PRAISING GOD - DO YOU QUALIFY?
Psalm 1
Psalm 150:6 states “let every thing that has
breath praise the Lord” so is not everyone eligible to do so? Psalm 14:1
answers this question with a resounding “no!”
Although it is God’s desire that all men qualify to praise God, not
everyone does as we see in Psalm 1.
This psalm presents in sharp contrast two extremes: the truly righteous
way of life and the basic wicked way and expands the ramifications of the
pursuit of these two ways - the truly right way which brings joy and blessing
and the wicked way which results in misery and hopelessness – (Matthew7:13, 14;
7:24-27).
Let’s look first at the Blessed Man and why
he qualifies to praise God (verses1-3).
The blessed man recognizes the things that
would undermine and erode his walk with the Lord and so avoids them (v.
1). He does not accept the principals
of the wicked (1a) but realizes that their ungodly counsel, in terms of ethics,
moral judgments and philosophy of life, is destructive to the Christian and
therefore is not conducive to praising God.
He avoids participating in the practices of
the sinner (1b). Thinking leads to
action – as we think - so we act. The
blessed man does not think like the world.
Therefore, he does not practice the world’s philosophy of life, which
brings nothing conducive to praising God.
He avoids joining with those who openly mock
God (1c). Thinking like the world leads
to practicing the world’s philosophy.
This could eventually result in open ridicule of the ways of God. (Note the subtle process of erosion in verse
1. Our path away from the Lord begins
with simply walking with the ungodly, then stopping to stand and linger for
awhile with them, and finally seating ourselves in their midst.)
In sharp contrast with what the blessed man
avoids is what he pursues (v. 2). He delights in the Word of God, cultivating a
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and contemplating the things above
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Joshua 1:8;
Philippians 3:10; Romans 12:1,.2; Colossians 3:1, 2).
The blessed man is described as a strong tree
(v. 3), taking its nourishment from the pure water of God’s Word, bearing fruit
and being prosperous (Jeremiah. 17:8; Psalm 92:12-14).
In verses 4-6 we see whom I like to refer to
as the Blasted Man and why he is unqualified to praise God.
The life of the blasted man is empty and
without meaning, like chaff blown away by the winds (v. 4). The unbeliever opposes the things of God,
which is the only thing that gives any lasting meaning to life (Jude 11-13;
James 1:6; Ephesians 4:17-19).
His future is bleak and hopeless (v.5). The unbeliever will not be in the company of
the righteous when the Lord returns (Ephesians 2:12; I Thessalonians 4:13).
The Psalmist sums it all up in verse 6 –
For the Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Revelation chapter 5 gives us a glimpse of
the final congregation of the righteous, in the presence of the only One who is
worthy to be praised.
In sharp contrast is the frightful picture of
the final congregation of the wicked (Revelation 20:11-15). The ungodly are cast into the lake of fire
forever and ever. A question here –
should not this compel us to share the hope of Christ with others?
How about us? Do we come under the heading of the blessed man or the blasted
man? Lets all examine ourselves
carefully. God bless.
Love to you all,