“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.”
Psalm 1:1, ESV
In his final book As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Eugene Peterson pointed out that “Psalm 1 stands before the whole Psalter as a kind of prologue. It was likely written last. In the editorial work that resulted in 150 psalms in our Bibles, it is the finishing touch, defining the content and fixing the atmosphere in which all of Scripture is prayed and lived” (106). As such, it gives us four essentials, if you will, for getting involved in spiritual transformation. Over the next four weeks, I’d like to look at each of the following:
- Step Away from Polluting Voices. (1:1)
- Saturate Your Mind with Scripture. (1:2)
- Settle Into—Become Rooted In—in a Place That Will Help You Grow. (1:3)
- Stay Clear on What Happens to the Wicked. (4-6)
“Step Away from Polluted Voices” is the first step and is based on Psalm 1:1 above. It’s a similar thought to one of the two main New Testament descriptors of true religion: “keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27b). Further, “Blessed” the word 1:1 begins with, has to do with flourishing which is also a great way to translate “blessed” in the Beatitudes (e.g. “Blessed [or flourishing] are the peacemakers…” -Matthew 5).
Many of you who’ve seen The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy might recognize the two characters above. The first with the black hair and evil face is Wormtongue. This creepy guy is a servant of Saruman—an evil character who is a great metaphor for “polluting voices.” The second man next to him is King Théoden who rules a land called Rohan. What’s significant for our discussion here is that the king is currently under Wormtongue’s spell. When Galdalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli—who are some of the heroes in the trilogy—first encounter King Théoden, he is a withered, sickly-looking man. He appears bleached by the hand of age and is entirely reliant on his servant Wormtongue. Wormtongue has so polluted the king’s mind that he doesn’t even recognize his true family—he only knows Wormtongue.
The King was not always in this state. He was once a great warrior, strong and proud. But now his vision has become cloudy. He’s become polluted through the voice of Wormtongue and is now captive to the will of Saruman (a figure analogous for our purposes to Satan). Think of Théoden as being possessed by evil, constantly looking to Wormtongue for advice, all of which is bad. The good news is that Gandalf and friends eventually remove the spell and the king is restored to the great warrior and wise king he was intended to be before the spell!
We all have polluting voices we listen to that keep us from the “good works” we were created for in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). And stepping away from them is sometimes easier said than done. Another relevant NT concept here is our call to be “in the world but not of it” (John 17:16, Romans 12:1-2, 1 John 2:15-16).
Many of us have learned the hard way that sin will take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and—barring God’s mercy—cost you far more than you were willing to pay. Notice the progression in the italicized words in Psalm 1:1 above: walking then standing then sitting. We start out…
- Walking—Most of us think of external voices of pollution here such as bad friends, music, or shows we might binge-watch. Media, especially, can become like a close friend in a lonely world. The child’s Sunday School song comes to mind: “Oh be careful little eyes what you see… oh be careful little feet where you go… For the Father up above is looking down in love…” Walking along, we decide to stop and find ourselves…
- Standing—One old preacher described this as “window shopping at Satan’s store.” We look in at all the attractive things on display. Satan comes and says, “May I help you?” and we say… “No, I’m just looking.” And it’s the nature of our wandering hearts to be led into temptation, to get entangled and weighed down with the corrupting influences of this world’s system. Finally, we find ourselves…
- Sitting—We end up in a place where like “Dante’s lowest denizens of hell,” we become encased in a sheet of ice, frozen in our sins.
The long and short of it is we lose our distinctiveness. We become polluted and our hearts become desensitized to the promptings of God. Again, like King Théoden, our minds become poisoned and God’s stirrings seem like a distant memory.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that polluting voices are much more insidious than the standard fare of externals like bad friends, “secular” music, or a guilty-pleasure series on Netflix. For example:
- There are lies and polluting voices from our family of origin that still haunt us: voices of shame, fear, anger, or resignation.
- There are voices of unforgiveness—roots of bitterness we’ve allowed to grow in our hearts. When this happens, it’s amazing how every thought or conversation can somehow end up being about that choice or person—the one our anger or hatred is fixated on.
- Or, in the culture wars, we all have our favored “news” sources. I have “news” in quotes because it’s hard to get good news these days. More often than not, rather than just reporting, individuals are trying to influence our opinions around a certain narrative. Stepping away from polluting voices in these instances means discerning what narratives we’re following and what our priorities are. And what really delights us—is it God’s Word (1:2- more on that next week) or our political party? Is it who takes office next or the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)? BTW, if you think your presidential pick and the kingdom of God are one and the same you may have some polluting voices you need to deal with!
Next week we’ll look at #2 in getting involved in spiritual transformation: Saturate your Mind with Scripture (Psalm 1:2).