Month 10:16, Week 3:1 (Rishon/Pesach), Year 5935:274 AM
Gregorian Calendar: Monday 9 January 2012
Are You Scorned?
A Promise for Victim and Perpetrator
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful" (Ps.1:1, NKJV).
The first promise of the Book of Psalms is that of blessings from Yahweh to the man who does not:
- 1. Habitually though casually listen to and imitate the lifestyle of unbelievers; or
- 2. Finally become totally one of them in judging believers with a scornful heart.
There is a progression of sinful behaviour here from "walking", to "standing" and finally to "sitting". It begins by keeping company with ungodly people and taking counsel from then, moves on to more permanent, 'stationary' associations, and ends in judgment. And how do the ungodly judge the godly? With scorn.
The leetsim or "scornful" are those who show open contempt for virtue and religion by mocking, deriding or scoffing at believers. And what is it that the believer does that they have such contempt for?
"His delight ... in the Torah (Teaching/Law) of Yahweh" (Ps.1:2, NKJV).
Psalm 1 therefore defines the two ways a person can choose to live and informs the one making a choice what the result of each choice is going to be:
"For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish" (Ps.1:6, NKJV).
If you move on to Psalm 2 you'll find out that unbelievers do more than just scorn virue and good religion (Jas.1:27):
"Why do the heathen (goyim) rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" (Ps.2:1, KJV).
They "rage" and "imagine" or form fanciful or irrational notions in their heads. They are agitated, irrational (even though they believe they are not) and fundamentally lacking shalom (peace).
Christians and Messianics are often baffled by the reactions of unbelievers to their lifestyle. They are going quietly about their business but all they get is mocking, anger and irrational accusations. It's particularly hard when unbelieving spouses, siblings, parents and children react this way. And as David asks in puzzlement in the third psalm, why do these people make so much trouble?
The answer to all of this behaviour is because the unbeliever is under judgment. He is unstable, there is no foundation under his feet, and he unconsciously senses his impermanence and lack of security:
"The ungodly ... are like the chaff which the wind driveth away" (Ps.1:4, KJV).
I have my fair share of enemies who have sought - and are still seeking - my destruction because of my stance on the Besorah (Gospel), even in my own family! Their behaviour is utterly irrational because truly I want only the best for them. But they cannot help themselves because of the choice they have made to reject the Author of all Emet (truth). I pray for them and I wait patiently for them to see the folly and stupidity of their way. And if they refuse to repent, but continue to pursue their blind wickedness, I do at least know that finally they will be blown away. They won't always be around.
I fear the most for those who are sitting down in judgment of Yahweh's people. Those who are 'just' flirting with unbelievers will have an easier time of turning round and returning home. And even those who are standing among them have a good chance. But those who sit down and both accept and exercise the imagined toqef (authority) of the fellowship of unbelievers to derite and destroy, I fear for the most, for they must be brought to the end of themselves through, to them, meaningless suffering and apparent purposelessness. They must then either march over the precipice to final destruction or turn round like the prodigal, swallow their pride, and come home to a wonderful new and worthwhile life.
"He shall [then become] be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Ps.1:3, KJV).
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