A TRUE PICTURE OF JESUS
Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
Or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
But not the wicked!
They are like worthless chaff, scattered like the wind.
They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
sinners will have no place among the godly.
For the Lord watches over the path of the godly.
But the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
This is the psalm my pastor preached about on Sunday. It’s a tale of two halves. The beginning is all about those who follow God and how they’re blessed when they resist doing what everyone else is doing. The second half if all about what will happen to those who don’t follow God.
In the first half of the psalm it picks out some verbs to describe what a follower doesn’t do. So we’re blessed if we don’t WALK in the counsel of the wicked. What does the word WALK refer to? It’s often used in the bible as what we should do with God. It implies a daily, measured, paced movement. It’s steady and reliable. V1 says we’re blessed if we don’t WALK in the counsels of the wicked. So if we do our daily life without following the world or doing what the crowd does. Or not conforming to the world.
V2 says we’re blessed when we don’t STAND in the way of sinners. STANDING refers to throwing your lot in with or identifying with someone or something, “I stand with so and so.” So it implies that we shouldn’t lose our Godly identity by just becoming like everyone else and allowing it to influence what we believe and where we place our vote or our opinions.
V3 states we’re blessed if we don’t SIT in the company of mockers. SITTING is an even more definite decision to fully immerse ourself with others, sometimes its a definite decision and other times its the result of exhaustion and defeat and this verse implies a warning that it’s particularly bad to be friends with those who put others down and make fun of them, we shouldn’t want to sit with these people.
Those who are blessed delight in the law of God and take joy in His counsel and meditate on it day and night.
Are we feeling delighted and joyful about God’s word? Are we focusing on God’s word and proclaiming it and praying it?
Are we resisting walking, standing or sitting with the world? We will be tempted!
Because this Psalm tells us that if we are we are like a tree whose roots are deep down in the water and we are being constantly and perpetually sustained. This psalm says we are planted. Who plants us? Jesus! The one who reflects this psalm in every way. He places us in His love and righteousness. He has covered our sin and given us new life that we can live to the whole (John 10:10) Or as Ephesians 3 puts it:
17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. (New Living Version)
The best part of the whole thing is that we are not perfect and will never fully be able to live without sin. But through Christ we can choose to resist sin and Christ is our righteousness and we are covered by His grace! We can live planted in Him and in His love, grafted into His vine and flourishing! Sustained by His word spoken over us, His promises, His truths reviving and restoring us.
The warning to cap it all off, tells us what waits those who are wicked, or sin or mock. They become like chaff blown away, worthless. Their own actions become their destruction. They are condemned.
If anything should make us want to stay close to Jesus, this should.
Grace Powered 