Walk - Stand - Sit

These are words we are all familiar with. They are verbs - doing words or action words. They convey an instant picture of a particular action. They are actions that we learn as infants and will use right through to old age.

Psalms 1:1, 2:
"(1) Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
(2) But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night."

Psalms 1, the first book in the Old Testament Book of Psalms begins with the blessedness of the the man who:
(a) Does not walk in the counsel [advice] of ungodly people
(b) Does not stand around with sinners [prefers their company]
(c) Does not sit with those who are scornful. [Scornful of others who do not follow their views on life].

God calls the man blessed who chooses to follow Him in righteousness and delights in His written words; a man who thinks about God's words and meditates upon them day and night. This man has made a deliberate choice to follow God and His ways.

Psalms 1 is a psalm with a distinct contrast between a blessed man and an ungodly sinner. Let's continue to have a look at this psalm.

Psalms 1:3
"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

The illustration brought before us is that of a tree that is growing alongside a river. This tree has an abundant supply of water from which its roots can draw the moisture necessary for its continual growth. The trees leaves don't wither and die because they have an endless supply of sap to sustain them.

So our blessed man is likened to this tree. When hardships come he will not wilt but rather he will continue to prosper. For those very same hardships will strengthen his faith in his God. He will continually remind his God of the promises He has made in His words and rest on them. The picture is of a happy, satisfied, abundant, righteous life.

Psalms 1:4, 5:
"(4) The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
(5) Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous."

Here we have another illustration where the ungodly person is likened to chaff. What is chaff?  Chaff is the husk or the hard covering around grain seeds. For instance, if we harvest a wheat crop, the outer husk (chaff) needs to be broken off before the wheat is useful for food. Chaff is not digestible by humans and therefore is useless as a food source. So if we want to grind the wheat into flour all traces of the chaff need to be gone.

In Old Testament times the harvested wheat had to be threshed to break off the outer husk (chaff) from the wheat. Then the mixture of chaff and wheat was winnowed to separate the chaff and wheat. They would take a large shallow, flattish dish and place a quantity of the mixture on it. When a light breeze was blowing they would toss the mixture up slightly and the chaff would blow away in the breeze. The grain would fall back into the dish. This would be repeated until all the chaff was gone. The wheat grains would then be stored and the winnowing would continue until the harvest was chaff free.

In verse 4 the ungodly are likened to the chaff which the wind carries away. In verse 5 we are told that the ungodly won't be able to withstand the judgement of God. In effect, they will be like the chaff driven away by the wind. We are also told that sinners won't be allowed to stand in the congregation of the righteous.

When the wheat is growing there is a bond between the wheat grain and the outer husk. However, the wheat cannot become useful to mankind until that bond is broken and the grain is set free from the husk.

Psalms 1:6:
"For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

This last verse of the psalm reminds me of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:13, 14:
"(13) Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
(14) Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life [eternal], and there are few who find it."

The ungodly sinner who dies in his or her sins will stand before the Great White Throne of judgement and be cast into the Lake of Fire which is the second eternal death (Revelation 20:11-15).

"...for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it."

"...nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." There will not be any ungodly sinners in Heaven. The contrast between the righteous man and the ungodly sinner is never so marked as when we compare their eternal destinies.

It is wise to consider the end of life's journey on Earth and where we will spend eternity. It will be either Heaven or the Lake of Fire.

Jon Peasey
Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com
Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

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