Wander Woman

I am so excited.  The Lord has been showing me so much.  On V-day my husband bought me the new Casting Crowns CD along with concert tickets.  There is a song on there that I really like (I’ll share it with you later).  The insert not only provides the lyrics, but also gives Scripture references that go with each song.  Since V-day I had been wanting to look up the verses, however, everytime I went to get my CD, it was gone.  In the meantime, at our Ladies Meeting Sun night, I won A 30-Day Walk with God in the Pslams by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  I started studying Psalm 1 Monday.  Later that night, when I finally got the CD back, I was so anxious to read the Bible verses that went with the song I liked.  The very first verse was Psalm 1.  God’s timing is perfect.  All I could say was, “Oh my gosh!”  For the past couple of days I have been digging deep.  I hope to share with you what I have learned over the next couple of days.  Thanks to Matthew Henry and Spurgeon for their thoughts and thanks be to God for openening my eyes to these truths.  Everytime I read the chapter, I find something new.  Are you ready?  Here we go.

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked“

The faithful person takes wise counsel and walks in the commandmnets of the Lord.  His footsteps are ordered by the Word of God and not by the cunning and wicked devices of carnal men.  It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed and when ungodliness is put far from our actions. 

Ps 119:115 “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.” 

“or stand in the way or sinners“

He that would be kept from harm must keep out of harms way

Prov 4:14-15 “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.  Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way.”

“or sit in the seat of mockers“

The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near to the gate of hell; let us flee from it, for it shall soon be empty, and destruction shall swallow up the man who sits therein

Ps 69:12 “Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.”

Notice the downward progression: walk, stand, sit.  When men are living in sin, they go from bad to worse.  At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God - the evil is rather practical than habitual - but after that, they become habituated to the evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who wilfully violate God’s commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful.

I took a break while typing this and allowed my son, Tyler, to play with neighborhood kids that I was already not to sure of.  I decided I would only let him play for about 30 min and that I would stay outside the entire time to supervise.  Not even 10 minutes went by and one of the boys said a curse word.  I immediately ended play and sent Tyler inside which made him upset.  This was a perfect opportunity for me to teach him what I had been teaching myself.  As tears ran down his face, I held him in my arms and explained to him what would happen to him if I continued to let him play with these bad influences.  I explained to him that our friends should help us draw closer to God, not hinder us.  Our friends should love God.  If I kept allowing him to play with these kids, he would go down hill, maybe not right away, but gradually.  Friends can lure us to do wrong and can lead us into trouble.  Tyler cannot see this right now and sometimes we cannot either.  While we should be accepting of others, we need a healthy skepticism about human behavior.  We must have contact with unbelievers if we are to witness to them, but we must not join in or imitate their sinful behavior.  We must be cautious that our friends don’t cause us to fall into sin.

Lord, help me to submit to your Word and to make it familiar to me that it may keep me from the way of the ungodly and temptation.  I want your wisdom to guide my life.  Help me to use caution when around unbelievers that I may not become influenced by their behavior even in a subtle way.  Thank you for what you are doing in my life.  Amen.