Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with (in the counsel of) the wicked [Counsel= legal advice, taking another’s advice]
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
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Walk in the counsel of the wicked
Walk is a word of limited action
Do not stand in the way of sinners
Do not sit in the seat (company) of the mockers
Stand and Sit are words of inaction
Compare to Isaiah 40
Walk and not be weary Here Walk, Run, Fly are all action words
Run and not be faint
Fly- mount up as eagles
The Blessed Man:
- Delights in God’s law (God’s Word)
- Mediates on God’s law all the time
- In eastern religions, meditation seeks to empty the mind, which opens it up to be filled with not so good things like deception or demonic spirits.
- To mediate on God’s Word, you fill your mind with what God says, which has the power to change you into what God wants you to be.
- Is like:
- A tree planted by a never-ending source of nourishment and refreshment
- Heavy yielder of fruit (in season) (fruits of the Spirit-Gal. 5)
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Longsuffering
- Gentleness
- Patience
- Self-Control
- Fruit is a byproduct of a productive tree. All living trees produce some type of fruit. It may not be apples, but it may be acorns. A tree not producing fruit is dying or dead.
- Leaf doesn’t wither
- Evidence of healthy life and prosperity
- Just because the tree is growing and fruitful, does not stop the storms and wind from trying to damage/uproot it.
- An abundant fruit harvest depends on the farmer pruning and treating the tree for parasites.
Jesus said: “I am the Vine you are the branches.” He was not talking about trees; He was talking about grapevines.
- What do I know about vineyards?
- Grafting one kind of vine into another helps to protect it from parasites.
- The place the vine is planted affects the quality of wine.
- Training, pruning and thinning help to optimize the leaf to fruit ratio.
- Vineyards do not only produce wine. They also produce grape juice and raisins.
- Vineyards are often on hillsides and in the soil of marginal value to other plants
The wicked are like chaff
(Dictionary definition of chaff)
- noun: chaff
- the husks of corn or other seed separated by winnowing or threshing.
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husks, hulls, bran, pods, seed cases, shells, capsules, sheaths;
shucks
"a machine that separated the chaff from the grain"
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- chopped hay and straw used as fodder.
- worthless things; trash.
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rubbish, refuse, waste, garbage, litter, discarded matter, debris, detritus, scrap, dross
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- strips of metal foil or metal filings released in the atmosphere from aircraft, or deployed as missiles, to obstruct radar detection or confuse radar-tracking missiles.
- Reading that chaff is pretty much trash and replacing the word “chaff” in the verse so it reads, “The wicked are like trash, useless husks, and other not so complementary things” makes a person think.
- If we realize what the wicked are like, do we really want to hang around them and take their advice?
- It is easy to hang around the wrong people and even if we start out okay, soon we will become like them.
- Remember the saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together.”
- Even if we do not become like them, associating with them causes others to consider us a part of them.
- Consider the phrase: Separate the wheat from the chaff which means to distinguish valuable people or things from worthless ones.
- Stand in the way that sinners take:
- What way do sinners take?
- Standing—has to do with where one locates oneself. Physically, we stand in the road, or on the side of the road, or in one room or another. Spiritually, mentally, we stand in relationship to ideas and to persons. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-significance-of-the-walk-stand-sit-sequence-in-Psalms-1-1
- Walk in step with (in the counsel of) the wicked [Counsel= legal advice, taking another’s advice]
- Walking has to do with going around doing things. The “ungodly” offer “counsel”—advice on what to do. We should not “walk” in their advice. By implication, we should walk—that is go about our daily routine, our work and play—according to Godly wisdom and advice. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-significance-of-the-walk-stand-sit-sequence-in-Psalms-1-1
- Sit in the company of mockers (scornful)
- Sitting—Sitting is “not doing” (and certainly “not standing”—it is a passive position physically but also mentally and spiritually. “The Scornful” are people who have negative attitudes toward goodness and toward progress and toward whatever is happening around them. They are not doing anything, usually, but they are voicing their disdain, their opposition, their skepticism that “any good will come of it”. A scornful person is not taking a stand—for or against—nor is he choosing a path and following it. He simply sits there and complains. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-significance-of-the-walk-stand-sit-sequence-in-Psalms-1-1
- Result of following the wicked:
- Their way leads to destruction
- They do not prosper
- They do not sit in the assembly of the righteous
- They will not survive the judgment
Our choices:
Be blessed or be wicked.
- Which is the easier way?
- Which is the more challenging way, but more rewarding?
- Which do you wish to be compared to: a tree or chaff?
