Cyber-Discipleship

There is great wisdom in Psalms 1. If one reads Psalms 1 it would put them in mind of the Proverbs of David’s son, Solomon. Both warn the reader (or singer) about the perils of being a part of the wicked and remind the reader of the rewards of being righteous. There is danger in hanging with the wrong crowd and blessing in hanging with the right one.

            Blessed is the man. The word, blessed, in Hebrew also means happy. David is describing the state of the person who adheres to the condition he is about to describe. Jesus used a similar mantra in his Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” Happy will be the person who….

            Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly – the person being describe here is a person who does not listen to nor seek the advice of ungodly people. The Bible teaches that the heart of the ungodly is foolish, lacking in wisdom. Psalms 24:1 says, “The fool says in his heart there is no God.”  For only the ungodly would dare say there is no God. They say this because it eases their conscience and justifies their actions. If there is no God to whom they must give account, then they can live any way they choose. The wise man does not seek the counsel of fools. Christians should not seek the counsel of non-Christians. This includes bankers, accountants, psychologists, counselors, lawyers, or doctors. The information they give you might sound pleasant at the time but will give your heartache in the long run.

            Nor stands in the path of sinners– I once heard a preacher say that when he first read this verse he thought it was saying that the wise man does not stand in the way of sinners coming to salvation. David was saying is the person who does not stop to converse or hang out with sinners will be a happy person. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that there is no fellowship of light and darkness, of righteousness and lawlessness. This does not mean that Christians are to avoid sinners. On the contrary, these are the people we were left here to lead to salvation. Instead, David is saying that the righteous, Christians, are not to spend too much time with sinners. The law of spiritual gravity says that the will bring a righteous person down to their level before a righteous person brings the sinner up to his. This is true because not only do you have the sinner working against you but also your own sinful nature.

            Nor sits in the seat of the scornful – I hope you see the natural progression here. First, the person walks, then he stands, now he sits. Sin will slowly drag you in if you let it. Now it seems the person addressed is comfortable with the ungodly—comfortable enough that he sits down. When a person sits down, they intend to stay a while. This is dangerous because, as this progression shows, the person is subtly being transformed back into the world instead of transforming him- or herself into Christ. I’ve always taught that association breeds assimilation. This means that you become like the people you hang with.

            But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. Hanging with people who are opposed to God does not bring happiness. Instead, a person become happy by reading and meditating on the law (or Word) of God. God’s Word is alive. Each time you read it, it speaks to you. It tells you things you never knew; it shows you things you didn’t see before. Someone once compare the Word to an onion; each time you read it, another layer comes off. Like God, there is always something to discover in God’s Word. God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6 that they were to meditate on the Word day and night. To meditate means to think on something; to turn it over and over in your mind, asking what does each word mean and how do they come together in the thought of the passage. As someone once said, to meditate means to chew on it and then chew on it some more until you get all you can out of it.

            He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. The person who meditates on the Word will be like a tree planted by streams of water. He or she will have deep set roots and will be unmovable, unshakable. James say that a double-minded person is unstable in all their ways. What is a double-minded person? He is a person who can easily be swayed from one position to another; a person who can be tossed to and fro by every wind and doctrine. If a new truth comes along, they jump on it whether or not it agrees with the Bible. When that new truth turns out to be an old lie, they lose faith and lose heart. They become discontented with “religion”. May even fall away from the church. Blessed people follow the precepts of the Word and, as a result, what they do brings them success. “⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding. ⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take (Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT).”

            The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Again David contrasts the plight of the wicked versus the destiny of the righteous. The wicked are like chaff and will soon blow away. It may not seem like soon for us but when we look back on everything we will see that their reign did not last long. God is being longsuffering with them desiring they should repent but even God can say enough is enough.

            Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. When the ungodly stand before God, they will not have a leg to stand on. God will play back their actions, their thoughts, and their words. Those will be contrasted against God’s law. He will even call into evidence their conscience. All this overwhelming evidence will silence the most ardent self-defender. Because of they will acknowledge their own guilt, the ungodly, sinners, will not stand in, or be a part of, the congregation of the righteous.

            For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish. It is a wonderful thing that God knows the fate of the righteous. He directs their steps (Psalms 37:23). He will see them safely to Heaven’s port. Psalms 91 says, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;  I will deliver him and honor him. ¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.” Not so with the ungodly. They will be destroyed. They sowed destruction; destruction they will reap.

            Imagine hanging with friends who are ungodly. They get you to drive them to a convenience store. They tell you to wait here and keep the car running, they’ll run in and get something and be right out. The next thing you know they’re jumping into your car and saying, “Go, go!” You ask, “What’s the hurry?” They answer, “We just robbed the store and the police will be here any minute?” As Keanu Reeves said in Speed, “Pop quiz, what do you do?” If you do nothing, you just hope they don’t get caught because if they do, they’ll rat you out. If you tell on them, you still might get arrested as an accessory; and if not, they might get you for being a snitch. You can’t win in that scenario even though you did nothing but be there.

I admit this is an extreme scenario but I’m sure it has happened to at least one person in their life. For others, other scenarios have played out. Christian girl gets pregnant by ungodly boy who dumps her soon afterward. Christian counselor wrongfully accused of sexual assault by angry, ungodly person. Police search car of a Christian and finds gun/drugs that were lift there by ungodly passenger. And the list goes on. Therefore, the Christians should not avoid the ungodly but keep their associations with the ungodly to a minimum.