Church bulletin:
Psalm 1 is a much-loved psalm and a gateway into the whole psalter. It can be applied to the Lord Jesus Christ as the man who perfectly fulfilled its exhortations. In the days of His earthly life, He was not influenced by the example of sinners. His delight was in the law of the Lord which He meditated upon day and night. He proved to be that strong tree planted by rivers of living water bearing endless fruit.
While we can and must see the psalms in a messianic light, if we don’t go further we lose the richness of their application for our own lives. In Psalm 1 the psalmist describes most instructively where sin can take people if its momentum isn’t arrested. Psalm 1:1, “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.” The psalmist highlights three stages of descent into sin.
The first stage of descent into sin is walking. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly” Every journey begins with a step. It is a step in the wrong direction to listen to and take on board the counsel of ungodly people. The more one listens, the more they will accept and move in the general direction of popular opinion. Walking denotes the idea of forming patterns – the manner in which people are living and being shaped. All around is a torrent of perverse, materialistic, self-centred ideas and it is easy to be swept along. This appeal is strong, and it is continual.
The second stage of descent into sin is standing. “Nor stands in the path of sinners.” The journey of walking comes to an end when the destination is reached. To stand in the path is to have taken up a settled position. No longer just moving in the general direction of popular opinion, it is to be settled in the mindset of ungodliness. The language of standing encompasses the idea of resolve and determination. When someone stands in the path of sinners they are not merely listening to ungodly counsel, they endorse ungodly counsel. It has become the counsel they live by and share with others.
The third stage of descent into sin is sitting. “Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” This is the person who has passed from going along with the crowd, to taking up a settled position of sinful ideas and practices, until finally they become outright scorners of God and truth. They are seated, fixed, and immovable in their determination to live in defiance of God. They revel in their sin, they glory in their shame, they enjoy pushing boundaries and offending. They hate the Christian church; they see it as dangerous and want its influence gone. They may even take up causes against Christianity. Sin is normalised, it is healthy and expected.
Only a fool imagines they are able to control sin in their life. Apart from God’s grace we would capitulate into all kinds of sin with reckless abandon. While we look to God we must also take up our responsibilities. The door needs to be shut before the first stage begins. It is a slippery slope from there. Let us pray the Lord’s Prayer every day – do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. Let us not foolishly place ourselves on the path of temptation. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit’s influence in our lives through the truth. Let us meditate upon the truth day and night. Sin and righteousness involve the choices we make. Let us choose righteousness over sin and may God forgive us and strengthen us when we fail.