Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend! I'm really thankful for and encouraged by your discussion and input this weekend! It's an awesome thing to be able to learn from other people's stories and to see more of who God really is through that input and testimony!

Let’s head back over to Psalm 1 today. Will you take a moment to read through it again?

Blessed (beyond what our eyes may immediately see) is the man“THE man [translated haish] is emphatic; that man; that one among a thousand who really lives for the accomplishment of the end of which God created him.” Adam Clarke 1844

- He is worth seeking and obeying … let’s be “that {wo}man!!!”

who does not:
Walk in the counsel of the wicked
Stand in the way of sinners
Sit in the seat of mockers.

Do you see the general breakdown there? Walk – stand – sit. Wicked – sinners – mockers. Hardening is always a general progression. The first one mentioned - wicked - (the “least of these” ) is called wicked yet interestingly – and disturbingly- enough is also translated as ungodly. In other words... you can be a good person... who is just not following the Lord. That's a dangerous place to step! Walking in this way does not merit terrible acts of treachery. We are ungodly… even wicked… when we aren’t striving to be like Christ. Yikes. Is that unsettling? Yes. A threat? No. It’s reality that God has graciously continued to remind us of… to help us press on for abundant life… beyond our comprehension. Thank you Lord.


We talked this weekend about the fact that we are only supposed to be the clay. But this is not an excuse to simply lay still without movement. We are in the hands of the potter, of the God of the universe, and we are to respond accordingly. We need to act on what we know. Be comforted by the fact that God hears you, God sees you, and God knows you. And then identify what that can mean to your life! The verse says that we the clay, are not to stand in the way of sinners... each step leads us to another. And if we want the blessings of realizing that we're the clay, we must accept the responsibility as well.

But… we are sinners. All of us. How then can we possibly not stand in the way of sinners? The answer is in the Word of God! (as usual! :)) (Verse 2) But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law He meditates day and night. We are sinners… can’t change that. But we CAN stand IN the grace, redemption, and power of GOD! And we do it by delighting in His word. WHY?!?! Because… HE delights in US. (Read Hebrews 12:2-3). WOW. Stop and thank Him for delighting in YOU! For offering hope to those who walk in the way of sinners.

For your study: What does it look like to stand, walk as Christ asks us to? Read Ephesians 6:10-13, Psalm 23:4, Isaiah 30:21, Micah 6:8, John 8:12, 1 John 1:7

“Although a sinner himself, he is now a blood washed sinner, quickened by the Holy Spirit, and renewed in heart. Standing by the grace of God in the congregation of the righteous, he dares not herd with the multitude that do evil.” – Spurgeon