[Monday's Devotional] - Blessed is the man...

Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

or stand in the way of sinners,

or sit in the seat of mockers;  Psalm 1: 1 [NIV]

This week we are going to look at Psalm 1. In some ways, Psalm 1 provides an introduction to the book of Psalms. It highlights the two different paths through life which it is possible for us to take.

The psalm begins with the word blessed or, in some translations, happy. It is the Hebrew equivalent of the word Jesus uses in the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. How are we blessed? The rest of the psalm tells us: we find delight in God's word, we lead fruitful lives and we prosper. A better translation of blessed might be O the bliss!

The psalmist will say more about the positive aspects of faith in the next few verses, but for now, he concentrates on what the life of faith is not about. This is the path of life lived rebelling against God. By definition, the path of faith has no dealings with evil.

Notice the way in which we can become more and more engaged with evil unless we are wary. We might start by walking in the counsel of the wicked – thinking about doing evil things and listening to those who do evil. And this can lead to standing in the way of sinners – stopping our walk of faith and behaving in an evil way. And finally we can find ourselves sitting in the seat of mockers – belonging to those who practice evil and who ridicule faith and becoming comfortable in their presence.

Don't imagine that evil is always elsewhere, always somebody else's problem. The temptation to wander from the path of faith is always present. The poet W H Auden wrote,

Evil is unspectacular and always human,

And shares our bed and eats at our own table.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world wrote Paul [Romans 12: 2].

Lord, help me to walk the path of faith. Forgive me when I have listened to the voice of the wicked.

David Long