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1 Blessed ['esher] is the man ['iysh] that walketh[halak] not in the counsel [`etsah] of the ungodly, [rasha`] nor standeth[`amad] in the way [derek] of
sinners, [chatta']
nor sitteth[yashab] in the seat [mowshab] of the scornful. [luwts]KJV-Interlinear
1 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! NASB
The word for blessed, ‘esher,’ is in the plural and means happiness's.And it is fitting that the Psalms begin with
this thought and goal of happiness.For
that is the ultimate objective of God for humanity, and for each individual for
themselves - happiness.
But this is not just a
smile on the face.It is a happiness
that runs much deeper into ones total being.Deep into the very core of your soul.
Most people associate
happiness with things or with circumstances, and as go those things or
situations, so goes your happiness.Like a rollercoaster, your happiness can
oscillate wildly when you depend on things that are external to you.
But, when your soul, or
the very essence of your being, is constructed correctly, then your happiness becomes
an integral part of you, and is not dependent on something else.
That is the objective of
God, as He uses doctrine as the building block for constructing the core
structure of your life.
The plural of blessed,
means the total package of your life, and not just one aspect or another, of
your life, and that total package depends on the content of your soul.
By using the negative
exclusion, God teaches us that all things negative, all things evil, all things
that form human viewpoint, contribute absolutely nothing to happiness, but the
contrary, they destroy it.
The ungodly, ‘rasha,’ are those who are morally wrong, unjust,
unrighteous, thieves, deceivers, withholders of truth, promoters of lies, he
who has no truth in him.
God is truth.Doctrine is truth.And he who does not learn doctrine, lacks
truth, and is therefore lacking in God, and is therefore ungodly, despite their
opinion to the contrary.
Sinners,
‘chatta,’ means
to miss the mark, to pass beyond prohibited limits, to transgress, criminal,
guilty.All sinners, which includes us all, are guilty and therefore criminals with
respect to Gods perfect expectations.We
cannot live up to Gods standards. We are incapable of that.However, through Christ, God gives us an
opportunity to be lifted up to His level, by obedience to His mandates.
And those mandates begin
with salvation (your one time belief in Christ), and are perpetuated through
confession (a repetitive function for maintaining fellowship), and spiritual growth
through learning and using doctrine in your daily life (through a commitment to
that pursuit).
Sinners do not follow
this pattern of life, and therefore never realize happiness as it was intended.
Scornful, ‘luwts,’ means to mock, to deride, scoff, show disrespect, to
observe something or someone as beneath ones self.Scoffers promote their sinful attitude
through overt actions.They can scoff
truth directly through antagonism, they can scoff at truth through indifference
or apathy, they can scoff at truth through the
expression of their own opinion, which they see as superior to truth.
Bible doctrine is
truth.Without it you are nothing more
than a scoffer (ignorant of truth because you have not learned it, and do not try
to learn it), you are a sinner (guilty and therefore a criminal because you do
the wrong things in life), you are an ungodly person (lacking the inner
resources that would make you godly – spiritual growth to maturity).
He who is none of these
things – ungodly, sinner, scornful, is therefore a valid candidate for
happiness’s as designed by God.
God created humanity for
happiness.Every person who has ever lived, desires and pursues happiness.No one desires misery.Happiness is the ultimate objective for every
person.
The summary of the human
effort is the pursuit of happiness.But
unfortunately, people pursue happiness in places where it does not exist and
therefore cannot be found – the world.
The ungodly have their
counsel and that is their pattern of life, their walk.
The sinner has their resistance
to change or repentance, and that is where they stand in life.
The scoffer has their stubbornness,
and that is where they sit, unmovable.
To walk, stand, and sit
as described by these three characteristics, is to position ones
self in an entrenched pattern of life that insures failure.
The ungodly does not
listen and is therefore not teachable.The sinner adds insult to injury by practicing evil practices in their daily
life.The scoffer makes fun of truth and
anything that he does not agree with.
Negative volition toward
God is progressive.One bad decision
leads to another, leads to another, and so forth.
There is only one God,
only one savior, only one truth, and there is only one way to happiness and
that way is through learning doctrine and growing up to spiritual maturity.
It begins by stopping the
old pattern of life and adopting Gods pattern for success.