The Right Path
Psalm 1:1–6
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. Psalm 1:1
When most people think of the results of upright or godly living, they think of rewards. That is, they think that if they do what God tells them to do, he will reward them, but that if they do not, they will be punished. But what the psalmist actually says here is quite different. He is talking about “blessedness,” the blessedness of the man who “stands [not] in the way of sinners” but whose “delight is in the law of the Lord.” His point is that this is not a reward but rather the result of a particular type of life.
The poet uses two images to show the result of these two ways. The first is a fruitful tree. It describes the man who delights in the law of God and draws his spiritual nourishment from it as a tree that draws its nourishment from an abundantly flowing stream. The land about might be quite dry and barren. The winds might be hot. But if the tree is planted by the stream, so that it can sink its roots down and draw nourishment, it will prosper and yield fruit. This is the godly man.
The second illustration the psalmist uses is chaff, to which he compares the wicked. The wicked are like chaff in two senses. Chaff is worthless and chaff is burned. This pictures the futile, empty, worthless life of the godless, as well as their inevitable judgment.
If only those who are running away from God could see this! But they cannot, because they will not listen to God and the world is shouting the exact opposite of the Bible’s teaching. The world says that to be religious is foolishness. Religious people never have any fun or accomplish anything, the wicked say. If you want to amount to something and enjoy yourself doing it, get on the fast track of sin, reach out for whatever you want, and take it. Be happy. That is what the world teaches. But it is all a lie, which is exactly what Paul calls it in Romans 1 where he analyzes this fast downward spiral (see v. 25).
In Eden, the devil told Eve that if she disobeyed God by eating of the forbidden tree, her eyes would be “opened” and she would be “like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). But she did not become like God; she became like Satan. And her eyes were not opened; they had been open. Now she (and her husband) became blind to spiritual realities.
Do not believe the devil’s lie. Do not follow the world when it tries to draw you from righteous living by beguiling falsehoods.
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.