The Way of the Righteous

What They Don’t Do

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 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, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers.” (Ps. 1:1-3)
 

“Blessed is the man” is an appropriate introduction to this psalm that speaks not of secrets of empowerment for service but of intimate relationship with God and Christ.  Jesus opened the Sermon on the Mount with “Blessed are…”  The Hebrew word for “blessed” (eser) is a very expressive term.  The original word is plural telling us that an abundance of blessings awaits the obedient Christian that God has justified in Christ.  “Blessed is the man” can be expressed more fully as “Oh, the blessedness!”-- a joyful acclamation of the Christian expressing the faithfulness of God.
 

In Psalm 1:1 the blessed man is initially identified by what he does NOT do.

First, he does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.  The word “counsel” (Hebrew esah) means to receive advice or plans from.  This man does not get guidance about moral issues from the secular media, unsaved friends or other people who are not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ Jesus.

Jesus was the perfect example to His disciples and to us as well.  He spent much time with His Father in prayer; He knew the will of God and He always moved in the center of that will.
 

The Holy Spirit-filled or -controlled child of God takes wiser counsel than those who are led by this world’s system; therefore, he walks in the commandments of the Lord God.  To him the ways of godliness are not boring or burdensome; they are paths of peace and joy.  He finds his direction by the Word of God and not by his own or others’ ideas.  Explaining to his disciples how he must suffer and die, Jesus rebuked even Peter who was trying to use his own wisdom (or Satan’s) as a stumbling block in the way of God’s will (Matthew 16:23).
 

Second, the blessed man does not “stand in the way of sinners.” He avoids the influence of the unrepentant, those who by choice have thrown off their duty of living for the God who created them. The Hebrew word for “sinners” (hatta) describes those who have by their actions come under the wrath and judgment of God (Romans 1:18-32). The Christian who is blessed is the one who chooses to be influenced not by sinners but by men and women of God who have withstood the tests of time, trials and temptations.  These children of God will be among the congregation of the righteous.  They long to be in fellowship with those who are born again.
 

Third, the blessed man does not sit in the seat of mockers-- those who scorn, ridicule or disdainfully imitate.  The Spirit-filled Christian does not find his delight in sitting with those who follow immoral paths or indulge in open sin.  He does not linger with those who have purposely shunned the teachings of the Lord.  He has no fellowship with those who mock or insult the holiness of God in their speech or behavior.
 

To walk in the blessedness of God requires an earnest desire to walk in the “The Way of the Righteous.”

Think on these things carefully.  From whom do you receive counsel, influence and fellowship?  Are you blessed of God?

 No?  Then receive Jesus today!  He’ll change your life!