Living in the Spirit

September 15, 2021

Scripture Reading: Psalm 1

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

I wondered what the word wicked meant in Hebrew, but when I checked, I discovered the word wicked used above was not the original Hebrew in this Scripture. Instead, the Hebrew word for sinner was used*, which means not following the law. The word wicked, to me, carries a connotation of someone who is innately evil and has ulterior motives. I am just glad I did not have to translate anything from an ancient language and time to be applied to our current world.

That said, a couple of things caught my attention. First, I have grown quite weary in recent years of the scoffers who have taken over our media. They pontificate on what they think is wrong but never seem to address the problems in our world. So much of evil’s role is to distract us from the good God calls us to do. We need to look behind these distractions to see what the real purpose is.

The last phrase also struck me: but the way of the wicked will perish. It does not say that the wicked will perish. It says their way will perish. God is working God’s purpose out, and that gives us the hope we need to live in God’s righteousness even when it seems the wicked are winning.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the wisdom to see what is driving the distractions in our world, and show us your ways of righteousness. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2400.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.