Poor Choices

Blessed is the man…Psalm 1

Bad decisions can haunt us for years. Though God has forgiven us of all our sins, He did not erase the consequences of our wrong choices. Sin is always a choice.

Notice the wisdom of Psalm 1:1-2: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law, he meditates day and night. Good decisions come from following God’s instructions for life. 

Notice the progression of ignorance: walking—standing—sitting. The path to pain begins with a simple stroll with the wicked. Trouble compounds when we stand with sinners. We have reached complacency when we sit with those who mock God.

We are surrounded with wicked counsel. Ungodliness is defined by the Bible: calling what is good, evil; and calling what is evil, good, Isaiah 5:20: woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Walking with them is to become guilty by association; worse, considered an accomplice.

Standing with them is to support them; to agree with them; an accomplice. The word sin in both Hebrew and Greek means to miss the mark; to fail. Sin is to fail in obedience to the great commandment: Love God and love others. Those who continually sin willfully choose to disobey God’s law.

Sitting with the scornful is to take residence with the sinner and the wicked. Like Lot’s family, they preferred life among the evil citizens of Sodom. In Isaiah 28:22, the same word is translated as mocker. One who mocks God shows his/her disdain for godliness. They reveal their preference to wickedness. Mockery is not accidental. Those who mock God do so deliberately. 

This is the broad way leading to destruction. It is dangerous. The narrow way leading to life is open to all who decide to follow Jesus. It is not easy. Jesus requires that we NOT walk, stand, nor sit with those who mock God.