February 12, 2021 -- Psalm 1:4-5 -- How are the wicked and the righteous really any different?

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous;

for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1:5-6 English Standard Version

You might be saying under your breath: “Did I miss something? This morning’s passage is so black and white.” On reaching the final line maybe become indignant and whisper “I know a lot of good people, moral people, who are kind to others, shoveling their elderly neighbour’s snow-drifted-to-the-height-of the-door-of-the-car driveways without expecting pay. Is the LORD stating that good people who don’t know Him are rushing headlong into the gaping maw of hell?”

Typical of human nature, isn’t it? Looking for a loop-hole is so common. Psalm 1:1-3 described the wicked perfectly. (Read it again, I don’t mind waiting. Yeah, seriously, re-read it!) The wicked are the mockers, the sinners, and those whose advice seems good, but any suggestion and all advice is offered without reference to the Living God and His ways. The wicked are not only actively evil they are also passively rebellious against the Sovereign Ruler of All. Rather than looking to the Law of God for their delight and their source of counsel, they drink from broken cisterns—basically they seek their refreshment anywhere, everywhere other than in Him Who is the Source of every good gift and all wise counsel. The passage today begins with a “therefore”—all that has gone there before is the grounds for the summation found in the reading today.

Therefore the wicked, for their active evil and passive rebellion against the Living God Who made them, gives them breath and sustains them, the wicked will fail in the Day of Judgment. All sense of hubris, any inkling of “when I see God I will tell Him what I think” fades into pitiable silence. The wicked are by their actions and their choices rushing towards hell. It is shocking and grievous. It is the reason believers are compelled to stand and tell others about the glory of God the Judge. Hell which awaits the wicked and the mocker and the sinner is agony beyond description

The righteous are directed by the LORD their God. He refreshes their souls. The righteous see how close their thoughts are to those of the wicked and confess these thoughts. The righteous know it is the Spirit of God Who restrains their sinful impulses. The righteous delight in the Law of the LORD because they know that they are saved by the intervention of the Father in heaven Who has given the Son for the complete forgiveness of all their sins. The righteous have no reason for boasting nor any grounds for feeling superior—the righteous realize this—it is grace, from start to finish, from top to bottom and through-out the fabric of their lives, it is the grace of God injected into them by the Spirit of God which makes them righteous.

Therefore the righteous are confirmed in their walking away from the counsel of the wicked; this is the reason why the righteous do not stand around with sinners—they know the familiar pull of temptation which would lead them back into sin and wickedness. The righteous are not “holier-than-thou”, they are self-aware enough to realize walking, stopping and finally sitting down with sinners is the entranceway leading them right back to the all-too-near old patterns of sin and hateful disrespect of the Glorious God Who has lifted them from this pathway and set their feet on the path of life. When the righteous see the deeds of the wicked, they are drawn to the Word of God, given as the preventative cure of terminal temptations of sin. Blessed be the LORD our God Who richly blesses His children with life and hope and strength for new paths.

O God, the Holy Spirit, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son~have mercy on me.

Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of atonement achieved,

expiation completed, satisfaction made, guilt done away,

my debt paid, my sins forgiven, my person redeemed, my soul saved,

hell vanquished, heaven opened, eternity made mine.

O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons.

Write them upon my heart, that my walk be sin-loathing, sin-fleeing,

Christ-loving;

And suffer no devil’s device to beguile or deceive me.

^We give thanks to You, LORD of Lords,

for Your steadfast love endures forever.

the prayer begins with a quotation of: The Spirit’s Work from The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions and the final two lines are adapted from Psalm 136:3.

https://youtu.be/OYJK6wjhUuM