The Two Kinds of People
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x. Introduction
x. Introduction
Read:
1 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!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like 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.
4 The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.
I. The Blessed Man
I. The Blessed Man
a. Does Not Trust in Man
First, we see that the blessed man does not trust in man.
1 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!
This is expressed in three ways—three ways that the blessed man does not trust in man:
i. He Does Not Walk in the Counsel of the Wicked
1. He Does Not Walk in the Counsel of the Wicked - He does not live by the secular philosophy, the worldly wisdom, the expert advice, of the godless. What might this look like in today’s world? Well, what kind of advice does the ungodly world give you?
There is no God.
Nothing became something somehow.
You are just an animal.
Loving someone is letting them do whatever they want.
There is no right and wrong.
Do what you want!
If it makes you feel good, then it must be good!
You are a good person.
Follow your heart.
Believe in yourself.
Be yourself.
Look out for yourself.
You’re not trying if you’re not cheating.
You can create your own self, your own identity.
There is no truth. Everything is relative.
You can create your own self, your own identity, your own religion that works for you. That is, you can create your own god.
You can create your own religion that works for you. (That is, you can create your own god.)
You can create your own self, your own identity, your own religion that works for you. That is, you can create your own god.
But the blessed man does not listen to such nonsense. He is counter-cultural. He does not live by the counsel of the wicked.
Nothing became something somehow.
He also . . .
Loving someone is letting them do whatever they want.
2. He Does Not Stand in the Path of Sinners - He does not step onto the sinners’ path. He refuses to participate in their sinful acts and immoral living. As commands, “Do not be partakers with them . . . do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them.” Have you ever heard the expression, “misery loves company?” Well, “sin loves company.” How you ever noticed how people are not content simply to sin in private, but they entice others to approve, to participate, to sin along with them? Solomon warns of such people in Proverbs...
10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent.
11 If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us ambush the innocent without cause;
12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;
13 We will find all kinds of precious wealth, We will fill our houses with spoil;
14 Throw in your lot with us, We shall all have one purse,”
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path,
Proverbs 1:10
The blessed man, he refuses to join in. He refuses to stand in the path of sinners . . .
Finally, we see a third way the blessed man does not trust in man:
3. He Does Not Sit in the Seat of Scoffers - This means he does not sit among, or keep close company, with scoffers—with those who blaspheme, scoff at God.
So the blessed man does NOT trust in man. No, instead he . . .
b. Trusts in God
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Instead of man’s counsel and man’s ways, he seeks God’s advice and God’s instruction. He meditates upon God’s instruction all the time—day and night. Why? Because he lives by it! And, if you’re living by God’s instruction, you are constantly seeking to please Him. You are constantly thinking about His Word! For us, this means we read and study God’s Word, and we rejoice in it. Our aim is to be pleasing to Him in everything!
i. He Delights in God’s Instruction
i. He Delights in God’s Instruction
So this is the first kind of person in this world—the blessed man. The psalms goes on to describe his life...
ii. He Meditates Upon God’s Instruction
c. Has Spiritual Life
3 He will be like 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.
He is firmly planted, with deep roots. Strong, sustained by streams—God’s Word, like streams of water, feeding him. And he yields fruit and prospers…His life is marked by a spiritually-rich life. He exhibits the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control…This is the blessed man, the one who trusts in God.
He is firmly planted, with deep roots. Strong, sustained by streams—God’s Word, like streams feeding him. And he yields fruit and prospers...
ii. Sustained by Streams
iii. Yields Fruit
iv. Prospers
In contrast, offers a picture of the second kind of person in this world, the only other type . . .
II. The Wicked Man
II. The Wicked Man
4 The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
“Not so,” the wicked. Not what? Not everything. Not like the blessed man.
He DOES walk in the counsel of the wicked.
a. Not So
He DOES stand in the path of sinners.
He DOES sit in the seat of scoffers.
He does NOT delight in God’s instruction.
He does NOT think about God’s Word.
And thus he is NOT firmly planted.
He does NOT yield fruit.
He does NOT prosper spiritually.
Does this sound familiar? Is this you? For some of you, I am afraid it is. You trust in man, not God. You listen to man’s worldly wisdom, man’s pompous pontification, man’s far-fetched foolishness. You join in with his sin. You associate in his circles. Then you are the second kind of man. There is no other. There is no third option. Either you are a blessed man, the man of God, or you are what the psalm calls “the wicked man,” the godless man—or more correctly, the man with a false god.
He
This wicked man, look at him!
He is not planted firmly. No, instead he blows away in the wind like chaff. In harvest time, the grain was broken open and the good part kept. What was left over was the chaff. Little worthless bits that were discarded. This is the wicked man, the man who follows man, not God. He is empty, futile, worthless . . . and, in the end, the chaff is put together in a pile and burned.
b. Is Spiritually Dead
So, too, the wicked man. Read on:
i. Driven Away Like Chaff
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
ii. Will Not Stand
He will not stand in the judgment. When Jesus Christ returns to judge the world, the wicked will not be able to stand. They will be justly condemned. They will have rejected Christ repeatedly and ultimately. They will not be able to stand, and they will not be able to be a part of the assembly of the righteous. Only those who have repented in faith, only those who have trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior, only they are righteous. Only they can stand together, a great assembly, of those who have been saved through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. They have had their sins paid for. They have been forgiven. They have been reconciled to God. They have Christ’s righteousness counted as their own:
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
iii. Will Not Be Among Righteous
Not so, the wicked. O, no… And what is their fate? Their fate is like that of the chaff:
iv. Perishes
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.
They will perish in the eternal lake of fire, and all their ways and all their wisdom with them! And they will suffer eternal torment there, because their hard hearts refused the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ . . .
III. Conclusion
III. Conclusion
These are the only two kinds of people there are: the blessed man, the one who trusts in God; and the wicked man, the one who trusts in himself or other men or false gods.
Which kind of person are you?