"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers"
Blessed
This is the word that has a basic meaning of going or making your way which came to be seen as some form of prosperity. This prosperity in the Old Testament often was only seen as material, but blessedness means that God prospers your goings whether those are your relational ones, your mental ones, your spiritual ones, your vocational ones, or your financial ones. Sometimes the prosperity is in the form of removing roadblocks that could be there or would be there if you followed the path of the wicked.
The Septuagint translates this word makarious, which meansblessed or happy. The same word is used in Matthew's gospel when Jesus speaks out the Beatitudes.
walk in the counsel of the wicked
The instruction is clear: don't allow those who live beyond the boundary structure of God's Ten Commandments to guide you in life. If the person guiding you regularly steals or commits adultery or lies or desires other people's properties or relationships, then they are not the person who should be guiding you. They will try and guide you into their lifestyle even though they know the emptiness that it has produced in them.
Be careful about who you get guidance from. Look at their life. If they have a close walk with God, a great family, a great marriage, and are financially secure, then these are good people to listen to. If, however, they have been married three times, have rebellious children, have little if any relationship with God and are deeply in debt, then they would not be the people to guide your life.
I am amazed at the number of people who want to give other people advice about how to live but have clearly not done a good job of living. Be careful of these kinds of people – people who tell you they know the truth but have not followed it themselves. If what they know was truly the truth, then it would be making a difference in their lives right now.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz