Sit, Walk, Stand. Psalm 1
David Brillhart, June 2023
My personal Bible reading plan for this year has been Psalms, Proverbs and other wisdom books. At this point in the year, I have read through Proverbs 6 times and Psalms once. For the second half of the year I’m going to try to write down some of my thoughts as I meditate on the Psalms and Proverbs. This is all part of my plan this year to pursue a more holy life with the help of some dear brothers who are helping me reach higher ground.
So, as they sang in the Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning, It’s a very good place to start.”
Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand in the pathway with sinners,
or sit in the assembly of scoffers!
2 Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the LORDʼs commands;
he meditates on his commands day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by flowing streams;
it yields its fruit at the proper time,
and its leaves never fall off.
He succeeds in everything he attempts.
4 Not so with the wicked!
Instead they are like wind-driven chaff.
For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment,
5 nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly.
6 Certainly the LORD guards the way of the godly,
but the way of the wicked ends in destruction.
NET Bible
More traditional Bible translations start off Psalm 1 with “Blessed is the man…” So how is a man (or any person for you progressive folks) supposed to live a blessed life? Let us examine this Psalm and some New Testament scriptures to illuminate this more. As one of my early Bible teachers said, “What in the Old is concealed, is in the New revealed.”
In 1957, Watchman Nee published a book called “Sit, Walk, Stand”, that examines the Christian walk of faith as laid out in the epistle to the Ephesians. This was one of the books I read as a new Christian in the “70s and helped shape my early Christian walk. It occurred to me today, as I was reading Psalms 1, that Paul’s writing to the Ephesians expands and clarifies the truth first give in Psalm 1. So then, let us examine these two passages together to discern the scriptural way to live a blessed life.
Sit
Psalm 1:1 How blessed is the one who does not … sit in the assembly of scoffers!
Eph 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, …raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
As is often the case, the Old Testament starts of with a negative, you are Not to sit with scoffers. In the modern age, it is difficult to avoid scoffers as they are in all of our places of business, on the news and all over the internet. If not with the scoffers, then where should we sit?
The Apostle Paul, answers this by starting off the book of Ephesians with an exhortation to remember how much God loves us. So much so, in fact, that He has seated us with Christ in heavenly places! If you are sitting in heavenly places, listening to the unending praise and worship that surrounds the throne, then you will not be able to hear the derisive comments of the scoffers. Therefore, the antidote to sitting with scoffers is to recognize that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Walk
Psalms 1:1
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, … NASB
How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked,… NET Bible
Ephesians 4:1
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, … NASB
Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
My father used to quote the folk proverb, “Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it!” The scriptures back this up, and in fact, in Psalms 1:1 point out that advice from wicked people is not only worthless, but also extremely harmful. Once again, this wicked advise is all around us. We can Google any question or look up a YouTube video with advice on how to handle any situation. Used wisely, these internet tools, can be helpful, but we need to be wary of any advice from the wicked people of the world if we want to be blessed.
Paul admonishes us to not walk in the counsel of the wicked, but to walk in a manner worthy of our calling in Christ. He goes on so say that we should walk in love just as Jesus did. How different from the world’s way is this. The world says to take for yourself first, but Jesus says to love sacrificially, putting others before yourself. You can choose to walk in either way, but you will end up in entirely different destinations if you do! If you want to be blessed and be a fragrant aroma, blessing those around you, you need to walk in the way that Jesus taught us.
Stand
Psalm 1:1 How blessed is the one who does not … stand in the pathway with sinners, … NET
Ephesians 6:11
Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. NET
Our modern, progressive world cries out:
“Where do you stand on the issues?”
“You need to take a stand against injustice!”
“You need to stand with the oppressed!”
On first glance, these sayings make some sense and sound righteous, but be careful of where you take a stand. Are they urging you to stand for Godly righteousness or are they standing in the pathway of sinners? Are they urging you to stand for Biblical justice or for a progressive form of equity that is actually the opposite of the Biblical ideal. Are you to stand with the oppressed out of socialist principles or are you to love the world as Jesus did? These are important questions to answer before you take a stand.
Equally important is the issue of how you can stand for Biblical righteousness in the face of the loud proclamations from the sinners. Paul explains this in Ephesians 6 where he describes how you can put on the whole armor of God in order to take a strong stand and remain standing in the face of evil.
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
We also need to recognize that the sinners in our life are not our true enemy. They may seem to oppose us at every turn, but our true enemy is the spiritual forces of wickedness that are behind them. We always need to remember Jesus’ admonition to love our enemies, even as we stand in opposition to them. This is not easy, but it is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit and by putting on the whole armor of God.
Meditate on the Law
Psalm 1:2 Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the LORDʼs commands;
he meditates on his commands day and night.
Ephesians 5:18-19
And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord,
Meditating on the law of the Lord is not something that sounds very desirable to most modern men. But remember another principle of interpreting the Old Testament for New Testament people: When the OT mentions “law”, substituting “Jesus” often makes more sense to the NT believer. This is what Paul is taking about in Ephesians 5. We can meditate on Jesus by being filled by the Spirit and speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. As a church musician myself, this makes a lot of sense. Often when I am feeling a bit low, playing and singing a spiritual song it just what it takes to lift up my spirits. Also, we have often gathered around the bed of a sick or dying friend and sung hymns which comfort and encourage both the invalid and the friends.
This is a very important point as we get older and our friends and family reach the end of their path. In the last few years, we have had several family members reach this point in their lives. Of course we pray for them to be healed, but at some point we must realize that all life must end, at least in this earthly realm. In this case, we have encouraged the patient in hospice to play Christian music in their room as a form of meditation on the Lord. If they are a believer, this will be a comfort and an encouragement to them to remind them that they are headed to a better place; in heaven with Jesus! Unfortunately, some people die in torment because they do not know Jesus, and we can only pray with them and encourage them to accept the Lord before it is too late.
Meditate 2- Think on these Things
Another scripture from the Apostle Paul that relates to meditation on the word is found in the epistle to the Philippians:
Philippians 4:8-9
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you.
A wise man recently told me that most emotional problem originate in the mind, and if you want to get a start in healing your emotional problems, you need to start by straightening out your thinking. This scripture gives an excellent list of things that you should think about: worthy, just, pure, lovely, commendable, praiseworthy, etc. Changing your thinking to think about such things will make a very good start at overcoming, anxiety, anger, unforgiveness, etc. Of course, there is more involved in healing from such problems, but this is an excellent place to start.
Results
Psalm 1:3 He is like a tree planted by flowing streams;
it yields its fruit at the proper time,
and its leaves never fall off.
He succeeds in everything he attempts.
Ephesians 1:17-21
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, - since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened - so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
The conclusion of the matter is this, according to the psalmist; living a godly life will result in fruitfulness, abundance and success in everything. That’s quite a promise! Paul adds to this by describing the wealth of his glorious inheritance and the incomparable greatness of his power and the immense strength that He exercises to bless those who follow His way.
The psalmist goes on to describe the troubles that will befall the wicked one that does not heed his admonitions. So we want to avoid that outcome! Let us resolve then, to sit in heavenly places with Jesus. Walk in His way and stand firm against the evil one that we may live a blessed life to the praise and glory of our Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment