Encouragement from Psalm 1

Psalm 1:6 – “the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

The psalmist says God knows the way of the righteous.  What does it mean for him to know the way of the righteous?  It means God owns it.  He claims it, he watches over it because it is his.  He protects it. But that’s not true of the way of the wicked.  That way will one day perish.   It will be destroyed, but the way of the righteous will stand.

Frankly, that should be encouraging to us as God’s people.  Because often when you look at the world around you and you see the progress that seems to be made by that wicked way of sin, it can be a bit depressing.   Corrupt politicians serving themselves rather than the citizens they represent.  One running on a family values platform who jokes with his buddy about how great his affair is going.

Or you think of our own brothers and sisters in the faith who everyday live under the threat of death simply because they worship Jesus Christ.   Some are beaten, others imprisoned, many more simply suffer by not being to get the kind of food or medical care they might need.  Some are even killed by bombs or men who open fire in churches full of families.

And sometimes you wonder if you’re making a difference in the world. You wonder if you’re making advancements for God’s kingdom.  But then you read this and realize that one day all of that wickedness will be gone.  One day, only the way of the righteous will last.

D. A. Carson says, “50 billion year from now – if I may speak of eternity in the categories of time – no one will be studying the ways of Adolf Hitler, or Pol Pot.  But every glass of cold water given in the name of the Lord Jesus will still be celebrated.”

The wicked way that the righteous avoids – the lifestyle and thinking and false wisdom that is spawned from sin – will one day be gone, blown away like so much worthless chaff never to be thought of again.  Like tracks on the seashore, the way of the wicked will vanish when the tide rolls in.

But the Lord knows the way of the righteous. Amen!