Psalm 1
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.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will 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 wicked will perish.
Oftentimes we attribute this Psalm to us, meaning we shouldn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, and so on. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that; however, in light of how we’re going to be seemingly breezing through these Scriptures for the entirety of this article, I propose something you’re probably used to reading, if you’ve been following all the chicken scratch I have to share.
That is, if – rather, WHEN – we find it difficult to ‘(walk) not in the counsel of the wicked, nor (stand) in the way of sinners’, we would do well to understand that before we actually had the idea of doing any of this, Christ did it first.
Looking at it now, He shared meals with sinners and, as the Pharisees accused Him, He associated with them – however, in light of this Psalm and the consideration I’m proposing, we could imagine that yes, He hung out with them, but ultimately did not ‘walk’ in the counsel of the wicked, just as He did not ‘stand’ in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of scoffers.
Sure, I accept how that could be questionable, and I’m open to correction… however, I DO agree that before we found the Scripture anywhere NEAR pleasurable for ourselves, it was Christ FIRST, whose delight was in the law of the LORD, and on His law He meditated day and night.
It was therefore Christ who was, for the sake of the Jew AND the Gentile, like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. And in all that He did, He prospered.
See, when we reflect on the life of Christ and see how He moved in this reality, we have an idea, here and now, generations after His ascension, of how He moves in US.
As He did, so He does. By the power of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out upon us, we shall not walk in the counsel of the wicked, we shall not stand in the way of sinners, nor shall we sit in the seat of scoffers. Keeping in mind how we’ve understood everything we’ve read in the book of Romans thus far, we MAY actually do some or all of these things, but we certainly wouldn’t stay there.
In other words, being new creations in Christ, we MAY find ourselves sitting in the seat of scoffers… but we wouldn’t be STAYING there.
And considering the rest of the Psalm, we wouldn’t always be standing in the way of sinners – why? Because as the end of the Psalm points out, the way of the wicked will perish, as opposed to our way – that is, the way of the righteous, or those made righteous through Christ, is known by the LORD Most High.
Through Christ, we also are firmly planted, and we also bear fruit.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Cutting this into two at this point, because, see here, some of us also like to ‘claim’ this for us. There was that one song by Hillsong, ‘You Said’, where it quotes that last verse, claiming it to be ‘the cry of (our) heart’.
Again, not condemning this, but surely we could see here that these were words from the Father to the (only begotten) Son; He tells His Anointed, His King on Zion – ‘You are my Son’.
Now, okay, sorry – I KNOW that my point here is to attribute this to Christ, but don’t those words resonate to us, or isn’t it nice to imagine that they are impressed upon us, by the Spirit of the Lord; That is, the same Spirit of Adoption that causes us to call God our ‘Abba, Father’, is also the same Spirit that convicts us of righteousness… or, in other words, reminds us of the other side of the coin: the Creator of the Universe, lovingly telling us as He told Christ: ‘You are my Son’. Beautiful!
But again, going back – it is to Christ to whom our Father promises the nations as His heritage, and the ends of the earth His possession. Take note that He promises ‘the nations’, and not merely ‘the people’.
And, see – after Christ’s resurrection and before His ascension, what did He tell the disciples?
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”Matthew 28:18-20
He tells them, Psalm 2 has been fulfilled, as He has been given ALL authority in heaven and on earth – but, more importantly, He involves us in the fulfillment of God’s promise, in that we’re to ‘make disciples of all nations‘, and not just ‘people’.
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Jew and now Gentile are given authority by the One who has ALL authority in heaven and on earth; We’ve been called kings, by the King of Kings. But, considering the words given to us in the rest of the Psalm, we’re brought to humility – the King of Kings is also the Authority over all authorities, matchless in power and glory… and with that said, we ‘work out our salvation’ – that is, we serve and rejoice with fear and trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
I’m sorry, I’m not sure if I want to make this a running series of sorts, but these were Psalms we read with diligence, especially yesterday considering who I was fellowshipping with. As men, we needed the Word, and we needed prayer. What I gathered here, well, are as manna – fresh for this season, perhaps even just for today.
It’s blessed me, and I hope you’re blessed as well. I mean, you made it this far. Thanks.
Until the next post, the Lord continue to bless us all.
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