In this psalm we see 2 types of person, two types of man, who are contrasted against each other. It starts off by telling us what the blessed/righteous man doesn't do, so we can assume these are the things the wicked man is doing. He: - walks in the counsel of the wicked - He listens to the advice of people just like himself, people who tell him what he wants to hear, encouraging him in his sin
- stands in the way of sinners - This doesn't mean "stand in the way" as in "blocking", but it is standing alongside, following, dwelling, abiding in sin. Doing the same things repeatedly, hurting the same people repeatedly, sticking two fingers up at god repeatedly
- sits in the seat of scoffers - This is a common attitude for men today, being mockers and critics. They criticise everything and everybody else while they sit on their backside doing nothing. Never doing anything, never getting excited or upset about anything but mocking those that do. This reminds me of a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly… who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory or defeat”
- Most of all this man is scoffing at God, mocking Him, standing with his back towards Him, living his life by walking away from Him.
the next post in this series will look at the blessed/righteous man.