Power-walking

We are studying the very first psalm this week, and last time we mentioned that true happiness could not be found in a life that leaves out God. One of the ways that we leave God our of our lives is to walk in the counsel of the wicked (KJV). 

The NIV says it this way: don't "walk in step with the wicked."

OK, that makes more sense to this country girl.

The commentaries tell me that the word used here in the Hebrew for "wicked" has a root meaning of "loose" or "out of joint." That took some thought for me, but I think this is what is meant . . . . if a person doesn't take God seriously, or if he/she disregards God's Word, we could say they are "playing fast and loose" with the scriptures, or that they are "hanging loose." They are not paying attention to the Word of God and trying to listen to what God says. So, long story short, they are living their life based on the wisdom of the world, and not the wisdom of God.

The wisdom of the world . . . .  Whoaaaaaaa, the floodgates sure have opened in recent years, haven't they? The counsel of the wicked has come into the lives of believers with a vengeance! OK, a moment of honesty here, dear ones, I am raising my hand as someone who paid too much attention to that counsel -- to the detriment of my time with the Word. Many of you already know that there are many speakers who say they are Christian, but who speak mostly in platitudes and psychology. They sprinkle in some Bible verses, but if you listen to their podcast or their sermons, you could have some real difficulty in discerning if they are a Christ-following believer, or a secular counselor!

And their books!

These are just as bad! They are filled with cognitive behavior therapy and other psychological tools, and leave out the Word of God except perhaps for chapter headings!

Some of the most popular Bible teachers of our day write and endorse these books. But if we look carefully, they are simply endorsing the counsel of the wicked, and they can do harm to believers - both rookies and veterans.

We need to be on guard.

We need to power-walk right past these speakers and books. How? How do we know we are not walking right past what God intends for us to read or hear?

Well, for one thing, the world says "the Bible's not enough - you need something besides the scripture," to deal with your problems. Got a hurting in your heart and soul? Well, you need this counselor's book, and this psychologist's workbook, too. But wait! The Bible says that it is good all by itself to equip believers:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17)

Our Bible provides answers for problems of guilt, depression, anger, bitterness, and relationship issues, too. Psychology and even "Christian psychology" wants to bring the world's wisdom to bear on these problems; we need to be so careful. We shouldn't think that the Bible is insufficient, or "just not enough" on its own. We also need to be on guard to know when the solutions we read or hear about are in opposition to what the Bible says. That's not to say that these books, workbooks, and speakers are worthless -- on the contrary, they may outline a strategy or tips that go alongside of the scripture and help us to use our Bible knowledge to move onward and upward! We just need to power-walk right by the temptation to rely on the world's wisdom, and instead rely on God and His wisdom.

Another clue to the counsel of the wicked is that worldly wisdom elevates man -- godly wisdom glorifies God. Our sinful selves like to be patted on the head and then we get puffed up with pride! The Bible tells us that we need to humble our pride and exalt our God. 

 “I am the Lord; that is my name!

    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols.  (Isaiah 42:8)

 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 1:31)

The world wants us to build up ourselves; the world doesn't understand our absolute trust in God. We need to avoid walking in that path . . . 

Another way to know if you are looking at the wisdom of the wicked instead of the wisdom of God is that the world denies (or at least downplays) the need for the cross.  The world will either assert the basic goodness of man ("well, you know, all of us have a spark of goodness in us!"), or perhaps will minimize the extent or consequences of the fall from grace. The Bible teaches us that we are all utterly sinful and self-serving.  None of us could seek God if we were left to ourselves. Paul was quoting from the Psalms when he wrote in Romans:

as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12, NASB)

Walking in step with the wicked also means that we pay attention when the world says, "there are no real moral absolutes." We know that God is holy and righteous; we know that His standards revealed in the scriptures are absolute -- the world says that those absolutes are just "too harsh," and we need to substitute something else, like "love." In other words, the counsel of the wicked would be to make a god in our own likeness, rather than submitting to the One, true God.

Because of these falsehoods: the idea that we need something in addition to the Bible, the idea that man should be elevated; the concepts that there's no need for the cross and no moral absolutes required . . . all of these are based on the focus of pleasing self instead of pleasing God and others. The world's wisdom doesn't promote self-denial or love for God and others as FIRST priority. In fact, if we walk in step with the wicked, we will hear them say things like, "if you don't love yourself, you can't love others and help them." 
I'm here to tell you -- we can't love ourselves until we first are right with God. We need to confess our sins and live in obedience to God. Then we will see ourselves as God does. And we will be able to love others as He does.

We need to walk in the power of God - that's real power-walking! We must avoid walking in the counsel of, or in step with, the wicked. 

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, (Psalm 1:1a, NASB)

If we walk with them, we are going to leave God out of our lives; we will not have true happiness.