the faith and to often meet with You in study and prayer. Bring brothers and sisters who can encourage us and likewise we encourage them as we travel upward, the road less traveled. Amen and Amen.
Go Forward in His Grace – Arthur