Righteous Counsel and Ungodly Accountability

Psalms 1:1-6 

1 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;

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The counsel of the righteous is what Job needed, but failed to receive from his three friends, though some seemed godly but was misapplied and misleading.  This ungodly advice and example only breeds sin and scorn for the things of God.  The man blessed by God instead does not follow after such wicked counsel, does not walk the path of sinful men giving that advice, and does not mock or scorn the things from God’s word or those using it as counsel.  Those then who are blessed and esteemed by the LORD find all their joy and pleasure in Him and His word, taking time throughout the day to mull it over as they read and consider the examples, commands, warnings, and principles there.  His word should always be the guiding light for day and night.  This leads to spiritual prosperity, not necessarily material, bringing the fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 5:9) in and out from our lives as King David alluded to here.  Jeremiah 17:8 reminds us that being planted by life giving waters not only allows this fruit, but allays fear and anxiety.  His word brings peace as we consider it and how to live according to it.  That is true prosperity in God’s sight.  However, those who leave God out are as useless chaff from the threshing floor, driven away from godly prosperity and meeting a horrible end (Luke 3:17).  This is what it means to be unable to stand in the judgment, to be in the lake of unending fire at the final reckoning with God on the last day.  These will not stand with those in the Lamb’s book of life with Him in eternity with the congregation of His people called out to Himself who are made clean and righteous in Christ.  Sinners not regenerated cannot stand with God’s people in the judgment.  The LORD knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2:19), the righteous (Romans 5:19, John 3:18-19, 20-21), but the ungodly will certainly answer for their disobedience and disbelief of unrighteousness, which is sin.  This first Psalm sets the stage for the rest, demonstrating the difference between those following God by trusting, by faith that works, and the end of those opposed to Him and His word.  May we then who are His give extra emphasis on filling our minds, hearts, hands, and feet with His word lived out as we listen to godly counsel and sound teaching.  This is the difference between righteous counsel to life (John 6:29) and accountability of the ungodly which we preach in the gospel of Jesus Christ!