-------
THE BOTTOM LINE
Mark LaCour
"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night." (Psa. 1:1-2).
People who say, "I'm a Christian; I believe that Jesus is my savior, and that He is the only way for me; but I just can’t say He is the way for others" is going to have a hard time singing from the Jewish Psalter. This psalm is first, not simply because its basic content is found in every psalm, but because it stands in stark contrast with those who want to worship God from a "tolerant" religious position. God will have none of it -- and neither will His people. To sing to Him means to sing to no other.
Being blessed never occurs in a vacuum. It's knowing what to avoid and what to pursue. It's knowing how to identify wicked counsel, sinful directions, and cynical pundits -- and choosing instead to saturate the mind with what pleases God, not public opinion. These blessed people are found where the righteous gather, leaving a legacy of wise and enduring counsel (vs. 5). Their durability is likened to a tree planted by a river -- not a shrub which has no stature, nor growing in a desert which has no nutrients. Their strength produces fruit which feeds other -- never missing a season and never lacking a leaf. The Lord knows their way not simply because He knows all things, but because He is the one who plants them (vs. 3, 6).
The wicked, on the other hand, are compared to chaff -- close to the righteous as a husk is to seed, but lacking the character weight needed to remain when the winds of trial come. They're not found in the granary of the assembled righteous, nor is their counsel sought or given during decision-making.
Two kinds of people possessing two kinds of behavior heading to two kinds of destinations -- not only a truth to treasure and a warning to heed, but a song every Christian must sing.
-Mark LaCour
-------
