Blessed is the man that walketh not in
the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the
seat of the scornful.
Blessed is the man that walketh not after the council of
the ungodly.
The man that rejects the counsel of the ungodly is truly
blessed of God. God wants us to look to
him for advice and guidance. He made us
to follow his plan. He wants us to look to other
Christians for advice whenever possible.
I personally believe that this can apply to our
child’s education. If a Christian can afford to send
their kids to Christian school, I believe they should do
so. A Christian should take every chance to seek the
advice of men of God on issues in life. If a Christian
cannot afford to send their kids to private school,
the kids should be instructed in way of righteousness
in other settings.
Sometimes ungodly council can be very subtle. It
can come in the form of bad television shows. If we
are not careful, we start to judge people by the
counsel of Hollywood instead of the counsel of God.
We can listen to the counsel of business men that
invest in business that are not pleasing to the lord.
Business sell alcohol of encourage gambling are
examples of such businesses.
Nor standeth in the way of sinners
Do not do what sinners do. Sometimes Christians
go to places that are unpleasing to the lord. Places
that serve alcohol are examples of such places. If
you go to places that encourage gambling, you
displeasing to the lord also. Sometimes even
churches or other religious organizations do
not see anything wrong with raffles for fund raisers.
When you do what sinners do sometimes you prevent
them from accepting Christ.
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful
This clause represents a progression in
sinfulness. First you think about sinning, then you
sin, next you suffer The consequences of sin. These
consequences can Include such addictions as
alcoholism and gambling. Sitting in the seat of the
scornful can also include making fun of people who are
trying to live the Christian life.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in
his law doth he meditate day and night.
But his delight is in the law of the lord.
Notice for the righteous man, it is a pleasure to obey
God. The Bible says it is a delight to obey the law of
God. A Righteous man realizes following the law of God
is to his Benefit. There are some items in the law that
do not Seem to make since at first but we have since
learned are perfectly logical. An example of this is
letting the Farming ground rest once every seven
years. Are we Obligated to do that? No, because we are
under the New covenant. Practically it is still a good
idea though. In the new testament, along with
Salvation, The lord also gives us a lot of practical
instruction on how to live the Christian life by getting
along with your brother.
And in his law doth he meditate day and night.
The righteous man us continuing thinking about
how to please God. Some of the concerns he should
have are: Doing his best to obey God in all of his
commands, trying to Get other people to follow
God, and supporting Other people in the work of God.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit
in his season: His leaf also shall not
wither and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water that bringeth fourth fruit in his season.
In order to understand this passage, it is important
that we think about what makes trees grow. The simple
answer is water. Where I live in the panhandle of
Texas, Sometimes we have a lot of rain and some
years we have very little. A person can tell how much
rain we have had by how green the grass and trees
are. Trees also grow better due to their location. If they
have a stream of running water by their roots, odds are
they will be healthier than they would by just being out
in the field.
What the psalmist is then implying is the Christian
will have all of his needs met. A stream will run
constantly. God is constantly guiding the Christian and
meeting his needs.
You may ask me if I believe in prosperity. I would
say no because, in most cases, the prosperity
preachers try to say that God will give you all of you
wants, as well as your needs.
The next phrase tells us why God blesses us. It
talks about bringing fourth fruit. God is comparing the
fruit of the earthly tree to the “spiritual fruit” of the
Christian. He wants the Christian to have a character
that will make other people want to come to Christ.
Sometimes Christians go through a time in their life
when they feel like nobody is interested in the gospel.
It just may be that it is not your season yet. Sometimes
people need a “wakeup call” before they will accept
Christ. God says though that the righteous man will
bring fourth fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not whither, and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper.
The leaf on a tree represents life. Sometimes a tree
starts to die. You can tell by the leaves on it. They
wither and fade away. This would make it impossible
for them to produce fruit or win others to Christ. The
psalmist is referring here to our spiritual life. We can
get out of fellowship with God. If we keep on following
God, we can still feel his guiding hand. We will also
succeed in fulfilling God’s will for our life. Again does
this phrase mean that we can have anything we
desire? No, because we may not be fulfilling God’s will
for our lives by achieving those goals.
In summary, What these three verses are saying is
that the person that follows Christ will be blessed by
having sweet communion with God, bringing other
people to him, and have his needs taking care of. Now
in this second half of this chapter, we will learn about
a man with a different philosophy on life and he doesn’t
make out so well.
