The wind, the chaff, and the tree.
A friend asked me this week, ‘What kind of thoughts are good to think?’
My friend is not a believer in the sense that I am, so our conversations are wide ranging and often touch on spiritual subjects from quite different angles than might be expected in a conversation between Christians. And sometimes this raises relevant questions I might not otherwise have asked.
This particular question arose from my mention of a scripture from Genesis describing the state of the human race immediately before the flood in the days of Noah:
‘And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’ (Genesis 6:5)
The idea that God might know both our thoughts and the intent behind them was not something my friend had considered particularly, so he quite reasonably asked, if God can be so displeased with our thoughts as is recorded in Genesis – how should we think in a way that pleases God?
The scripture that came to my mind was Psalm 1 which it happened I had been reading, and which describes a man occupying his mind in a godly way:
‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted beside the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.’ (Psalm 1)
As I find so often happens when I think about scripture, I began to see a number of things in Psalm 1 which I had not seen before.
Although the psalm does speak towards the end of the ‘way of the righteous’, the initial description of the man who is ‘blessed’ does not call him righteous, or a good man by any other description. Rather, it describes his behaviour.
By contrast, the ungodly are described as ‘chaff’ which directly speaks of their nature: their substance, or rather, lack of substance. They are quite literally lightweights.
So the ‘ungodly’ suffer their fate because of what they are, while the ‘blessed’ receive their blessing because of what they do. The blessed man has taken on board substance which the ungodly lack, and he has done this by meditating and delighting in the ‘law of the LORD’.
Nor does the blessed man limit his engagement with the ‘law of the LORD’ to an inner appreciation only. His behaviour accords with the law of the Lord in what we might call ‘negative’ ways i.e. what he does not do. He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.
This ties in with what was discussed in last week’s article, that ‘hearing is doing’. Or as Paul reminds us, ‘not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified’. (Romans 2:13)
I am fascinated by how closely this psalm, which at first may seem a classic example of Old Testament legalism – do good and prosper, do wickedly and perish – does in fact match the principles of the New Testament. Because the ‘blessed man’ has not done any ‘good works’. His only work is to delight in the word of God.
‘Then they said unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.’ (John 6:28-29)
‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ (Ephesians 2:8-9)
But while the ‘blessed man’ has not done ‘good works’, he has avoided the pattern and path of wicked behaviour. His ‘delight in the law of the LORD’ is not merely intellectual. And to live differently to the majority of people in the world around us is not an easy path as anyone who attempts this may testify. But it begins from the inside, not the outside. One who delights in the ways of God will naturally seek to avoid what clashes with the ways of God.
The effects on the blessed man of receiving, focusing on, and delighting in the ‘law of the LORD’, or if I may take the liberty of extending this principle, in the word of God, also interest me: they are both internal and external. The blessed man is ‘planted’ and ‘located’. He has gained substance; he has also gained a position. And he has life.
A ‘tree’ is not the same as ‘chaff’, it is altogether more weighty and it is living. Chaff is lightweight and is a non-living residue. How wonderful are the effects of receiving and loving the word of God!
‘the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.’ (John 6:63)
But it is natural that receiving the word of God changes both us and our position in the world, because the one whose word we receive is both our Creator and the Creator of the world. We are receiving in ourselves the very life and Spirit of the One whose ways are etched through all creation. And though the world and even nature shares our own fallen state, yet our Lord remains Lord of all.
It is also worth remembering that the wind which takes away the chaff blows also on the tree planted by the rivers of water. This can mean significant trials. Leaves can be scattered and branches broken in the wind, if we consider how the analogy looks in the natural world. But I can say personally I am encouraged to think that the same winds of trouble which push against me are sweeping away wickedness from the world like chaff in the wind, and that the purpose of God is that though I may suffer, I will stand, if I stand on his word.
Processes like that of the chaff and wind are described in other ways in the Bible, such as the story of the men who built their houses on either rock or sand, both being subjected to the wind and the floods, but only the house on the rock survives (Matthew 7:24-27). Or as the refining of gold by fire, which impurities cannot survive. Again, both the gold and impurities are subjected to the fire. (1 Peter 1:7)
I am further encouraged that the blessing of life and of substance. even our salvation, comes to us not through great deeds of our own, but by loving and delighting in our Lord whose deeds are beyond compare. And by avoiding ways that dishonour him. And that may not be easy, but if we love and delight in his word it will come naturally to us, even against our own nature. And this was known already by the psalmist hundreds of years before Jesus came, or Paul wrote the doctrines of the New Testament, that the blessing of God is not earned by good works but received by faith, by delighting in the Lord and receiving his word.
And, ‘the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.’ (Psalm 1:6)
To me, the above verse speaks of the grace of God, that he is working in our lives to write a story of salvation which honours him and brings us into his presence forever, despite that our actions and choices sometimes go against his plan. God foreknows and is able to work even these things into his plan, to accomplish his good will and kindness towards us in Jesus.
‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.’ (Romans 8:28-29)
‘For by grace you are saved, through faith..’ (Ephesians 2:8). This was known by the psalmist before ever the gospels were written.
‘For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.’ (Psalm 100:5)
Praise our Lord for ever and ever.
Amen.
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