Do Not Be True to Yourself by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL012000/REL091000/REL012070
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2023-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

This is the kind of parallelism we have in Psalm1:1. The three negatives in verse 1 are three ways of saying the same thing: don’t be wicked.

And yet, the parallel statements aren’t mere repetition. Each line adds a twist. The three verbs show progression. First the man is walking, then standing, then sitting. The progression is from casual acquaintance with sin, to participation in sin, to entrapment by sin. That’s how sin works. The blessed man realizes that little sins lead to bigger sins. The wise man knows that if you play with fire you are going to get burned (Prov. 6:27–28). Sin does not want part of us. Sin wants all of us. The devil lies to us and tells us that a little sin will make us more of a person, more of a manly man, more of an attractive woman. But the truth is that sin wants mastery over you. Sin wants to turn your walking into standing and your standing into sitting.

There’s another progression of sin in verse 1. When you are living the wrong way, first you take counsel from the wicked, then you begin to act like the wicked, and finally you join the wicked. The progression is from thinking to behaving to belonging. What starts out as a bad idea from a bad person ends up shaping who you hang out with and who you are. Obviously, this doesn’t mean you never talk to a non-Christian or befriend an immoral person. But we must be on our guard; bad company corrupts good character (1 Cor. 15:33). A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough (Gal. 5:9). If you think like a fool, you will soon act like a fool, and eventually you will join the fools.

Be very careful that you do not end up where verse 1 ends up; namely, sitting in the seat of scoffers. Our culture loves mockers. We are entertained by cynical people. Their dry pessimism can draw a crowd. They make us laugh. Mockers are cool. They are so cool, they don’t believe anything. Nothing gets to them. They are so hip they can look down on the world of simpletons. Everything is a joke, and religious people are rubes. That’s the heart of the scoffer. And if you ever find yourself in that place, you should cry out to God for mercy because your heart has gotten very hard. There are lots of smart people who are religious fools. They may have plenty of degrees and know how to use fancy words, but they are not wise. And they are not blessed. Walking in wickedness and mockery is no way to live.

One Positive (Ps. 1:2)

Sometimes people say, “I don’t want a religion with its institutions, and doctrines, and rules. I just want a relationship with Jesus.” That sounds pious, but it is false. The Psalmist says precisely the opposite. “Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord.” That’s the one positive quality mentioned of the blessed man.

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