#679 Only Way He Knows

1 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;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.


3 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.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.


5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. Psalm 1

For all our talk of individuality, being "yourself", my own man, and all our differences, there are but two kinds of men here in this chapter. The poet speaks of the blessed, and all else are not, but those who are made holy, set apart, and this is what God's people are being made to look like. 

Counsel of the wicked - Many a man has forfeited the counsel of God in preference of those who think they have no need for Him. I suppose they exist somehow by their own power, and with that sort of confidence they beguile many to listen to them. The blessed are not so impressed by the heroes of men, their scales are not built to the respect of violence, money or outward appearance. The counsel of the Lord has not always come from kings, rarely in fact, and so many times it has been the one in camel skin, a lonely voice in the wilderness, the root out of dry ground. The blessed have learned to measure both the message and the messenger against the Word of God. 

Way of sinners - It is a difficult day, as devastating and as beautiful as can be understood of a time or place, the day we say farewell to the way of destruction. There is a path that leads to destruction, the wages of sin is death, the flesh testifies of decay, but the path I once lived on did not acknowledge the spirit, so it was not afraid of what it could not see. I did not know that I was already dead in that way, for I was surrounded by friends, family and excitement. I had already elevated the counsel of the wicked, that nothing mattered, that what felt good to me was good, because there was no God, and I found solace in so many like minded people. There is a path, and while it may intersect with so many others, and we are not to leave these places without light, we still must stay the course of righteousness. It is the babe in Christ and the younger of the young men that crave a physical journey. Those that are stunted, so oft inside themselves,  will so disdain the way of the ungodly but for fear make it a place of geographical location. They refuse to walk any further, worried that they will once again come upon the places of the world, and it is good they have come to detest sin, but who then is to be the light of those dark crossroads? We know that there is nothing but death on the path of the wicked, that we cannot be conformed to the image of this world, but someone has to have compassion, they have to speak to those at the intersections of life, to offer the hope, the love, and truth of the gospel. 

Seat of scoffers - The blessed do not have time to sit with those who mock others, and they themselves feel ashamed of those times that they have been so entertained. We often look down the bridge of our noses at those who are our brothers and sisters, and like Job's friends, we assess the struggles of their lives as warranting both the pain of itself and our disdain. The feet of saints could be yours, and the wings of angels may be my arms, a little empathy can turn the wheels of compassion that carry the hurting to comfort. I do not agree with those who steer away from the truth, that think when the Bible says, "love covers a multitude of sins", that it means to cover up. It is not love if it is in denial, and God has not shown us a blind example, but offered up His Son to reconcile these things, that men are dead in their trespasses and sins, God is Holy and Just, and that blood of the only spotless lamb was sufficient to cover our sins. So without scorn we should remember the way we first walked, that we could not save ourselves, and with patience tell the truth in love. 

His delight is in the law of the Lord - Where do the blessed go for counsel? Where do the righteous find truth, learn of their sin, this breach between God and man? 

15From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.…2 Timothy 3: 15-17

The blessed have the light of Scripture, it is precious to them, and the more they are there, the more like food it becomes to them. There is a place and a way for every man, but the just live by faith, not blind or mustered up, they are guided by the Word of God, that light unto their path. There comes a time when a man's eyes are opened, that he begins to hunger for the Word of God, that he not only reads it but chews upon it throughout the day, prays it when he is alone, and then like a baby deer he gets up, stumbling at first, but then walking in it, the way. It does not stop here, for those that have been emptied of themselves can be filled to overflowing. 

He is like a tree - A tree planted by water is always well fed, and a good tree brings forth fruit. There is a practice among those who care for orchards, that they graft the branches of a weaker tree into the tree that has survived the cold, and it is like this with those who are being saved, that they are grafted into the vine that is Christ, who has conquered sin and death. We live because of Him, we live through Him and are accepted by God because of Him. 

Like chaff - The wicked are the only other type mentioned here, for God and reason have kept it this simple. The fruit of wheat is the grain and men would set up threshing floors on knolls that kissed the autumn wind. When you toss the grain into the air, there is a thin, paper like covering, that is light and of no value to the farmer, the wheat is heavy enough to fall back to the floor, but the chaff is carried away by the wind. Such is the wisdom of the wicked, God does not hold to these ways, Christ was the only offered way, all else just blows away. 

3You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock. 4You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. 5They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered, they became food for all the wild beasts.…Ezekiel 34:3-5