THE MAN WHO WALKS NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY [Psalm 1a]

1. “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO WALKS NOT IN THE COUNSEL OF THE UNGODLY, nor stands in the path of sinners, NOR SITS IN THE SEAT OF THE SCORNFUL;
2. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
   Psalm 1:1,2 (NKJV)

• God’s blessings anchor on conditions

• If you want to serve God, you have to do it with all your heart (Deuteronomy 10:12).Some claimed to be Christians yet they have the people of the world, unbelievers, as their friends.
• Whoever comes to Jesus Christ has the need to forsake the old things in his or her Life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

1. "If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
2. THAT YOU PUT OFF, CONCERNING YOUR FORMER CONDUCT, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
3. AND BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND,
4. AND THAT YOU PUT ON THE NEW MAN WHICH WAS CREATED ACCORDING TO GOD, IN TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS."
   Ephesians 4:21-24 (NKJV)

• There are some who said they WANTED to serve GOD, but then, they still want to maintain their relationship, FRIENDSHIP with the ungodly (James 4:4).
  IF you have come to Jesus Christ, you will have to set aside things that could be a weight, things that would not allow you to run the race which God has set before you.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, LET US LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT, AND THE SIN WHICH SO EASILY ENSNARES US, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

• Weights are legitimate things that Believers do in excess.
  YOU lay aside weights in order to run the Christian race.
• Note:Christianity is a race.
  IN running a race, you cannot afford to carry ANYTHING that could weigh you down, otherwise you will not win the race.
• You lay aside any sin that can easily ENSNARES you. To get the best of God you have to give Him your total heart.

• "Blessed is the man [woman] who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly" (Psalm 1:1).

• To walk in the counsel of the ungodly, the wicked, means to be practicing or doing what the UNGODLY are doing.
  YOU cannot relate with the ungodly and not emulate them.
• You emulate what you see.
  WHO are your friends?
  WHO are the people you relate with?
• A person's thoughts are governed by association—the people he or she relates with, those whom he hang-out with.
  ALSO, someone's thoughts can be influenced by what he or she listens to Or watches.
  WHEN you relate with the ungodly, what they do will influence you directly or indirectly: “Do not be deceived: “EVIL COMPANY CORRUPTS GOOD HABITS" (I Corinthian 15:33).
  WHAT you see and heard influence you, either positively or negatively.
  RELATING with the ungodly is tantamount to walking in their COUNSEL.

“Adulterers and adulteresses! DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
James 4:4 (NKJV)

• What you do, the way you live your life, and the people you relate with can make you God’s enemy or friend. Jesus said: "YOU ARE MY FRIENDS IF YOU DO WHATEVER I COMMAND YOU" (John 15:14).
• Through the people you Walk with, you can receive God’s favour or disfavour: “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed" (Proverbs 13:20).

• "Nor stands in the path of sinners," (Psalm 1:1).
YOU stand in the path of sinners when you do what they do, LIVE your life the way they do.

• The world has come to the Church. The Church emulates the world, what the Church sees in the world, she does.
  THE Church also wants to be like the world: wants to dress up like the people of the world, talks like the people of the world, and pattern everything she does after the people of the world.
  IF I may ask, as a believer, Are you treading the right path to heaven?

1. "IF THEN YOU WERE RAISED WITH CHRIST, SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2. SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE, NOT ON THINGS ON THE EARTH."
   Colossians 3:1,2 (NKJV)

• "Nor sits in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1:1).

• A scornful is a mocker, someone who makes fun of other people.
  SCORNERS do not see anything good in other people, he or she could not see good things in whatever others are doing.
  THEY mock, deride, castigate, and make jest of other people and what they do.
  SCORNERS Make less important: The move of God, the doings of God in the lives of others.

“Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” ”
2 Samuel 6:20 (NKJV)

• Michal considered what David did unethical, that dancing exuberantly before God without minding anyone, was indecent in the sight of Michal.
  IN HER sight, David lacks decorum. She said what David did is shameful, it does not befit a king, a king should not have done that.

“So David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. THEREFORE I WILL PLAY MUSIC BEFORE THE LORD.”
2 Samuel 6:21 (NKJV)

• Scorners are egocentric, full of the self and are conceited.
A self-conceited person, arrogant, would not want to humble himself or herself.

• Humility is a choice, however, if you choose not to humble yourself, you may find yourself being resisted or opposed by God: "GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE" (James 4:6).
  IF you are full of the self, you cannot walk with God. He would not walk with a proud person, He used to stand on such a person's way.

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, AND BE CLOTHED WITH HUMILITY, FOR “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
1 Peter 5:5 (NKJV)

IF you have pride that gives birth to egos, and leads to scorn or contempt, then you have God to battle with.

• The truth is: God scorns the scornful (Proverbs 3:34). He frustrates the efforts of every scorner.
  IF you do not want God to humble you, you humble yourself.
• Michal was the only barren woman recorded in the Bible who did not have a child till her death: “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul HAD NO CHILDREN TO THE DAY OF HER DEATH" (2 Samuel 6:23).
• If you have scorners as friends or companions; you will need to break up your friendship with such, if you do want God’s Blessings and Favour on your life.
  NOTE: Do not join those who mocked OR trivialized the things of God. And do not criticize or castigate whatever someone else is doing for God.

• "But [the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly] HIS delight is in the law of the LORD" (Psalm 1:2).

• Do you have delight in God’s Word?
  IF your delight is not in God’s Word, it means you are not qualified to receive from Him.
• Some are not happy reading or hearing the Word of God.
  DOES the Word of God excite you?
  DOES it arouse you?

• "And in HIS law he meditates [ponders by talking to himself] day and night," (Psalm 1:2).

• To meditate is to ponder, think on the Word—talking to oneself.
  YOU read the Word of God and ponder, think on it, to get the best of it.

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!
TO BE CONTINUED