2022.02.13 - What You Tolerate Leads The Way
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What You Tolerate Leads The Way
What You Tolerate Leads The Way
Proverbs 1:8-15 • Psalm 1
Just like many of you, I am an obstinate human … and I do NOT like being told what to do.
So, today … I'll at least begin without telling you what to do! Instead, I’ll start with by telling you what NOT to do! :)
Every positive presumes a negative. In today’s Psalm, the negative is stated outright:
Don’t follow the advice of the wicked.
Psalm 1:1a (NLT)
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked...
The Hebrew word here is wider than just ‘advice’. “Ayt-saw” includes more of a plan, than just consultation and advice. Don’t follow the PLAN of the wicked!
Before you think about that, let me also tell you that the Hebrew word “raw-shaw” may be a bit THINNER than we think when we think of wicked. It literally means ungodly. Ultimately, that leads to moral corruption, and perhaps even criminal behavior. But ungodliness is a bit more specific than that.
The “raw-shaw”, the wicked, and ungodly … they are people who live and act according to a principle other than God! They may be a ‘nice guy’. They may be a ‘good friend.’ They may even be ‘really helpful.’
But their advice, or their plan will lead you away from God … because they don’t know Him. So, be very cautious about your sources of advice. If the source isn’t godly, it may be considered “advice of the wicked”.
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary connects the concept of following the advise of the wicked with temptation, warning:
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Job–Song of Solomon A. Its Negative Aspects (1:1)
The first step away from God usually begins with but a slight deviation.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.”
So … don’t take advice from people who aren’t surrendered to God.
Next, don’t stand around with sinners
Psalm 1:1 (NLT)
...or stand around with sinners...
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying “Bad company corrupts good character.” However, “stand around” may be a poor translation here. The Hebrew word indicates more of a “standing with” than a “being around”.
In other words, this advice isn’t about being in company with sinners … it’s about being in complicity or agreement with sinners. While following ungodly advice may be seen as more of an accident … a passive mistake made, this advice is more active. It’s choosing to stand with sinners rather than God.
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary calls this rebellion!
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Job–Song of Solomon (A. Its Negative Aspects (1:1))
A little departure from God persisted in, makes one a rebel against God.
Finally, don’t join with mockers
Psalm 1:1 (NLT)
...join in with mockers.
THIS ONE is the one about ‘standing around’ with … the Hebrew phrase here (“moshab yashab”) means to sit or remain or to dwell in the seat or dwelling place. So a literal, “don’t live where mockers live” doesn’t really have anything to do with a physical house. It’s figurative language for … “don’t hang out where mockers hang out”. And the word for mockers also indicates a braggart … someone who likes to talk about their superiority.
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary calls this “the third stage of departure from God.”
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Job–Song of Solomon (A. Its Negative Aspects (1:1))
This is the third stage of departure from God: he who compromised with sin and continued to rebel against the Lord now sits down in a fixed attitude of rebellion, actually scorning the way of God and ridiculing those who would walk therein.
Adam Clarke writes:
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Job–Song of Solomon (A. Its Negative Aspects (1:1))
The great lesson to be learned from the whole is, sin is progressive: one evil propensity or act leads to another. He who acts by bad counsel, may soon do evil deeds; and he who abandons himself to evil doings, may end his life in total apostasy from God.
Before you dismiss this by saying something like, “Well, I CERTAINLY haven’t wandered that far away.”
They conclude:
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Job–Song of Solomon A. Its Negative Aspects (1:1)
Many never reach the third stage in this life, yet are as surely lost as those who do.
We tend to look for the smallest sin in others, while looking for the largest in ourselves. The slightest sin in someone else can set us off, but we dismiss our own slight shortcomings … “It’s not like I pulled a gun and stabbed somebody with it!”
If sin is progressive and it eventually destroys us, then regarding ourselves … we should be on the watch for the slightest sin, not the largest. If we give in to the slightest, we WILL eventually succumb to the biggest without a thought.
With regard to sin, I should encourage you to follow the theological advice of a very wise theologian...
Barney Fife: “Nip it in the bud!”
When Paul tells us to not let the sun go down on our anger in Ephesians, he also tells us why:
27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
It’s not anger that’s the problem … it’s the progression that follows if we don’t do some “bud nippin’”.
So ...
Don’t take advice from people who are not surrendered to God ...
Don’t stand in agreement with sinners ...
and Don’t hang around with people who mock God’s plans.
1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
And if you hold those boundaries:
You’ll delight in the Law of God...
You’ll grow like a tree planted by streams of water...
And in whatever you do, you’ll push forward.
That’s what the Psalmist is saying today.
What sin you tolerate today will eventually lead you away from God in a dramatic and devastating way.
In today’s Prayer of Response, I’m going to leave lots of silent time. I hope you’ll listen and give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to inform you where you may have compromised His boundaries.
Before we go there, let me remind you that the altar rail is always open. It’s not necessary to walk down the aisle to hear from God, but there’s something powerful in demonstrating your submission by taking that walk. So I would invite you to join me here at the altar where we present ourselves as a living sacrifice to our God.
Whether you respond where you are, or you come down to the rail,
may the Holy Spirit convict you today,
and may you respond to his conviction by redrawing the boundaries where he would want …
so you can push forward in all you do.
Let’s pray...