The Way of the Righteous

“Blessed is the man

    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

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

that yields its fruit in its season,

    and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

“The wicked are not so,

    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked will perish.” Psalms 1:1-6 ESV

Who are those who are NOT walking in the counsel of the wicked, who do NOT stand in the way of sinners, and do NOT sit in the seat of scoffers? They are those who delight in the law of the Lord. And what is that law? It is not the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification and dietary laws and restrictions. But it is God’s moral laws, for they have remained, and they are taught to us abundantly under the New Covenant! And it is the gospel of our salvation as taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles.

We are those who believe God’s words to us, his church, who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to lives as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. We are those who have denied self, not that we are perfect, and who are daily dying to sin, and who are walking in obedience to the Lord, in practice, and who are no longer living in sin, making sin our practice and not moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness.

And we not only meditate on the word of God day and night, but we are actively doing what his word teaches. And so we should also be people who are sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world, and with the church, too, for many who profess the name of Jesus are not following the Lord and his word, but they are those who are walking in the counsel of the wicked and who take their stand in the way of sinners and who sit in the seat of scoffers. For they are followers of man, and not followers of Christ.

And some or many of them who are following the teachings of human beings, in place of and over the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, are standing in direct opposition to God and to his Word (in context), and in stark contrast to those who are teaching the words that Jesus and his NT apostles taught. Many of the opposition are ignoring the NT Scriptures in favor of the Old Covenant teachings, thus denying Christ and his gospel message and his teachings and those of his NT apostles.

And who are the wicked? They are all who are opposed to Christ and to his gospel and to God’s moral laws and who are choosing to live in sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, faithlessness and committing adultery, etc. And some or many of them could be those who are also professing faith in Jesus Christ but who are living wicked and immoral lives. For many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are choosing to believe the teachings of humans over the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles.

But those whose delight is in the gospel of Christ and in God’s moral laws are those who are going to bear much spiritual fruit for God’s eternal kingdom. For if we truly delight in our Lord’s commandments, then we are going to be committed to obeying them, too. But the wicked will not stand in the judgment, and again this included many giving lip service only to God (see Matthew 7:21-23), but Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they didn’t obey God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Again, sometimes the Lord uses secular songs to speak his messages, when translated into spiritual and biblical terms. And this one (I will only quote in part) is about a “love” relationship between two people, but one of the people is not committed to the relationship and is described in terms such as “you wander far from me” and “then you softly leave.” And then the question is asked, “How Deep is Your Love?,” “’Cause we’re living in a world of fools breakin’ us down.” We surely are. So make sure you are on side of God.

For, although the original song is about human love (or romance, lust), God is asking of all of us, “How Deep is Your Love?” And sometimes he brings trials and tribulations into our lives to test how deep that love is and to see if we will stand strong on the word of God even if it costs us friendships, family relationships, respect, and honor, and even if many turn against us and hate and persecute us and speak lies about us and do evil to us. We must remain true to our Lord and faithful to our commitments to serve him only.