April 4, 2017 at 6:52 am, by Carl

I was re-reading Psalm 1 the other day.  The first psalm in the collection has long been a favorite of mine (of many people).  The first three verses contain a depth of wisdom about how to live well, a good strategy.  I think that not only can it guide an individual, but there is insight for a society.  Take a look:
How blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But that person’s delight is in the law of the Lord, meditating day and night.
This person will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And they prosper in all they do.
Not hard to miss, but the psalm starts with three images that gives the strategy.  Here’s how one Biblical commentary describes it:
“The three clauses of the verse with their threefold parallelism (walk, stand, sit: counsel, way, session: wicked, sinners, scorners) emphasise the godly man’s entire avoidance of association with evil and evil-doers in every form and degree. They denote successive steps in a career of evil, and form a climax:—(1) adoption of the principles of the wicked as a rule of life: (2) persistence in the practices of notorious offenders: (3) deliberate association with those who openly mock at religion.”
That idea of the three images showing movement deeper into a disregard for good, for holiness and righteousness is not a unique idea.  Another commentator said, “As it is presented, it demonstrates the process of retrogression, which always occurs when men are not advancing in God’s words and way of life. We never stand still! Verse one portrays this truth in three degrees of degeneration, each a little more permanent, settled, and embedded into one’s life.

  • (1) There are three degrees of habit or conduct: walk / stand / sit.
  • (2) There are three degrees of openness, fellowship, or involvement in evil: counsel / path / seat.
  • (3) There are three degrees of evil that result: wicked / sinners / scoffers.

In each of these there is regression from God’s way and progression into sin.”

Yes.  Note the end warning….a scoffer.  That word is describing someone who mocks the concept of God, scoffing that there could be anything beyond man and the natural world that we see.  “Grammatically, it is a participle of habitual action. It refers to one who is actively engaged in putting down the things of God and His Word.”  But it can be actions as well as words.

And this is our world, most of our country, in a nutshell.  Having become certain that the individual human is the only thing, the central thing (“my happiness and contentment is the only thing that matters”), we accept as a byproduct the mocking of anyone who believes there is more, beyond the human.  The sad thing, to me, is that many who do adopt the worldview that the individual is central cannot see then how that leads to societal conflict.  These people will act chagrined at the conflict or frustrated at “the other” who pushes an agenda that is disagreeable.  Yet, if the individual is central, than each individual is central…must be correct…even if their own correctness conflicts with YOUR centrality or correctness.

We avoid this as a society by returning back the path that the Psalmist shows.  We get up from the seat of scoffing, meaning we no long allow ourselves to be seen in confederation, in seated casual agreement with that group.  We then refuse to stand in the path (“one’s conduct, behavior patterns, habits and responses”) of sinners (those who are choosing a way of life NOT in alignment with God as a habit…not the person who simply messes up or falls short and yet didn’t mean to).

This then takes us back to the first phrase, the moment when the retrogression started.  Here, we see the person has started to journey some with those who are already out of step with God. So, the individual of the story has looked for advice, making some decisions about life, and rather than considering God’s ways, this person seeks counsel elsewhere.  Thus…the key for us to avoid a lifestyle, a society that mocks God, is to not seek counsel from “the wicked” in the first place.