**nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.** Psalm 1:1c
We’ve looked at walking and then at standing, so now, it’s time to look at sitting.
The first thing I noticed when I re-read this passage is the progression that this man lives. He could have started out blessed (happy) by making better choices. He could have chosen to walk a different path, and listen to other voices. When he began to pay the price for listening and acting upon the wrong voices he could have examined himself and seen that he is no longer walking or even standing firm in his decisions, but now he has stopped in his tracks. He is no longer moving forward in his life. It is like he is frozen in time. The price that he has paid perhaps has been more costly than the pleasure he received.
Our passage today tells us that he has degressed from walking, then standing and now he’s sitting. He is not very interested anymore in walking the wrong path or listening to those tempting voices. Standing has become too hard and painful. The price has been too high so now he sits and complains, criticizes, and mocks those who have chosen a different path than he did.
I think we can see the sadness that results from listening to the wrong advice. We start out walking strong and confident but the consequences begin to affect our life, our happiness, and our speech.
Overtime, even if we chose the wrong path, we are not as quick to walk into trouble and repeat our own history. But, if we have not yet changed what and who we are listening to, The Who behind the What have become our constant companions. We stand where they stand or maybe we have stopped walking or standing altogether, but we haven’t done anything about changing the information or the influence. There is only one thing left to do…sit down. Life has brought many trials and pain and suffering due to our choices when we walked in the way. There is no more strength nor desire to walk or stand.
Sitting seems to be the easiest way out. We give up. The continued influx of bad counsel has brought difficulties and hardships, damaged relationships and Broken Dreams. We sit and complain, criticize and blame. and mock those who try to live cleaner and who have made better choices. Now, happiness is only a Hollywood fantasy never to be attained.
I believe this Psalm cries out to us to examine ourselves on a regular basis. Are we walking in Good Counsel? Are the voices in our life leading us to a happier path? Do we walk or stand, even sit, confidently, comfortably, at peace or are we living slumped over, scornful, miserable, discontent, and ungrateful, wallowing in our self-inflicted pain?
I believe happiness is available to all of us. It’s just a matter of listening to the right voices and making better choices. Are we walking, standing and sitting in our happy place?