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PSALM 1:1 “BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT WALKETH NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY, NOR STANDETH IN THE WAY OF SINNERS, NOR SITTETH IN THE SEAT OF THE SCORNFUL.” (KJV, NKJV)
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” (NIV)
“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.” (NASU, ASV, NASV, RSV)
“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God.” (TLB)
Ok, first: Please go to the following song on YouTube and listen to this children’s version of Psalm 1:1-3 about a hundred times.
Psalms 1:1-3 Blessed is the man | Scripture Songs for Kids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZIGHwdYUEw
Cheryl and I taught this song to six to eight years old every Sunday back in Oklahoma. I’m sure they are still singing it today…I know I am. I was always amazed at how well those children remembered the words and hid them in their hearts. I did the same.
I know you probably didn’t have that experience. But I know doing that now will plant that song and the words to that Scripture in your heart. It is actually easier, for some reason, to memorize a song and have a memory verse stored in your memory than it is to look at both sides of a 3x5 card a hundred times. That brings us to another topic that it is probably time for us to consider.
Remember, I am writing these books on these Scriptures because I believe the Lord told me to do so. I have no delusions that very many of my readers will have memorized 60 Scriptures on their way to 100. I most heartily commend you if you have! I have memorized all of them. I don’t know if that would impress you that an over-70-year-old man can do that and maybe inspire you to try it too…but who knows? Plus, you need to recall that I have been working at this discipline all of my life. But, knowing the unmeasurable value I have received from having these verses deep in my heart, I again encourage you to try to do the same.
Undoubtably, some of you might have decided that this discipline of memorizing Bible Verses is just an exercise in “rote memory work.” I wouldn’t argue against that. Sometimes, it seems like we can do “spiritual” things in a more routine work habit instead of a spiritual enriching exercise. However, I would ask you to strongly search the truth that many of our Christian disciplines rely heavily on doing the same thing, over and over again, sometimes seeming to not have any value other than establishing good habits. That is not always a bad thing.
I encourage other Christians to give, at least the tithe of their income and more if they can. The Bible tells us that the Lord loves a “cheerful giver.” I have to admit, though, sometimes I continue to give of my resources week after week and month after month because I am committed to the habit/discipline, whether I am cheerful about it or not. I believe that is a Biblical discipline. The Lord calls that “faithfulness.” It will be rewarded in heaven. I even think that in heaven, the Lord will reward greater the faithfulness we exercise when we really didn’t want to even more than the times we were more joyful about it.
I’m not encouraging you to be a “grouchy giver” or a “monotonous memorizer.” I would encourage you to look for the rewards, even while we remain here this side of heaven, that come from working hard, trudging through the seemingly unrewarding exercise of doing the same right thing over and over. Of course, we won’t memorize any Bible Verses without repeating them over and over, many times. That discipline is probably a worthy one for us to explore and incorporate in our Christian, daily walk. Try it and let me know how that works out.
Now, my hope was that while you learn Psalm 1:1 this week it will come easy (it isn’t a short verse) because you may have heard it many times. I have to remember that just because I have heard it and sung it hundreds of times, to many of you it may be a brand new verse. Also, like we have done a couple of times before, I want to incorporate consecutive verses in the Bible that intimately go together and give us “multiple credit” toward our 100 verses memorized.
After these three familiar verses, we are going to “memorize” all of the verses of the Lord’s Prayer. Not trying to take a short cut to 100 verses…but accept the value of memorizing those verses of the Bible that we are kind of already very familiar with.
David begins the writings we have recorded in the Psalms with a way for us to be blessed. It is interesting that these verses promise us blessings if we DO NOT do some things. He writes from the poetic vision of sitting, walking and standing…or not doing so. You will be blessed if you do not walk in ungodly counsel. Boy, how many times in my life have I wished I had followed that guidance after seeking advice and counsel from ungodly sources!
We are wise to recognize that we don’t know everything and sometimes, good advice can help us make the right decisions and avoid pitfalls from our lack of experience and wisdom. I have learned, however, that you don’t get wise counsel from unwise sources. We desperately need to access the guidance of the Holy Spirit before we start asking for and receiving advice that we would have been better not to ask for. Guard carefully whom you ask for advice. Don’t walk in ungodly counsel and the Bible promises we will be blessed.
I used to think that “standing in the way of sinners” was what I was supposed to do. We are quite practically supposed to be big, huge warning signs to the lost that the road to hell is wide and well-traveled but not worth following.
What this verse is trying to tell us, though, is the “way of sinners” is definitely a way we should not be found standing in! Think of all the places the world would invite us to “come inside,” “hang around for a while,” and “stay and enjoy yourself.” You can use your imagination to come up with lots of places we shouldn’t be found standing in. You will be blessed if you do not stand there!
When I was a very young teen, we had a church picnic at Garfield Park. During the activities, Ricky Snider and I wandered off to a park “band stand” where some very lively music was playing and kids were dancing together. I had been told many times, “Always be careful where you go. Don’t ever be where you wouldn’t want to be if the Lord came back right then.” Raised in a pretty strict, holiness background, I couldn’t help but think, and possibly fear, that if the Lord came back while I was in this “dance atmosphere,” He probably wouldn’t be very happy with me.
You can probably agree with me that I was probably over-reacting to a solemn warning that might not have necessarily applied to that situation. I can’t help but think, though, that this type of approach would be extremely useful in my future to help me avoid even worse, more temptation-drawing atmospheres that I knew better than to be found in. Christians might not ought to be found in dive bars, gambling casinos or “houses of ill repute.” I think that may be what the Psalmist was implying when he said, “Don’t stand in the way of sinners.”
As Christians we should also not “sit in the seat of the scornful.” The dictionary describes scornful as “feeling or expressing contempt or derision.” You know, as Christians, we really should be the most approachable people in our culture. We have so much to be thankful for, we really should be the happiest people on the planet. Instead, a lot of us show faces that seem to be saying, “whatever you think of me, I really don’t have any time for you at all!” Sitting in that seat should never be the place where we are found. No wonder we seldom feel blessed.
If you are on your way to heaven, try telling your face that wonderful fact. Let the world see that Jesus is inside by glowing His presence on the outside. Sometimes, our looks alone are the greatest detriment to our testimony. It ought to be the other way. 2 Corinthians 2:15 tells us that “we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.”
Some of us smell anything but sweet. Remember, we have eternal life. Tell your face to show that. Stop sitting in the seat of the scornful. The world needs to see Jesus in us, to see the way to that eternal life. You think about that!
Questions to consider: What are the things in our life that sometimes make us look like the most miserable people on the planet? It isn’t putting on a show for the world. But shouldn’t the glorious hope of our future life in heaven show up with something other than scorn for others? What are some ways you have taken ungodly counsel in areas of your life? What are some of the places you might have gone where the Lord might have convinced you that this is a place where you probably shouldn’t be standing? How can following the instructions above make us feel truly blessed? What does being blessed feel like?
Other Scriptures to study: Ephesians 5:2 “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Proverbs 1:15 “My son, walk not in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path.” Eph 4:17 “Walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind…who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
 
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