Numbering the Days: Heart of Wisdom #1

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away. (Psalm 1:1-6)

Once upon a time, many years ago, I had a dream of being a Christian conference speaker. The year was in 2017, three years before COVID devastated the conference industry and reduced large in-person conferences to virtual events. That’s not the reason I didn’t become a full-time public speaker, but it sure didn’t help.

Looking back on the talks that I was writing and (very occasionally) giving at the time, my messages were more like a father’s talks with his children. That’s what I knew then, having raised four children almost to adulthood. Now, eight years down the line, the desire to share God’s wisdom still burns, but the end goal is not to develop a public speaking career. The objective now is to preserve my thoughts and beliefs for my grandkids, so they will know that God’s word was important to me. So, here we are.

One of the primary points in a talk that I developed called “Choices” was the issue of choosing who you hang around with. In my mind, that is one of the main ways to lead a Godly life. And of the eight “wisdom psalms” in the Bible, the very first one – Psalm 1 – does a better job than I ever could in outlining how to make sure that keeping bad company does not lead to your own bad character.

This Psalm highlights the guidance of Proverbs to “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) Why? In short, to the extent they can, children need to understand “the law of the Lord” as early as possible, so that when they are still young, they can recognize “the counsel of the wicked” and steer clear of it.

Why is this so important? Because, as at least one Bible commenter notes, bad advice (the counsel of the wicked) is the first step down the path of sin’s destruction and death. This Psalm clearly outlines the progression of sin, starting with bad advice, then leading to bad acts (standing in the way of sinners), and ending up with enmity towards God (sitting in the seat of scoffers).

It also echoes Paul’s admonition in 2 Corinthians 6:14 not to be “unequally yoked” with others who don’t share your faith. A lot of people will limit this to the marriage relationship, but its application is absolutely broader than that. Just read the next two sentences of this verse: “For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

What About Evangelism?

Sounds pretty exclusionary, doesn’t it? “Don’t hang out with bad people,” right?

Well, just wait a minute. Believers are called by Jesus to bring His light to a sinful world. We are to share our faith with unbelievers. That means believers of necessity should form relationships with people whose lifestyles may embrace sin. Jesus had relationships with sinners. “For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). But he didn’t accept and adopt the sinners’ lifestyle choices just to reach them, and we don’t have to, either. In fact, to do so is counterproductive, because then we are no different from the rest of the world as a result of our faith. We have no light to share.