Dead Man Not Walking

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.  (Psalm 1:1-2, 6, NASB)

Psalm 1 is “The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.”  I love Psalm 1.  I should have the whole thing highlighted.  But the portion above is my highlights.   The righteous are described as loving the law of the Lord.  The wicked are portrayed as “sinners” and “scoffers.”  

The righteous ones are compared to “a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”  (v. 3)  By contrast, the wicked ones “are like chaff which the wind drives away,” and they “will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”  (vv. 4-5

Of course, we are all sinners.  I think the psalmist is referring to “sinners” as unrepentant evildoers.  The righteous today are followers of Jesus Christ.  If you’re a Jesus-follower, you’ve been forgiven of all your sins.  God has promised an eternity spent with Him because of our faith in Jesus.  That’s MY hope! 

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced . . . Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.”  (2 Kings 17:6-8, 13, NASB)

 “Israel” in the above passage refers to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, whose ten tribes revolted and separated from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (referred to as Judah).  Israel had NO good kings.  They were all wicked in God’s eyes.  The nation did not follow God’s laws.  The people followed the customs of the nations which God had driven out to make room for the sons of Israel.  The people worshiped idols and committed other atrocities which were abominable to God.  So God commissioned Assyria to besiege, defeat, and carry Israel into exile. 

God had warned Israel through His prophets, many of whom were killed by the kings who didn’t like their messages.  God has warned us as well.  He wants us to have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus.  Jesus gives us hope for an eternity that we can spend with Him.  All we have to do is to surrender our lives to Him.  Don’t shoot the me messenger! 

I recently finished “100 Bible Verses that Made America,” by Robert J. Morgan.  It’s an excellent book.  The author hopes for a Great Awakening in our Nation. 

The verses contained in the book are from sermons that encouraged people to take action that led to some historic event, or from speeches by presidents who invoked the Bible.  The history covered in the book is from the time of Columbus through the 2019 national prayer breakfast.  Each verse has a short story behind it. 

My favorite story:  I don’t recall the verse, but Mordecai Ham was a famous evangelist in the early 1900s.  In the early 1930s he conducted a tent revival in North Carolina.  There was a local teenager who wasn’t going to attend, but a neighbor convinced him to go.  After a few nights, the teen joined the choir, which was behind Ham’s podium, to avoid the evangelist’s pointing finger, which the teen thought was pointed at him.  After several nights of revival, the teen answered the altar call, and was saved.  The teenager’s name?  Billy Graham! 

He issued a proclamation and it said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.  (Jonah 3:7-10, NASB)

You probably know the story of Jonah.  God commanded Jonah to go preach to the city of Nineveh (located in present-day Iraq), but Jonah could think of no people to which he would rather not preach salvation.  Jonah ran away from God.  He boarded a ship which was headed westbound in the Med.  When there was a storm, the sailors and other passengers determined that Jonah was to blame, so they threw him into the sea.  God appointed “a great fish” which swallowed Jonah, which later spit him up on a beach.  Jonah then reported to Nineveh, where he conveyed God’s message:  Repent or perish! 

The king of Nineveh believed Jonah’s message, and as you read above, issued a proclamation, which stated that every person and beast was to fast and wear sackcloth, and each person was to pray for God’s forgiveness.  “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.”  We see that God indeed relented when He saw the Ninevites’ repentance. 

We see that God forgives us on a personal level and a national level when we ask Him to forgive us.  Jesus is the answer for each person.  We must ask God to forgive our sins, and trust Jesus to take over our lives.  For the Nation, we have to collectively repent.  We have much to ask for forgiveness! 

Now it came about after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat. Then some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi).” Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his attention to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to seek help from the Lord; they even came from all the cities of Judah to seek the Lord.  (2 Chronicles 20:1-4, NASB)

In the Bible passage above, King Jehoshaphat, a descendant of King David, and an ancestor of King Jesus, is told of an impending invasion of the kingdom of Judah.  Jehoshaphat is described as a good king, one who did right in God’s eyes.  He proclaims a fast, and seeks God’s help for the kingdom.  The result?  When the army of Judah went to meet their enemies near the Dead Sea, God had already defeated them.  God threw them into confusion, so that they turned against themselves.  The army of Judah didn’t have to lift a finger.  God did it all. 

This is what happens when we put our total faith and trust in God.  Our problems disappear!  King Jesus, King Jehoshaphat’s descendant, said that we can move mountains, if we would only have faith as small as a mustard seed.  I pray for my faith! 

Thank you for praying for my eyes.  God has restored my eyes somewhat.  I’m getting rest for them more often.  During my Bible study, I’m using the audio feature instead of reading.  That seems to help.  I’d much rather read than listen, but this whole experience has been one of adaptation.  Thank you, God.  And thank YOU!