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; (Psalm 1:1, N.K.J.V.)

In my previous post, I outlined Psalm 1:1-3 under the title “Blessedness.” Now, with this post, I’d like to narrow the microscope down onto one particular aspect of that passage and offer a word about sin’s progression. What do I mean by “sin’s progression”? I mean that hardened sinners don’t get that way overnight. No, they become hardened in their sin by way of a definite progression of events.

First, the individual in question gets counsel from an ungodly person and puts that wrong counsel into action. That gets him started walking in the wrong direction. That’s why Psalm 1:1 speaks of walking in the counsel of the ungodly.

Second, walking in that unwise counsel takes the individual off the path of God’s will and onto the path of sinners. That’s bad enough, but once he is on that path, he finds that he enjoys the sin. Consequently, he decides to stand around for a while in that path. So, now he’s stopped walking the path of sinners and is, instead, standing on it.

Third, sometime later, the individual gets tired from constantly standing on the path of sinners and chooses to actually sit down on that path. Psalm 1:1 describes this as sitting in the seat of the scornful. That term “the scornful” refers to the most hardened and calloused sinners who occupy that path. You see, when the individual takes his seat with them, he is settling in for a lengthy stay to become a fellow member of that group.

To use a specific sin to illustrate how this sad progression might play out in real life, let’s say that a husband is considering having an affair. He’s having some trouble in his marriage, and there is a woman at work who seems to be just what he needs. Well, rather than seek out wise counsel from a godly person who knows the Bible and how to apply it to life, this husband gets counsel from an ungodly buddy of his. This buddy has been married and divorced three times and had numerous affairs over the course of those marriages. Naturally, the buddy tells the tempted husband, “Have the affair. You’ll be glad you lived a little.”

Now the husband has a choice to make. Will he walk in that ungodly counsel by having the one-night stand with the coworker? Or will he keep himself safely inside the confines of God’s will for his life? Tragically, the husband makes the wrong choice and opts to have the one-night stand. In doing that, he is walking in the counsel of the ungodly.

Okay, what happens next? The husband discovers that he enjoys the one-night stand very much. Not only does he keep the affair under wraps, he finds that the sneaking around is exciting! This leads him to start meeting once or twice a week for sexual rendezvouses with the coworker. What’s he doing now? He is standing in the path of sinners as his rebellion toward God has become deeper and more concrete.

Then, somewhere along the way, that adulterous husband goes from standing in the path of sinners to sitting down in the seat of the scornful. He becomes cynical and hardened. In some illogical way, he’s angry at God because God didn’t give him a “happily-ever-after” marriage. This causes him to start mocking the things of God and despising anything remotely spiritual.

Do you see the progression of sin? First, there is the walking. Then there is the standing. Finally, there is the sitting down. That is sin’s progression.

And would you believe the story doesn’t even end there? Sadly, it begins anew and repeats itself on another victim. Sticking with the example of the adulterous husband, when a young man naively asks the hardened, scornful sinner about marriage, he sarcastically answers, “Yeah, that’s what you need to do. Go and get married. Hook yourself up to that old ball and chain.” That answer, of course, comes under the category “the counsel of the ungodly,” and the naive potential groom then has to make his own decision as to whether or not to walk in it and begin his own line of sin’s progression.