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Two Types Of People Psalm 1
Two Types Of People Of Psalm One
The Bible often makes a division between people. As people we would subdivide these into many categories and rank them according to our own thoughts and opinions. Rather than godly and ungodly we would have kind-of godly, really ungodly, a bit godly, etc. Of course there would be no real way of assessing such and the categorizing would end up being subjective and arbitrary. Our friends would be moved up in the list and our enemies would be moved down. God who knows the hearts is righteous, just, and holy. He will not judge wrong judgment.
As difficult as it is to wrap our heads around this, God does divide things into two categories. For example there are two builders in Matt. 7, sheep and goats in Matt. 25, carnal and spiritual in Romans 8, etc. God makes such division many times. This division is based upon the life-style of people. Here in Psalm 1 we read of 'the WAY of the righteous' and the 'WAY' of the wicked. Hence we see that there are two types of people - the righteous and the wicked. We recognize that sometimes the righteous do commit sin and the wicked sometimes do right. However this Psalm speaks not of specific acts but of the general life-style that they are following.
The righteous are defined by both negative and positive traits. Negatively they are different from the wicked. They do not walk in the counsel of the wicked - they THINK differently. They take their counsel from God through His word. They do not stand in the way of sinners - they ASSOCIATE differently. They choose to be surrounded by those who are godly. When they associate with the ungodly, it is to influence and teach and not to participate. Hence, they do not sit in the seat of scoffers. Their fear and respect for God does not allow them to ignore God's word and to rail against God's judgments.
The righteous also possess positive godly traits. They delight in God's law for it teaches them about God and how to walk uprightly with God. This delight in God's law produces meditation upon God's law. This idea of biblical mediation is the memorizing, contemplating, pondering, and thinking about what God has said.
The righteous are compared to a tree that is firmly planted and watered. Such bring forth the fruit of righteousness. They are capable of withstanding the storms of life. They do encounter trouble but they are able by the grace of God to stand firm in their faith. As we read through the Psalms we will see that such does not exclude trying times that cause one to think and question things, but the Word of God leads us to right conclusions and a life-style of righteousness.
The wicked on the other hand have no root to withstand the storms of life. They are like the chaff that is blown by the wind. They cannot stand the judgments of life. They are not accepted by God as part of His people. In the end they perish - are cut off from the presence of God.
Sometimes WE have problems being able to decide who is who. I would suggest that we CAN make moral decisions about ACTIONS. Rather than trying to be God and make judgments of the heart let us discern those acts that are ungodly and make righteous judgments about them. We can be assured that "the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."
Let us walk in the way of the righteous.
