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Psalm 1:1
Three Stages
Leading To Atheism, the Happy Man Doesn’t Walk Down Them
“Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, not sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1). Let’s
divide this first verse of Psalm 1 into three parts, a, b, and c.
Psalm
1a, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,”
1.
Even Jesus
sought the Father’s will for his life, in everything, “…I seek not mine own
will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is
not true.” (John 5:30b-31)
2. Wise counsel is fine, but
who in this world are the ungodly? They’re the people that just leave God out of their lives, and most
often have no fear of God. They
actually, most of them, don’t even believe God exists.
We
find that verse 1a leads to the condition of verse 1b, “nor stand in the way
of sinners,”
Following the counsel of the
ungodly, those who have no fear of God in their lives, those who act like and
sincerely believe God doesn’t exist, leads to “standing in the way of
sinners,” How do sinners,
non-believers act? “There’s a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [ie end result] are the
ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). “All
the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes…” (Proverbs 16:2). Are your opinions and is your world-view
Christian, or are they being influenced by “walking in the counsel” the
opinions “of the ungodly,” of even your friends in the world?
God says this about our own
ways and thoughts, “Let a man forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts…” (Isaiah 55:7)
Verse
1c: So, following, being influenced by, seeking the
counsel of the ungodly (those who don’t even believe God exists) can lead you
(if you’re not careful) to “stand in the way of sinners” because you’re
standing in their opinions, worldview. The next step down from “standing in the way of sinners,” is “sitting
in the seat of the scornful.”
Who
really are the scorners of God in our society? It is the atheists. And atheism
is growing by leaps and bounds in our society. This is the third stage in this downward progression outlined in Psalm
1:1. Atheists, for the most part (not
all of them, to be sure) not only deny the existence of God, but they exhibit
antagonism and hatred toward God and the Word of God.
Atheists have:
1.
Caused the
removal of all prayer from our schools and public events.
2.
Caused the
banning of Bible reading in schools (and Bible’s are no longer in courtrooms
for people to swear on).
3.
Caused or
have sought the removal of any commandments of God or mention of God carved on
public monuments.
4.
Caused the
removal of crosses on public parklands.
This
is the negative side of Psalm 1. Psalm
1:1 shows what the spiritually happy man does not do.
related
links:
One
of the key beliefs atheists hold is in the theory of evolution. Which is true, Creation by a loving God, or
the theory of evolution? See,
http://www.ucg.org/booklet/creation-or-evolution-does-it-really-matter-what-you-believe/
Is
the Bible, the Word of God true? Or is
the Bible the uninspired fables of a bunch of wandering Jews from ancient
times? See,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/ProofOfTheBible-FulfilledProphecy.htm
[Ideas
gleaned from THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. II, pp. 661-662, J. Vernon McGee]
Psalm 1:2
What Path The
Spiritual Happy Man Walks Down
“But
his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he
meditate day and night.” Verse 1 was the negative side of this
spiritual equation, what a spiritually happy man or woman doesn’t do. As follows natural laws, as I learned in
electronics, you can’t have a minus potential without a corresponding positive
potential. In this next verse we see
what a spiritually happy person does do.
The
Unconverted Mind Cannot Delight In God’s Law, But The Converted Mind Delights
In God’s Law
Verse
2a, “but his delight is in the law of the LORD,” The
happy person finds delight in God’s law, and by extension in the whole Word of
God. The opposite of delighting in the
law of God is found in Romans 8:7, which states, “Because the carnal
mind is enmity against God: for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” The unconverted mind is, in it’s natural
state, at enmity, is biased against, has open hostility toward both God and his
law, and for that matter, the entire Word of God (which by the way, reflect
God’s laws throughout). But, as Romans 8
shows us, the converted mind, filled with God’s Holy Spirit, is no longer
hostile, no longer biased against God and his laws, nor either the Word of
God. The new-believer’s mind has become,
all of a sudden, biased toward the things of God, God’s Word, and God’s law
contained in his Word. There is no
neutral ground here, you’re either openly hostile toward God and his law or you
love both God and his law, as expressed in the Word of God.
Breaking of God’s laws brings
pain and tragedy
J.
Vernon McGee says, “The tragedy that has come to man---the tear, the sigh, the groaning,
the heartache, the heartbreak, the broken homes, the ruined and wrecked
lives---are the result of God’s broken laws.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol.II, p.662, par.4] The apostle John says in 1st John 5:3, “For this is the
love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” So the believer delights in God’s law,
that’s Psalm 1:2a, first part.
The Happy
Person Meditates On God’s Law
Now
for Psalm 1:2b, “and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” “Meditate is a very figurative
word. It pictures a cow chewing her
cud. I’m told that the cow has several
compartments in her tummy. She can go
out in the morning, graze on the grass when the dew is on it in the cool of the
day. Then when it gets hot in the middle
of the day, she lies down under a tree and begins to chew the cud. She moves the grass she had in the morning
back up [into her mouth] and now masticates it, she goes over it again. That is what we do when we meditate. We go over what we have read” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol. II, p. 662, col.2,
par.3] God’s Word from beginning to end
is designed by God to mold and shape the believer, giving him or her God’s
worldview, conforming you into the image of Christ, who is the express image of
God the Father (cf. Hebrews 1). God’s
Law, as James tells us in James 1:22-25 is designed like a highly polished
mirror, into which we are to look, to see ourselves, and where the dirt is, and
then we go to God, seeking his Holy Spirit to give us the power to “wash off”
what we see is wrong with us.
The Psalms Are The Meditative
Core Of God’s Law, Given To Us By David
Look
at David, all he had at the time, as far as content in God’s Word, was Genesis
through Deuteronomy, literally God’s Law given to Old Testament Israel, and
maybe the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth (which was family history for David)
and maybe the book of Job. That’s all he
had. But what David did with that is
astounding. You might say what David
wrote in the Psalms was the product of his meditating on God’s Word, God’s Law,
the Torah, Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Job, day and night. The Psalms themselves are a beautiful series
of stepping stones that lead us meditatively into the spiritual core of God’s
Law.
Has God’s Law Been Done Away,
Nailed To The Cross?
And
if you have been taught the fable that God’s Law has been done away, nailed to
the cross, or some such nonsense like that, think again. Does it make sense to destroy the very mirror
God built and designed to help believers see themselves, so that they could
clean themselves up with God’s help through his indwelling Holy Spirit?
related
links:
Law
& Grace is a complex subject. For
more on this, see,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/whatisgrace/whatisgraceintro.htm
http://www.unityinchrist.com/newcovenant/TheNEWCOVENANT.htm
And
this link carefully examines and lays before you both interpretations, “the law
is nailed to the cross” and “our transgressions are nailed to the cross” and
shows you why one is accurate, and the other is a misinterpretation of
Scripture. See,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/colossians/Colossians2-6-23.htm
Psalm 1:3
The
Spiritually Happy Man Is Like A Tree Planted By On A Riverbank
“And
he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth
shall prosper.”
Psalm
1:3a, the
blessed or happy man, woman, “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water,” First part of verse 3 shows
us that, unlike wild trees, God’s trees (believers in Jesus, Yeshua haMeshiach)
are chosen and planted by God, and they are planted by “rivers of water.” First, the planted part. Let’s turn to and read Isaiah 61:3, “to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the
planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.”
What’s
the meaning of “rivers of waters”? God says this in Isaiah 55:10-11, “For as the rain cometh down, and
the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and
maketh it to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread
to the eater: so shall my Word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall
not return unto me void, but it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent
it.” God through Isaiah has defined
rain, snow, precipitation which gathers into rivers of living water, as his
Word, the Word of God, the Bible. Bible
study, reading the Word of God causes those God has planted via calling them
and giving them his Holy Spirit, causes them to grow, just as a tree grows
which has been planted by the edge of a river. The distinction is in that only the trees “planted by the Lord” are
nourished by studying God’s Word. This
planting is the calling of the Lord and the placing of his Holy Spirit within
those he plants. The “rivers of living
water” is the Word of God, the Bible, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation
22:21.
Psalm
1:3b, Each of
God’s planted trees “bringeth forth fruit in his season;” Most fruit-bearing trees bring forth fruit during a special growing season
which has been programmed into them (by God, via DNA code). For example, apple trees bear fruit in the fall. They develop their fruit from spring up into
the fall. When a Christian is a
new-believer, he or she spends a lot of time in Bible study, drinking in the
Word of God and growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. But oftentimes it isn’t until later in the
believer’s life that he or she really begins to bear spiritual fruit, the fruit
of godly good works, which often draws others to the Salvation of the
Lord. [For more on this theme on the
growth of the believer, see http://www.unityinchrist.com/hebrews/Hebrews5-1-14.htm] We’re all different, we all have different
talents, different personalities, abilities and whatnot. One fruit tree’s fruit will not be the same
as another’s. Some fruit trees take
years to bear fruit, while others bear fruit almost immediately. God is the vinedresser for all of his fruit
trees, those whom he has called and drawn into the Body of Christ, and as one
of his “fruit trees” you will bring forth fruit in due season.
Psalm
1:3c, “his leaf also shall not wither.” J. Vernon McGee says “Now the
leaf is the outward testimony of the Christian. That is something that should be out [visible] all the time. God’s trees are evergreens---they never lose
their testimony.” [THRU THE BIBLE, Vol.II, p. 664, col.1, par.2] What’s your testimony like, your actual
lifestyle? When people look at you (or
listen to you), do they see a genuine Christian or do they see a worldly person
(or worse yet, do that see a Pharisee)?
Psalm
1:3d, “whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Back in
the time of David this would have been interpreted as talking about God’s
promised material blessings for obedience to his laws (and the Health &
Wealth Gospel people love to interpret it this way for the Church now,
which is improper, it doesn’t apply that way for the Church). But taken in context with the rest of the
Psalm (and David was a real spiritual forward thinker) and what we’ve covered
so far, I think this also refers to a believer’s spiritual works, good works,
ministries, ‘our fruit trees bearing fruit in due season.’ I’ve been an active believer since around
1969, a year before my baptism, but my fruit, the fruit of this web-ministry,
didn’t start appearing until around 1995, and now the “tree” is filled with all
kinds of good fruit. We also prosper and
bear fruit in whatever good works projects we may do, from large ones to small
personal ones, like getting up to give an elderly lady a seat on the bus,
however we express the love of Christ to a dying world.
related
links:
http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/wearesalt.htm
http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Questions.htm
http://www.unityinchrist.com/evangelism/samaritan_purse.htm
Psalm 1:4-6
What The Ungodly
Man Is Like
“The
ungodly are not so: but are like the
chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous. For
the LORD knoweth the way of the
righteous: but the way of he ungodly
shall perish.”
Verse
4, “The ungodly are not so: but are like
the chaff which the wind driveth away.” The ungodly are not so, they
are not like everything David has described here in Psalm 1 about the
righteous. The ungodly are not planted
by rivers of water, they’re not (at this point in time) called and chosen of
God, they’re not drinking in the Word of God, they’re not growing in the grace
and knowledge of Jesus Christ, thus the ungodly are not developing godly fruit
in their lives, and their good works, their leaves do fade away, fall off and
blow away in the fall, they’re not evergreens. There is no lasting spiritual prosperity to their lives or coming out of
the lives of the ungodly. So the works
of the ungodly along with their lives, have no permanence.
Verse 5, “therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in judgment,” The ultimate end of the ungodly, if they
don’t repent, is to be burned up in the Lake of Fire. Ultimately, the ungodly will not stand, or
remain standing in their judgment, they will be annihilated, burned up. Malachi 4:1-3, “For, behold, the day
cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do
wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day
that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch. But unto
you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his
wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they
shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this,
saith the LORD of hosts.” (See
also Revelation 20:15.)
Verse 6, “For the LORD knoweth the way of the
righteous: but the way of the ungodly
shall perish.” God knows the way of the
righteous, he has just described the way of the righteous through David in this
psalm. “but the way of the ungodly
shall perish.” We have just
described how the way of the ungodly will perish in defining verse 5.
related
links:
Bible
prophecy describes the various judgments of God where the way of the ungodly,
as well as the ungodly themselves perish. It’s a huge subject and covers a lot of territory in the Bible, designed
to teach us a lesson. See,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/Prophets_Prophecy.html
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