Mensa Otabil - Choose Your Relationships (10/01/2025)
Well, you’re welcome to the first full week of the year 2021. It’s a year of fruitfulness, and we have to learn to walk right in this year. So I’m going to start this week with the first Psalm. We’re going to look at verses from Psalm 1, beginning with the first verse: «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.» This passage shows us some actions that we have to avoid in our lives, particularly for 2021. These are three actions that the passage says we should avoid if we want our lives to be blessed, if we want to live a blessed life.
The three things it states: first, it says that we must not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. The ungodly simply means wicked people, and this statement tells us whose counsel we receive, whose ideas we open our hearts to, and whose words influence us. So, if you’re going to live a fruitful and blessed life in 2021, you have to audit your source of advice. Who speaks into your life when you’re angry? Whom do you talk to when you are down? Whom do you talk to when you are happy? Whose words influence you to take the actions you take? If those people are the wrong crowd, and you walk in their counsel, you’re going to end up in a very wrong place. A wicked person will lead you in a wicked way.
So, the first thing is: don’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly. The second is: don’t stand in the path of sinners. A person who walks is moving; a person who stands is stationary. The first one says don’t walk with them; the second: don’t stand. Don’t be stationary, and don’t associate with people who are the wrong crowd. A sinner simply means someone who is always missing the mark; they are always doing the opposite of what is right. Don’t stand with them; don’t associate with them; don’t be buddy-buddy with them. So, don’t walk in the counsel of the wrong people. Don’t listen to advice that will ruin you. Don’t stand and associate with people who are going to misdirect your efforts.
The third thing is: don’t sit in the seat of the scornful. If you look at these statements, there is a progression of deterioration: walking, standing, sitting. By the time we reach the third level, you are very comfortable doing the wrong thing. You’ve moved from walking to standing, and now you are really sitting in the seat of the scornful. This is the final stage of compromise when we settle where the scornful are. Who are the scornful? The scornful are the people who are mockers; they make fun of everything. They don’t take life seriously; they don’t take God seriously. They mock the things of God; they joke about spiritual matters and downplay them. The Bible says not to sit in that seat, which also tells you not to be scornful of God, nor to scorn the things of God, nor to be dismissive about spiritual things. If you don’t know about them, just keep quiet, but don’t be scornful of them. If you do that, you forfeit your own blessedness in life.
So, in 2021, remember three things: don’t take counsel from the wrong people, don’t associate with people who are going nowhere, and don’t sit with people who are mockers and scorners. If you follow these three guidelines, you’re going to be a blessed person.
Let’s say a word of prayer together. Say with me: Heavenly Father, show me whom to talk to, stand with, and sit with in this year, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Mind your steps, mind where you sit, and mind the people you associate with. That’s the way to blessedness. I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.