SUNDAY 10th
Psalm 1
NIV (vv1-2) – ‘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, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.’
ESV (vv1-2) – ‘Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.’
The first word here in this Psalm is ‘blessed’ which can be translated to the word ‘happy’ or ‘truly happy’, or ‘how happy’ is the man (or woman) who . . .’
True happiness or the real state of blessedness can only be found in walking on the road that leads to life everlasting and in delighting in the law (instruction, guidance) of the LORD, which is his Word. For the psalmist writing the instruction in this first Psalm, it would have pointed to the first five books of the Scripture, but for us today as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ it points to the whole of Scripture, the 66 books of the Bible, which becomes as I mentioned yesterday ‘a lamp to our feet and a light to our path’ as we walk the Pilgrim way.
To walk on the Pilgrim way, we need to transfer from the road that leads to destruction and on to the road that leads to life eternal and this takes place by coming to the ‘CROSSroad’ and placing our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we are walking on the road that leads to life everlasting, so we need as instructed in this Psalm to ensure that we do not get side tracked by walking in the counsel of the wicked, nor standing in the way of sinners, nor sitting in the seat of the scornful. By choosing to accept Jesus as our Way, we have also chosen to steer away from the ungodly, this means the ways of the ungodly, the wickedness of the ungodly, the sinful activity of the ungodly. We are still living among them, but instead should stand out as shining lights, examples of the difference that the grace of God has made in our lives.
This short Psalm is the gospel in a nutshell, for it clearly defines the eternal difference to those who walk on the narrow road and those who remain on the wide road. The narrow road will lead to the congregation of the righteous, I like to think that this congregation is revealed to us in the book of Revelation where we see the great throng standing around the throne, ‘And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’ (Revelation 5:9-10) The wide road will lead to eternal destruction, verse 6 says, ‘but the way of the wicked will perish.’ And the book of Revelation also reveals to us what this will be ‘And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.’ (Revelation 20:15)
Just as we all have a destiny in this life, where we get to is determined upon the choices we make, career, relationships, family etc. so we all have an eternal destiny, and where it will be is also determined by the choices we make now. We choose God’s way, God’s Book and the company of God’s people or we choose the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners and the seat of scoffers. God’s way will lead to us being blessed and brought into his eternal home, the other way will lead to us being blown away like chaff, and eternally cut off from the presence of God.
There is so much more that I could bring from this Psalm, but may we all take stock, as we begin our journey through the Psalms to ensure that our feet are walking on the right road, the pathway that leads to being blessed now and which will lead us to the place of eternal blessing, the very presence of the eternal God.