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.
There are three negative terms in this verse: the wicked, the sinners and the scoffers.
The wicked (A.V ungodly). The Hebrew word the psalmist uses is rasha’, it means criminal – one who is guilty of a crime. The question is what crime? And against whom?
The word wicked means hostility towards God. The man who is not wicked is at peace with God (not behaving in a hostile manner towards Him).
The psalmist also mentions sinners and scoffers: to call a person a sinner these days seems old fashioned, yet the Bible repeatedly tells us that mans state without God is sinful. All mankind are sinners (Romans 3:23) there is no getting away from this fact.
Scoffers, this is interesting – this word means those that speak arrogantly or boastfully or mockingly of another. An arrogant man has faith only in himself!
The psalmist is stating that the man of God would do well to avoid these three types of people, the wicked, the sinful, the scoffer.
I can’t help but notice how the psalmist conveys a sense of movement from one to another – stands, walks, sits. His language conveys a sense of action and gives us the picture that it is easy to move from one to another – the last action denotes a comfortable position (after one has stood a while and walked a while it is far easier to sit and make oneself comfortable for a long while).
The Christian life is a journey and who we choose to stand alongside and walk the journey with will ultimately reflect on who we choose to sit and make ourselves comfortable with. We must choose carefully, after all bad company corrupts good character (1Corinthians 15:33).
Does this mean then as Christians we should confine ourselves to some sort of sterile monastic type bubble where we do not associate with the ‘unclean’ of the world? Of course not! Our primary function as the Church of Jesus Christ is to be a friend to sinners, to mix with, associate with and love those who do not yet know Him in order to make Him known.
The word wicked fascinates me, especially in the understanding that it means criminal. When I think of wicked crimes I have read in the newspaper or have known about throughout history, some will leap to my mind quicker than others. It is easy for me with my moral scale to judge some people as more ‘wicked’ than others. It is easy for us in civilised society to brand some crimes more heinous than others – after all this is why we have a justice system. Some crimes are worthy of a lengthy prison sentences (in many countries even death), while others carry only a fine. Humanity with it’s perverted sense of morality has invented a ‘sin scale’ of course we do not call it that – though that’s what it is. We deem some crimes and therefore some criminals as more ‘wicked’ than others. But our morality (however well intended) is perverted because we live in a sin stricken, fallen world.
21st century ‘morality’ not only varies from culture to culture but also within the same culture. From house to house, family to family… But the psalmist and other Biblical writers understand the word ‘wicked’ to mean ungodly. This includes all criminals who have broken the Law – Gods law. We are all guilty of that, due to our sinful nature we desire to do things our way, not Gods. We are by nature, lawbreakers.
Jesus Christ came to fulfil the law and in him we have a new promise, a new covenant – forgiveness of sin. This is literally a get out of jail free card. By accepting the sacrifice of Jesus when he died on a cross we accept He paid for our sin. He took away our sin…we who were criminals, lawbreakers in Gods sight have now been set free. We have been completely pardoned – not paroled, but made totally free by the pure blood of Christ.
So wicked people (or rather ungodly people) are to be found outside the church? Yes … but also no, or rather not only.
In Matthew 16:4 Jesus condemns his hearers as a ‘wicked and adulterous generation’ this in context, is particularly directed towards the officials and religious leaders who are being rebuked for their demand for a sign.
The ungodly are found both inside and outside the church …religious practice or false piety might impress many, but it won’t impress God as the tale of the Pharisee and the tax collected warn us (Luke 18:13). All the more reason to watch our lives and doctrine closely (1 Timothy 4:16) and to choose carefully whom we choose to stand with, walk with and sit with along our way – remembering that bad company corrupts good character.
So how do we choose? Before we scan the congregation and pick out those that seem the most ‘godly’ to help us along the way. It’s worth remembering that God will bring many people in to our lives, to guide us, lead us, challenge us, refine us…many of these people will come and go – the one companion who is constant with us for our journey is God himself. It is He alone who has promised ‘Never to leave or forsake us’ (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5). If our relationship is right with God finding those to journey with will be easier.
christian 