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| | Psalm
1:4
The
following is a Bible study posted on our Bible Study Group.
Today we're going to look at verse 4 of Psalm 1.
Just to refresh your memory, let's peek at the whole Psalm:
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;
But his delight is in the law of the
LORD,
And in His law he
meditates day and night.
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 ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind
drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall 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 ungodly shall
perish. (NKJV)
What is the definition of an ungodly person? I've been reading each
morning in the book of 1 Kings, and I've been amazed at how wicked most of the
kings of Israel and Judah were! To get a good description of someone who
is ungodly and wicked, you could just type those words into a Bible search
engine (such as http://bible.gospelcom.net)
and read about the lives of people in the Bible's "Wicked Hall of
Fame."
But you don't even have to leave Psalm 1 to get a good definition of what it
means to be ungodly. Just look back at verse 1!
~ Un-godly -- not like God. List the attributes of God (holy, loving,
wise, merciful, etc.), then you'll see that the ungodly are the opposite of
that!
~ Sinners -- To "sin" means to break the
law. Sometimes they break the family's laws, sometimes the nation's, and
usually God's.
~ Scornful -- Not only are they wicked and the
opposite of God and sinners, they delight in doing evil! They make fun of
God and His ways -- and His people.
Paul gives a great description in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV):
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God."
Praise the Lord, Paul's next words are...
"And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified,
but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our
God" (verse 11).
As you've probably heard me say, I live in northeast Arizona, in a part of the
country known as the desert highlands. We don't have any fields of wheat
here, so I'm not really an expert on "chaff that the wind drives
away." However, I see lots of old-fashioned, John-Wayne-style
tumbleweed roll down our street.
(For a picture, see http://www.prairietumbleweedfarm.com/
On a calm day like today, I might see some tumbleweed in someone's yard and
think it's just an ordinary, bushy plant. However, before a storm rolls
in, the winds can easily kick up to 30 miles per hour around here. All of
a sudden, tumbleweed start rolling. They bounce and skit-skaddle down the
road and across the plains. Once I even saw a big tumbleweed get stuck
between a cow's legs, until the cow lazily stepped aside and the tumbleweed was
once again bouncing along.
I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be a "tree planted by the
rivers of water" than a dried-out pile of pokey weeds!
And just in case you've ever wondered this... Sometimes it seems like the wicked
ARE prospering. They've got the money, the fame, and the good times. But
the Bible clearly teaches that their due is coming. We'll discuss this
more next week. In the meantime, you might like to read Psalm 2, a psalm
that follows nicely after Psalm 1, but is one that we won't have time to discuss
in depth here.
So next time you have a windy day, thank the Lord for His Word and for planting
you solidly in Him. We have so much to be thankful for!
If you would
like to participate in our current study, click
here to join.
Next - Psalm
1:4-6
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