when you reach a t-junction, what do you do? where do you go?
there is only a left turn and a right turning, stopping or going straight on are not options.

psalm 1 gives an indication or a clear sign of what we should do when facing with such dilemmas.


1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

blessed here indicates joy, happiness with relation to what man can do. in Hebrew, it is known as "sha". many associates blessed with happiness but it is not always the case. we can still be blessed when we are sad. it is the inner joy and ecstasy of elated happiness.

notice the progresses in verse one, it starts of with "walk-counsel-wicked", continues with "stand-way-mockers" and ends up with "sit-seat-mockers"

just like the story of lot and sodom, where god asked abram to leave his country in genesis 12. he brought lot along.

"5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD."

Genesis 13

lot started of by choosing the nice plan of land where it was outside sodom. in case you're wondering what is wrong with sodom? thats where the word sodomy started.
but as the story progressed, we see that in genesis 19, Lot was sitting at the gateway of the city. from being outside of the city. now he was sitting at the gateway. was he putting himself into danger? was he seeping into his consequences because of a poor naiveness of greener pastures?

Genesis 19

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."

the word here is "compromising". many times we follow the progress, but we are lost in the midst of compromising that we end up falling.

take the story of this boy, he was at a waterfall. beautiful place. and there was a huge boulder with water flowing on top of it. many took it as a slide down the water. so this boy, he tried the first time and he enjoyed it. now, to get on top of the boulder, there is another way that people take, where water dont flow through those parts and it is dry. but this boy, instead of going the normal way up, he decided to climb up the wet boulder instead. the result? he slipped and fell and hit his chin hard. he needed 5 stitches to sew the wound up.

talk about compromising. many time, we dont realise the process in it. it is until the time where we hit hard on the ground and get hurt badly that we realise, we shouldnt have done that. how foolish i was.

or even the story of samson and delilah, of how he was deceived time and again by delilah to give up his secret of his strength. imagine how foolish he was to get trick time and again by the same girl. it had to be delilah who was giving away his secrets for she was the one who asked. after repeated times of her asking with him lying to her and him getting caught in the night. he still chose to stay with her. the result of his compromising is his fall.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

from verse 2 and 3, we see the word "delight" and "meditates day and night". it shows the fervency in wanting to know the law of the lord, which is the word of god. and the results? prosperity and fruits.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

here, the contrast between verse 2&3 and 4&5. chaffs are grain husts that are blown away and burned because there is simply no use for it.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

to end the decision making between the left or right at the t-junction, we look back at what the outcome will be depending upon each choice we make. the lord watches over the way of the righteous. what else can we ask for but to receive the blessing of god watching over us if we are righteous?

-kaog saturday service sermon-