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Central to this psalm are the privileges found on the right roads with the Lord, and how they might be missed through wrong turns. The psalm reads from the New Oxford Annotated Bibles as follows: “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 judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked perish. Although this psalm takes place in the context of people, the congregation of the righteous and the easy to find path of the sinners, this psalm is really talking to and contrasting what can happen to an individual. It is John verses John, Mary verses Mary and you verses you. There are two contrasting routes to take, and they are rather nearby. It talk about taking the path that sinners tread, meaning that this path can actually be taken. They are near enough in some way to give advice, or even sit with. Some of their advice might be quite compelling. The primary contrast to this, that is taking their advice, sitting with them and taking their paths, is to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. This is done on an individual level, so the psalm is not first saying to go out and take the advice of the others that have good advice, but to internalize and meditate on the laws of the Lord. Day and night would mean rather continuously, and doesn’t mention a stopping point. The streams of water would be the link up with the Lord, and the streams of his grace, his presence and goodness. This would tend to fruitful endeavors, and prosperous results and experiences in all that those who follow this path do. What puts all this in jeopardy is following the path of the sinners. Indeed the paths of the wicked are in some ways navigitable, but don’t take it. The importance of this psalm, is it is saying just how you can miss out on so much, by taking the wrong path as an individual. What God has for you, is not chaff that blows away with the wind. But that is what you get on the path to wickedness. And while that is bad enough, it is even worse because you are missing what you would have had, on the other way. I now have a pittance verses what I would have had I followed the good path. And this may have nothing to do with measures such as money. I could have a billion dollars and get the chaff that the wind drives away. Most important is that God is watching over me as an individual. This watch involves awareness, alertness. Jesus told his disciples to wake up and watch in prayer with him in the garden. The bottom line is that God is watching over the righteous. I could go astray, the question is am I still under God’s watch or is there some indication I’m erroneous. Don’t go any place or involve yourself in anything where God isn’t going with you. With regards to prayer, since God is watching, ask for God’s view on the matter. There can be some real gray lines out there, and lack of discernment is possible. According to the psalm, evil is lurking close by and you can easily brush against it. What this psalm is ultimately warning against, is you don’t want to compromise what God has for you and is contained under his watch. The wrong road is what you get there, verses what you would have gotten had you not otherwise chosen this way and had meditated on the law of the Lord day and night. Getting chaff that gets blown away by the wind hurts all the more contrasted against what could have been that was so much better. There will be righteous around as well. There are trees, not one tree planted by the streams. In verse 5, where it says therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, it is saying they will have no power as intercessors. For example, Moses was a great intercessor who stood in the gap for his people. Moses dialogued with the Lord, there was back and forth communication and discussion and the Lord came back to Moses with what He had to say on the matters being discussed. This was a privileged position. Elijah was an intercessor whose prayer could change weather patterns and the state of the land for years on end. The righteous will congregate, back then maybe it might have been a privilege akin to a seat on the Senate in Rome. The wicked will lose that privilege. That this psalm mentions this as a loss, means that some of these wicked could have been, great intercessors, privileged members of the congregation, had they not turned away. By making the wrong turn, and then following through, they have lost their intercessory powers. The initial call to meditate on the law of the Lord at the beginning of this psalm must have included intercessory prayer and the power to do that as this is what is being lost by not following that way and call and then turning aside from the call. At one point it might have been close, so these wicked might not have always been that way and more than likely knew the Lord, knew how to meditate on his law day and night but rejected that way and followed the ways of the wicked, whether they were enticed or otherwise. In all ways, this psalm is about what could have been, what could have been if these individuals had stayed the path of righteousness. Look even at recent history, quite brilliant and gifted people have been involved in the most heinous of crimes. What this psalm is saying, don’t let anything actually capture you except of the law of the Lord, and keep it right in front of you and in your meditations and before you choose, keep the meditations of your heart on the Lord and his the word of his law. The law or precepts of the law will delight the soul. Verse one of this psalm talks about happiness. Happy are those who do not. Verse 2 mentions the delight that can be found in prayer and mediation. True happiness and delight is part of the discernment process. If for example, you hate your job, check and see if wickedness is nearby. The direct encounter with the Lord involves delight and the right paths involve happiness. Turns that don’t involve that should be put into immediate question as to what is actually going on. As this psalm is talking about contrasting routes or paths, and talks about being happy not to go on some paths, happiness is an important indicator spiritually. Give the Lord some happy proposals in prayer. Tell the Lord what would and what has made you happy. People have said, be happy you didn’t do this, didn’t go that way. This psalm is saying exactly this as applied to some paths, that are known to be the paths that sinners tread, but paths you should be glad you didn’t take and didn’t need to find an escape route out of. In this psalm it is you verses you and you will find the better you,the happy you on the right paths under the watch of the Lord and in the dialogue of prayer. Everything is included as He will prosper all your ways.
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