God does not pass judgment on individuals based on race, sex, or national origin. His judgment of them is based on their trust in Him, their obedience, and their reaction to His will. The individuals who tenaciously work or attempt to comply with God’s will resemble vigorous, fruit bearing trees with solid roots (Jeremiah 17:5-8). God vows to look out for these individuals, and His wisdom controls their lives. The individuals who do not comply with God have futile lives that are like dust in the wind. Whichever path we choose determines our destiny.
In verses 1-3:
Get SEPARATED – walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly
The psalmist started his hymn praising the delights of being a faithful individual - one who obeys God and will not tune in to the individuals who dishonor or disparage Him. Our companions, friends, and family can impact us. If we demand fellowships with the individuals who laugh at what God considers significant, we sin by becoming unresponsive to God's will. Do your companions help develop your trust in God or do they tear it down? The impact of genuine companions should attract you closer to God.
The psalmist says we ought to maintain a strategic distance from the association of mocking sinners if we want to obtain God’s joy. We ought to likewise look for a comprehension of God through His Word. The impact of scoffers separates us from the brilliance of God's joyful company, as a foreboding cloud separates us from the joy of viewing the morning sun.
• 2 Corinthians 6:17, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
There are two ways of life before us - God's method for dutifulness, or the method for resistance and death. Are we in the world but not in the world? Do non-Christian friends/family influence us more? If the world influences us, we become separated from God; it robs us of the peace and fellowship with God. Do we prefer dark clouds or SON-shine?
• Psalm 26:5, I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
• Psalm 17:4, Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
Get SATURATED – and in his law doth he meditate day and night
We can figure out how to follow God by meditating on His Word. Meditating implies investing energy perusing and contemplating what we read. It implies asking ourselves how we should change so we live as God wants. Knowing and contemplating God's Word are the initial moves toward applying it to our daily lives. If we want to follow God even more intently, we should recognize what He says.
This “law of the Lord” incorporates all Scripture: the initial five books of Moses, the prophets, and the other compositions. The more we are aware of the entire extent of God’s Word, the more assets we will have for our day-by-day choices. The more we permit dark impacts of the individuals who mock God to eclipse us, the more we separate ourselves from our wellspring of sustenance, God the Father.
We should remember that dry ground soaks in water and spiritual nourishment/water comes from God’s Word.
• 2 Timothy 2:15, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
• Proverbs 15:28, The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
Get SITUATED – and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
We should have contact with unbelievers if we are to witness to them, yet we should not be affected to join or emulate their conduct. If we want to despair, invest our time with sneering unbelievers; yet if we want joy, warm up to the individuals who love God and His Word. When we get planted in God’s Word, the deeper roots we will have, and we will become a stronger tree. The more we stay in God's Word, the more fruitful we will become.
• Matthew 15:13, But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
• Colossians 2:7, Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Look at the last part of verse three, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper
That does not mean that we will never face defeat or have adversity. It is not a guarantee that we will always have good health, riches, or contentment. To have prosperity, we must apply God’s wisdom to ourselves and in turn, we will be fruitful and meet God’s approval. This does not mean that what we do in our own power is prosperous, but that God's Word will prosper. The result of the action taken will prosper but it may not happen immediately.
As a tree absorbs water and bears good fruit, we are additionally to absorb God's Word, which produces activities and perspectives that respect God. To accomplish anything beneficial we should have God's Word in our souls. We are the instrument of the Lord, to do His bidding.
• Psalms 84:11, For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
• Jeremiah 17:7-8, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
In verses 4-6:
Chaff is the external shell (or husk) that must be evacuated to get at the significant bits of grain inside. Chaff was evacuated by a procedure called threshing (sifting) and winnowing (to blow a current of air). After the plants were cut, they were squashed, and afterward the pieces were tossed into the air. Chaff is light and is diverted by the smallest breeze, while the good grain falls back to the earth. Chaff is an image of an unfaithful life that floats along without heading, without direction, aimless. Good grain is an image of a dedicated life that can be utilized by God. In contrast to grain, we can pick the course we take.
• Job 21:18, They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
• Psalm 35:5, Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.
• Isaiah 17:13, The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
Although worldly individuals may get or seem to get the higher ground on occasion (everything seems to go their way), God’s Word guarantees us that a day is coming when their transgressions and sins will be punished.
• Nehemiah 1:7, We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commanded.st thy servant Moses.
In the meantime, God looks out for the plans and motivations behind the faithful.
• John 10:14, I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
• 2 Timothy 2:19, Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Final thought: We are to Separate ourselves from the world. We are to Saturate ourselves in the Word. We are to Situate ourselves in God's ways.
