I was driving though the mountain range of Colorado when I saw a sign posted that said this was the Continental divide. This Continental divide is a fascinating this. Two raindrops can fall from the same cloud. If one drops on one side of the Continental divide and the other on the other side, they end up in different oceans more than 2,000 miles apart.
There is also a spiritual Continental divide so to speak. Two people can start off from very similar circumstances, both from good families, both are good students at school, both are active in their communities but there is a difference that might seem small at first. One accepts Christ as savior to forgive their sins, and one does not.
This seemingly small at first difference can make a stark contrast on where they will end up. One has the forgiveness of their sin Christ provided in the cross and one does not. One has a relationship with God though Jesus Christ and the other is lost. One will be eternally in heaven with the Lord, and one forever separated from God.
If you think there is a contrast in ending up in either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, well there is a much more significant difference in the spiritual Continental divide. There is the drastic contrast between heaven and hell.
Psalm 1 is considered to be an introduction to the whole book of Psalms. There is this great theme of the vast contrast between the righteous and the wicked. This Psalm exhorts us to take seriously God’s Word and walk in the council of God’s Word.
John Trapp in his commentary on Psalm 1 said, “The philosophers’ discourses of this subject are but learned dotages; David said more to the point in this short psalm than any or all of them put together; they beat around the bush, but God has here put the bird into our hands.”
This Psalm should serve as the Christian’s guide to our pilgrimage with God. It will show us the quicksand bog where we can be pulled under on one side and the deep ditch we can fall on the other side. This Psalm challenges us to have our footsteps ordered by the word of God.
Psalm 1 lays out the great theme that we hold up in the Christian life. The need for the supreme obedience to God’s will. This Psalm portrays what is reinforced by all the Psalms.
The contrast of two types of people. The one who follows God’s law which is the way of blessedness. Standing opposite of this is the one who follows the way of wickedness whose end is judgement. You may not always see the great contrast, but as the Psalm itself emphasizes it becomes very pronounced.
The righteous man is first to be highlighted. He is the blessed man. The righteous man of Psalm 1 is described like having internal joy in the beatitudes. This is a very different kind of happiness that the world will tell you brings happiness. It is literally oh how very happy.
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers, (Psalm 1:1)
The first thing about this blessed man or woman are some negative characteristics. What the righteous does not do. All in all, as believers we emphasize what we do over what we don’t do. However, there are times when we must state what the righteous refrain from. The activities they do not do.
There are some things that are absent from the life of the righteous man. What is not found in the righteous man is inherent in the wicked. There is a difference on how the righteous walk, stand and sit.
He does not walk in the council of the wicked.
He does not stand in the way of sinners.
He does not sit in the seat of mockers.
These are more about habitual patterns. Sin begins small and consumes the whole life. The passing thought becomes the fixation which becomes the action.
If you want advice don’t seek the council of the wicked. Do not ask a wicked person, should I follow the Lord, should I get plugged into fellowship of worshiping believers, should I give to the Lord’s work. They will say no. They will misguide you.
We are all the time faced with moral decisions. Remember the Continental divide. It seems so small at first. The righteous will give you advice that does not look oceans apart from the wicked. Say no to what you should say yes, and yes to what you should say no. But they lead you down a path where you are walking with the wicked.
The free advice the wicked will give you becomes very costly when they advise you to walk with the wicked, stand among the sinners and sit with the mockers. Young people wonder, how do I stay morally pure? The promiscuous will give free advice to walk the path of self-destruction. The wicked openly mock God. Why seek out their advice.
Seek out the righteous. The righteous will lead you away from destruction and to a blessed life. The righteous does not let evildoers influence him. The positive qualities of the righteous unfold in verse 2. The righteous meditates on the Word of God.
But whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:2)
For the righteous spending time in God’s Word is a joyful privilege. It is a source of freedom. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. (John 8:32) You meditate on the scripture including committing the Bible to memory and meditating on what the scripture says.
The blessed meditate on God’s Word. They read it by day and think on it by night. Is the Word your delight? Is the Bible and the story of what God has done, what God is doing and what God will do give you joy?
When you come against times of trouble do you have a scripture verse you can meditate on? You think on it and are always bringing back the scripture in your mind and considering the truth of God’s Word. We see the results of righteous living and meditating on God’s Word in verse 3.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:3)
This is the result of righteous living and meditating on God’s Word. The imagery is a try that never lacks nourishment and whose leaves never dry up. The contrast of two persons and two tree is seen in Jeremiah.
This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8)
Here is the contrast of the two persons. The one who trusts in the flesh and turns away from God is the scrub brush. The one who trusts in the Lord is the picture of health and can produce fruit when in good times and hard times. God causes the righteous to prosper. This is not a guarantee of instant success, but if you stay consistent on the path of the righteous God will bless you.
There is a shift in verse 4-6 on the contrast with the wicked. Not so for the wicked. What holds true for the righteous does not hold true for the wicked.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. (Psalms 1:4-5)
We already saw the contrast of two trees. In Psalm 1 the imagery for the wicked is chaff. You throw the grain up in the air and chaff is blown out by the wind. It is the unprofitable byproduct. The chaff is without substance and easily carried away. The one without God is like the chaff.
The wicked are easily blown away at the judgement of God. The wicked cannot stand. The ungodly are traveling down a dead-end street. There is a clear-cut distinction between the righteous and the wicked.
Jesus made the contrast using the image of two gates. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
In heaven no unregenerated person will stand. The wicked will not only be blown away in the judgment, but the wicked cannot stand in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. (Psalm 1:6)
The Lord knows we might be deceived by wolves in sheep’s clothes. God cares for the righteous, but the wicked face ruin. God alone knows who are the righteous in who are the wicked. People can even use the guise of religion and looking righteous to deceive others.
God knows the heart and who professes faith in Christ for social status or some false motive. God knows who the ones are who stand for Christ at any cost. That is why persecution can bring to light who is really standing for Christ.
May we seek the way of righteousness and not the wicked. What about your life? You are standing on the spiritual Continental divide. Have your put your faith in Christ that leads to eternal life in Christ. This is the time to put your faith in Christ.
