The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Mat 22:1-14)

¹Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: [This is a parable and therefore requires to be interpreted as such.]

²"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. [First object of parable: Kingdom of Heaven – this is the one that we want to know more about what it is like.  Second object, the metaphor: a wedding banquet.  The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a wedding banquet.  A king is preparing a wedding banquet for his son.

For this particular wedding banquet, the king sent out his servants to those who had been invited to come, but the invited ones refused to come.

From the text, we note that the king had already, before the sending out the servants, already invited those he wanted, to come to the banquet.  In the Kingdom of Heaven, these people can be interpreted as the Jews/Israelites – the original chosen people of God.  Just like the invitees who did not want to come to the banquet (after which the bridegroom and bride enter into their blissful enjoined lives {that is what it is supposed to, anyway}), some of the Jews did not want to come to Jesus; (through Him, and only through Him, could they enter into Heaven, for blissful living).]

 ⁴"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'

 ⁵"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. [The king sent out some more servants to tell the invitees to come, saying that everything was ready.  Still the invitees paid no attention to the king’s call; they just went about, each, to his own business. Some even seized the servants, mistreated them and killed them.

In times gone by, not only did some of the Jews not heed God’s calling of them to come back to Him, they had seized the prophets and other servants of God, mistreated them and even killed them.  These Jews just went about, each, his own business, including turning to other gods, and engaged in practices not prescribed by the Lord.  Many, at most, saw Jesus as a prophet; and even Jesus, they mistreated and killed (crucified).  God could be seen enraged in the past, in OT time.  God allowed Israel and Judah to be run over by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, respectively, for example.  After Jesus, around AD 70, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple of God were even allowed to be destroyed.]

⁸"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' ¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. [The king said that the dinner was prepared, all was ready (v4, v8); the equivalent in the Kingdom of Heaven scenario can be taken as Jesus’ 1st coming.  The coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection, has made everything ready; ready for our salvation journey to Heaven.

The wedding banquet was ready, again the king sent his servants out, this time saying to them to call to anyone they can find (from the streets/street corners), since the (previous) invitees did not want to come; to the king those who turned him down had become undeserving to come.

The “wedding banquet is ready” is pointing to Jesus completed His work on earth, died and resurrected back to Heaven.  We read from Scripture that, post-Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostle Peter was given the vision of God would be gathering in, of the Gentiles, for many Jews/Israelites rejected coming (into salvation through Jesus our Lord and Saviour).

All the preparation was for a big gathering but since there were those previously invited and yet not only did not want to come but even mistreated and killed God’s servants (including the Lord Himself), God now has opened up the Kingdom of Heaven (or Heaven) to non-Jews, collectively called Gentiles.  With this, all peoples could be ushered in (into the banquet/into the church).]

¹¹"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. ¹³"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' [When the king came to see, he saw some people were not properly attired; he told his attendants to throw them out.

A time will come when God will come to the saints {in my view, NOT just any persons/peoples} who want to go into Heaven.  Only persons properly clothed will be admitted into Heaven; those not so, would be thrown out, into Hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth – Hell is a terrible place of constant suffering.

Much of the variations in the interpretation of this parable lie with the interpretation of what is “properly clothed”. 

One interpretation puts it as the robe of righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross and shed His blood for us, to cleanse us and justify us before God – we who are saved are clothed with the righteous blood of Jesus – robe of imputed righteousness of Christ. 

Another interpretation takes in, a more comprehensive inclination, which I share since I believe, unless the situation is extenuating (like we die immediate, upon entry into salvation), we need more than just a sinner’s prayer and the imputed righteousness of Christ, to get us into Heaven (or Kingdom of Heaven). 

So, accordingly, the proper clothing here comprises the righteousness from justification (a must, a sonship), and the righteousness from the sanctification (a sanctified heart) coming from practicing of righteousness which includes righteous acts/deeds of the saints.

We first of all, need to be born again, at which time, we are forgiven of all our sins, become justified and become a son of God.  If we die immediately after born again, I believe we have the proper clothing (God is fair; since you die immediate; you have no time to practice righteousness). 

Ambiguity comes in when we continue to live on, in this fallen world.  Broadly speaking, we need to do 2 things.  Firstly, when we sin, we need to repent and ask for forgiveness, and be cleansed again (i.e. be cleansed again whenever we sinned).  This would be a repeated affair for us all.

Sorry, I believe the cleansing by Jesus is NOT like the anti-virus software we are familiar with; there is auto-detection, but NO auto-clean. If it does, Jesus would not have taught us to pray for God’s forgiveness for our sins. Do you want to count on a stained garment to get you in? In Revelation, in the message to the 7 churches, in particular to the church in Sardis, we read this:

4Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. (Rev 3:4-5)

I will ask Jesus to wash it clean every time it is stained.

Secondly, unless we die immediately upon born again, we have a chance to bear fruits or do righteous acts.  This we have to do; it is part of the adorning of the garment.  In Revelation 19:7-9, there is an account of the wedding of the Lamb by the Apostle John.  In v8 (KJV), this is what we read - And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

It said there, the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  Yet what is the righteousness of saints?  If you look up the standard Bible Commentaries, you will find some said, it is the imputed righteousness of Christ Jesus.

Some others said it is the righteous acts of the saints.  Some understand the righteousness there, was in the plural in the original text; which can explain the righteous acts interpretation, or it could also support another interpretation, that it is both, righteousness from entry into salvation (justification), and righteousness from sanctification.  The last bit (the both) is the same, actually, with the interpretation of the fine linen as the righteous acts of the saints, for no acts can be counted righteous for NT persons, unless he first, has been justified.  In terms of our part to play, my view is that the fine linen is referring to the righteous living and acts of the saint (saint, by definition has the imputed righteousness of Christ). 

Note that various translations, including NIV, has the fine linen is the righteous acts of saints.

These 2 verses help to support the understanding that righteous acts were referred to:

Rev 14:13 - And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

1 Tim 5:25 - In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.

I deduce the good works or righteous acts surfaced ultimately as part of the fine linen (the adorning and “glow”, perhaps).  Also, if you read the messages to the 7 churches in first section of the Book of Revelation, you see this, for 5 out of the 7 churches, said of, by the Lord: “I know thy works”.

The Word, in Matt 7:19, says every tree not bearing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire; and in Matt 7:21, only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The meaning of this Parable of the Wedding Banquet is also very close to that of the Parable of the Net (Matt 13:47-52), whereby good fish (righteous men) will be kept (of men, enter Heaven) and bad fish (wicked men) will be thrown away (of men, into the fiery furnace, of Hell).  Depending on how one interprets righteous man, you will again have the similar first (imputed righteousness only is required) and second (practice of righteousness, which includes righteous acts/deeds/works, needed, on top of imputed righteousness) interpretations.

We should NOT forget that there is also the Parable of “Who are the sheep, and who are the goats” which is telling us that good works (which are righteous acts) is required, although how much is sufficient, is NOT apparent.]

¹⁴"For many are invited {called - KJV}, but few are chosen." [The invitation to Heaven was originally an exclusive invitation (NOT all are invited; only the Israelites were invited); subsequently, the invitation was turned into an open invitation (now all can avail themselves to the invitation, or in other words, it no longer serves its purpose; now all can come when he/she responds affirmatively to God’s call.  We no longer need the invitation that was extended, in the first place, to the Israelites/Jews.

As far as I am concerned, the KJ version is having the correct translation of v14, i.e. “For many are called, but few are chosen.”  Calling is of specific meaning – God calls, and one who responds affirmatively, becomes a called.  In other words, v14 could also be read as: “For many are the called, but few are the chosen”.  Invitation was used on the Jews/Israelites, and when it was “done away with” or “thrown open”, calling is what took over.

The call of God can go out universally; now to all, Jews and Gentiles.  One becomes a called one, NOT by virtue of him having heard the call, but he responded affirmatively to the call.  Ones that come into the church, and be part of the gathering or the Bride, they are all called, meaning they have had responded affirmatively to the call.  Those who have NOT responded affirmatively, may be in the church physically, but they are NOT part of the church or the Bride. Using the metaphor of the Banquet, the latter (those who had NOT responded affirmatively) are NOT in the Banquet at all; those who are in the Banquet are those who had responded (affirmatively) to the servant beckoning them to come. It is common sense that if the Jews/Israelites could, for example say, “I am NOT coming”, and the servants would NOT drag them to the Banquet, likewise, those in the streets (Gentiles) were NOT dragged in, but had, for example, said, “I will go with you”. 

In the spiritual sense, only the called (defined as ones who have responded to the call, affirmatively), are gathered together, through the spiritual eyes of God.  You may be in your home in US, and I, in mine in Singapore, but we are both seen by God as “gathered together” or one, the Church (together with other believers).  If your younger brother was NOT a believer but physically with you, God sees you and me, but NOT him, as the church, despite he was there with you, physically!  In other words, the person without the wedding garment in the parable is a called one, but without righteousness of saint, which is the righteous acts of saint, and NOT the imputed righteousness of Christ ALONE.  Without the imputed righteousness from being a called one, he cannot even be at the Banquet.

Now if you take my view, it is therefore, many are the called, i.e. many did enter into salvation, but few would eventually be chosen, for reason that they are going to be found to be short of righteous deeds - lack of righteous deeds in keeping with their righteousness, imputed from Christ Jesus or from justification. 

Many failed to see that we are to model after Jesus; that the Father expected it, of Jesus when He walked the earth, i.e. being righteous, yet had to live and act righteous; we are to be righteous just as He is righteous, said 1 John 3:7.  In fact, the verse reads: “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness {practises righteousness} is righteous, even as he {Jesus} is righteous.” (be righteous in the same manner that Jesus was righteous, which was that He still needed to be practising righteousness).

We have to choose to practise righteousness, and that of course, included doing righteous acts or deeds, so that we have the fine linen to adorn ourselves with, when we are in the Banquet, and be chosen (that is our hope) of the Lord (reasonable to assume if you get to stay in the Banquet, after the celebration, you are chosen of God, into Heaven)

This parable, I believe, points to, God already opened up his invitation (invitation was originally reserved for the Jews/Israelites), to come into His Kingdom of Heaven (or Heaven), to all people, i.e. we are in the “call dispensation”; there is no general individual predestination for salvation. There was and still is corporate pre-destination for the nation of Israel to be entering the Kingdom of Heaven, but there is no general individual predestination for salvation.

Just to repeat, there are variations in interpretation of what the wedding garment is or what fine linen is.  My view is that it is more than just the imputed righteousness of Christ; Imputed righteousness is given, you have to have it (from justification), and then you have to be having righteousness from sanctification, from practicing righteousness, doing the will of God (including righteous acts and deeds), as like Jesus did, even when he was righteous; He had to live righteous, on earth (1 John 3:7).]


Anthony Chia, high.expresssions
 

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Turning away from wickedness, a must

Recently this text again caught my attention, and when I decided to add it to my "Words for all seasons" on this blog-site, I was surprised that I had NOT done any updating on these words since August 2012; and guess what, the last word on it, was the same 2 Tim 2:19!

 

2 Timothy 2:19 - Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

I have preferred the KJ version (which I will explain in a while) - Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

The foundation of God

Verse 19 started with “nevertheless”, the foundation of God standeth sure, … What this means is that, despite what was said preceding to this verse, the foundation of God stands firm.  What was said before this? 

Verses 16-18 revealed to us, what was said was “propagation of godless chatter (NIV) or profane and vain babblings (KJV)”. Now, these are NOT idle/empty talks per se, but profanity against God and His teachings, and these are untruths as opposed to truths of God.  Despite the propagation of these, the foundation of God stands firm.  One untruth or profanity named there (in v18) was that the teaching that our resurrections had taken place!

We are destroyed when our faith is destroyed

About this “already resurrected” teaching (of Hymenaeus and Philetus), the Apostle Paul said, “destroys” faith (v18). 

2 Tim 2:17-18 –

17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.

Untruths about the core tenants of the faith or core theology such as the death and resurrection of our Lord, His works of redemption, and our hope of salvation and eventual glorification, they destroy faith.


John 10:10a said that Satan came to steal, kill and destroy; John 10:10b – Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly.  You will have noticed that “destroy” was put after “killing” (in John 10:10).  In other words, to have us killed (die, physically), is NOT the worst Satan can do to us, destruction is the worst; and destruction here refers to the 2^nd death which means, being thrown eventually in the burning lake of fire of Hell to be tormented there, for eternity.  When a believer’s faith is destroyed, he no longer is on track for eternal life in Heaven, but is once again bound for Hell.  Yes, the passage was referring to believers; for only the believers have a faith to be destroyed (an unbeliever has no faith)!

Does one immediately have his faith destroyed?

The Apostle Paul gave us, here, one scenario of how it could happen.

Verse 16 NIV – Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Verse 16 KJV - But shun profane [and] vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

The KJ version gives us a better representation.  For the NIV, one still needs to define what is “indulge in it”, and some people use this as the “escape clause”, by such thinking as, “I was NOT teaching it-what or propagating it-what; I only believe it”. 

Well, you are what you believe!  In other words, you live out your belief; and when you do that you are teaching it or propagating it by your own living example!  The KJV gives us the understanding that profane and vain babblings (which I already defined above), they (the profane and vain babblings) lead to greater ungodliness. In other words, the more and the longer you take it in, ungodliness in you can grow.  When ungodliness grows and festers, your correct belief system, faith, will suffer; over time, your faith gets destroyed.  This is why we are to reject heretic and apostate teachings; and this was why Apostle Paul warned Timothy, and instructed the latter how to handle such false teachings and teachers.

Still, stick to the truths

So, in verse 19, the Apostle Paul was assuring believers that despite and regardless, the spread of such false teachings, God’s foundation remains firm.

God’s foundation is first of all, truths.  Truths do NOT change; this contributes to God’s foundation remaining firm.  Truth is a big word, it covers a lot of ground, so to speak; did Scripture leave some clue as to what constituted the foundation of God’s rule?

What constitutes the foundation of God’s throne?

Ps 89:14a and Ps 97:2 both gave us the foundation of God’s throne as His righteousness and justice:

Ps 89:14a - Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

PS 97:2 - Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

The Apostle Paul did NOT quote Ps 89:14a or Ps 97:2, but he was NOT far from it.  Instead of quoting the twin pillars as in Ps 89:14 and Ps 97:2, Paul said there were these 2 inscriptions (on the pillars): “The Lord knoweth them that are his” and “And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”.  They are referencing the same things as in the 2 psalm verses.

The righteousness pillar

The 1st pillar of the foundation in the psalm verses, is righteousness.  Instead of saying “righteousness” was inscribed as the foundation, Paul said everyone who nameth the name of Christ must depart from iniquity.  Meaning, everyone who confesses or professes the name of the Lord, must turn away from wickedness, which is the very opposite of righteousness. 

I have said at the start, that I have preferred the KJ version of v19, over the NIV, because the NIV used only the word, “confess”, in place of “nameth”.  It should be confess or profess.  Again, some people try to “escape” through this NIV “escape clause” - confess.  Their argument is this: “See, see, it said there, “confess”, meaning, it was only at the moment of conversion or born-again, that the person must turn away from wickedness, and NOT afterwards, for “confess” was generally used in 1^st time profession of something.” (proper usage of confess and profess is such: 1^st time – we say, “we confess”, subsequently, “we profess”). (Of course, more heretic ones even claim no confession or repentance is even needed at conversion!)

Whereas, the KJV’s use of “nameth” carried with it the meaning of “everyone who rely on the name of Lord, he must depart from wickedness (be embracing righteousness)”.

So, now banish from your thought, the notion and heretic teaching that a believer needs only to turn away from wickedness at his born-again, and have no need of doing so, perseveringly, subsequently.  As a foundation of God’s throne and rule, righteousness is expected to be embraced by us all, on-goingly.

The justice pillar

Paul’s equivalent was “The Lord knoweth them that (who) are his”.  Why did Paul NOT just say, “Justice was inscribed”?  Indeed, Paul was meaning to say justice!  We have expounded already (see above) about what was said, preceding the 2 Tim 2:19 verse – that there were these false preachers/teachers claiming their teachings or theology or doctrines were correct and propagating them, and had them spread (like gangrene!).  Typically, in such, even as it is today, both sides, the true gospel believers/preachers and the heretic believers/preachers, each would claim they are right; in other words, each said that justice would prevail for them.  In fact, the tendency to quarrel would be so strong, that Paul warned against quarrelling (v14).  Paul, we believe, drew the “The Lord knoweth them that (who) are his”, from the failed revolt of Korah in Numbers 16.

In that Num 16 account, Moses’ handling showed us that we have to abide by God’s justice. 

What is justice?  Simply it is what God considers as just is justice!  As a side, there is no such thing as equality for all; there is only justice with God.  You are born into a rich family; I, a poor family, there is no equality (Please do NOT wrongly tell people there is equality with God; the Bible does NOT record such); yet there is justice with God.  For example, God might have endowed me with intelligence above the one born with a silver spoon, or that I have been endowed with a talent that I can make a living with, or that God would protect and provide for me, as I follow Him.  The point is that God knows about everyone who approaches Him. 

God is the knower of hearts of men (Acts 1:24, KJV).  And those of us who are believers or His children, God knows us by the interaction of the Holy Spirit with our spirit.  So, at any point in time, God knows who is for Him and who is NOT!  Whatever Holy Spirit considers just for you, for the time and season, that is justice of God for you. For example, Scripture recorded for us, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, He gives to each as He determines (1 Cor 12:11; also 1 Cor 12:4-6); in this too, God is just.

In that failed revolt of Korah and his fellow Levites against the High Priest, Aaron, Moses simply relied on God was just, for He knew who He had given what or He had called to what (similar to 1 Cor 12:4-6).  Korah and his fellow Levites were separated by God to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to people, and here they wanted to challenge the position of Aaron, the High Priest.  We read, in Num 16:5 Moses said this: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him…”  The account ended with the Korah’s camp gotten swallowed up by the ground opening up!  Justice was served.  Aaron was vindicated.

Obviously, “who belongs to him (God)” means more than like in “this wallet belongs to me”! You should know that both Korah and Aaron belonged to God.  Firstly, they were both God’s children or people.  Secondly, both held position of office, but different offices, one was a Levite head (Korah), another, the High Priest, NOT just a Levite.  It is, when you belong (to God), you don’t just belong (as in the wallet belongs to me; that is given), you should also be at the station God deems just. 

Do you know that, in salvation, we are all soldiers of God?  Yes, we belong to God, but if we are NOT at our station God deems just, we could have mutinied! When you have mutinied, do you still belong to God?  Whose justice can you still fall back on?  Whose side are you still on?  Couldn’t the roaring lion devour you?  Think about it, what will happen to you if you mutinied against the USA – punishable by death!  What happened to Korah?  The ground swallowed him (and the others) up!

Don’t handle “God knows who are His, lightly”!  Many believers think that they, without self-examination, can simply claim “God knows who are His”, and expect to be safe.  For a start, everyone who confesses or professes the name of the Lord must turn from wickedness.  Revolt or rebellion, for example, is already wickedness or is iniquity!  Furthermore, as I have said, when it is foundational, it is applying on-going, meaning, both righteousness and justice we are to be embraced on-goingly and perseveringly. 

I don’t know you

Again I remind, just because we are a child of God from our born-again or conversion, it does NOT mean God necessarily know us all the time; just as Korah in the Numbers 16 account was a child of God.  And so, please do NOT embrace heretic teaching that says righteous living is NOT key in our working out of our salvation (Phil 2:12); righteous living and justice must be embraced all the time, failing which, you must come back into it.  It can be, if you don’t embrace justice (His justice), God may say to you, “I don’t know you!”  It can also be, if you don’t embrace righteous living, God may say to you, “I don’t know you!”  Obviously, if you pervert His truths or propagate untruths, you are NOT embracing His justice, for justice is about truths and God’s decisions, which must be right and just (they cannot be otherwise).

Applications included these:

Matt 7:21-23 - 21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Luke 6:46-49 - 46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

Pro 1:29-33 - 29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD {fear the Lord here refers to hate evil or wickedness; “fear of the LORD” - KJV}, 30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me {in so doing, you are embracing His righteousness and justice} will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

 

Anthony Chia, high.expressions

PS: Whether it pertains to salvation, Christian living or service, turning away from wickedness is a must.

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Anyone in OT ever righteous since Jesus was not yet manifest then?

In Romans 3:10-12, we read these written by the Apostle Paul concerning the subject of righteousness.

10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Rom 3:10-12, KJV).

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Rom 3:10-12, NIV)

The Greek word used for “righteous” here was “dikaios” (G1342). In context, the closest meaning to be assigned for G1342 should be this: “(state) of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life”.

In other words, Paul was saying that since The Fall of Man, there was no one, not even one, righteous. Only the first man, Adam, before The Fall was righteous. After The Fall, (apart from Jesus) there was no one, meaning not even the (Jew) patriarchs, if this Romans 3:10 is to hold true.

One might think that such a belief came into the picture only in New Testament (NT) time. But it is not true; these verses of Paul could actually be traced back to the Old Testament (OT); they came from Ps 14:1-3, Ps 53:1-3 and Eccl 7:20. Particularly, v10 came from Eccl 7:20 which read, in KJV as follows:

For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not (Eccl 7:20, KJV).

The Hebrew word used in Eccl 7:20 for “just” was “tsaddiyq” (H6662), the same word used for “righteous” in OT Genesis 7:1 when Noah was mentioned as being righteous, and was also the same word used Gen 6:9 where Noah was labeled as being a “just” man:

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation (Gen 7:1, KJV).
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God (Gen 6:9, KJV).

The meaning of righteous or just, for the case of Noah, has to be of the same class as that of righteous, as mentioned by Paul, for when Noah was being labeled as righteous, this was spoken of that time:

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 (Gen 6:5, KJV).

The situation was so bad then, like what it was depicted in Romans 3:11-12, they understood not God, sought not God, turned away, altogether worthless, doing nothing good, and God had to bring on The Flood to wipe them out.

But we have stated “righteous”, like in Rom 3:10, was referring to the state of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting, is wholly conformed to the will of God {which is NEVER evil or wicked}, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life, how do we reconcile the truth of Rom 3:10 that none (since The Fall of Man) is righteous, and Noah (subsequent to The Fall) being labeled as righteous. In fact, there are other characters in OT in the like of Noah; for example, before Noah, there was Enoch who walked with God and was “translated” (did not die!). Also, righteousness was said to be counted to Abraham on various occasions. So, the question is, was there or was there not anyone, ever righteous (apart from pre-Fall Adam and Jesus)?

The gospel as I was led to understand and still understand so, till today, is that Rom 3:10, and as well as Rom 3:23’s “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” were verses telling on our belief that everyone is born a sinner. In fact, it is unmistakable that the Apostle Paul believed such, for these words of Paul clearly indicated so:

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.(Rom 5:12-14). 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor 15:21-22).

As far as OT support is concerned, this verse of King David stood up:

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me (Ps 51:5).

Some speculate that David was saying that his mother did something wrong and conceived him, but I personally think that such speculation is not warranted. Rather, it could very well be that David had had revelation of such (that everyone was born a sinner), from God. I am one of those who believe that David had had revelation from the LORD concerning the Lord, Jesus, who, relative to his (David’s) time, would be coming to deliver him (David) OUT of death, for he (David) too was a sinner (born a sinner). For an understanding of this, you can read my separate article – Psalm 16 – David’s confession of faith.

My belief was and is that, through that first sin (Original Sin) committed by Adam, Man lost the righteousness (Original Righteousness) God created him with. Man’s state of righteousness with God was lost at that Fall; everyone after that, is unrighteous, even at birth.

If we are talking about such a concept of righteousness, how come such men as Enoch and Noah can be said to be righteous?

One possibility is this: That in OT time, without Jesus being manifest (the Law and Prophets only testified {Rom 3:21}), the consequence of the Original Sin, the damned STATUS of Man, was relegated by God to one side, awaiting its cure, so to speak. It is not that God did not have a plan to address the unrighteous STATE of Man, for upon the happening of The Fall, God spoke concerning the son of woman (referring to Jesus) crushing the head of the Serpent (Satan) {Gen 3:15}; it was just that, it was to be in the future relative to that time (after The Fall). In His grace, love and mercy, God continued to have Man populate the land, and He continued to deal with Man, despite there was an “offence” (even a “legal” offence that had yet to be satisfied) against His holiness. My view is that the “standard” of righteousness expected of the OT people in earthly life, in that interim period, taking into account of The Fall (fallen nature of Man) was different from that before The Fall (and from that, after the 1st coming of Jesus), but it was nevertheless God’s standard, and it was possibly the highest possible for the fallen condition of Man. My view is anchored upon the understanding that God does not expect the impossible from Man, His creation whom He knows the limit. Is there support for such an understanding you may ask? Yes, 1 Cor 10:13; although it does not exactly say such, it nevertheless is picturing to us that God does not exact what is not possible from us, although of course, we are responsible for the exercise of our free-will:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Cor 10:13).

Also, through the mouth of His prophet, Ezekiel, in Eze 18, God spoke about who He would regard as righteous, in those days (Eze 18:5-9).

5 "Suppose there is a righteous man
who does what is just and right.
6 He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor's wife
or lie with a woman during her period.
7 He does not oppress anyone,
but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.
8 He does not lend at usury
or take excessive interest.
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
and judges fairly between man and man.
9 He follows my decrees
and faithfully keeps my laws.
That man is righteous;
he will surely live,
declares the Sovereign LORD. (Eze 18:5-9)

Notice that verse 9b said this: That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign LORD.

So, in the OT, when God said or announced that someone was righteous, that righteousness was the righteousness He had set and expected; and so, He could say or declare someone as having reached that, albeit it was not to the level of the Original Righteousness before The Fall, for it would have been impossible to achieve, given the fallen-ness of Man and world; and of course, it was also not to the level of righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ, for in OT, Jesus had not manifest. The Apostle Paul put it very nicely as:

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, … (Romans 1:17). But NOW a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify (Romans 3:21). {Phil 3:7-9 also by Paul, also indicated so}.

This is the revelation that my study and meditation thereof, have enabled me to receive on this subject, and if you can accept this viewpoint, it will adjust your lenses of righteousness accordingly, when you read the OT, relative to your more firmly established understanding of the subject, from the NT. The study of the relevant Hebrew and Greek words in this case, though helps, does not fully address the issue. There are really levels and dimensions of righteousness revealed in Scripture, in OT and in NT. For example, some of us, because of the constant hearing of “overly grace” messages, think that there was no such thing or acceptable notion of righteousness by law. There is no justification by law (Acts 13:39), but there was righteousness by law in OT. Deu 6:25 clearly said that.

And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us (Deu 6:25, KJV).

The passage from Ezekiel 18, Eze 18:5-9 {we have seen above}, is another support for that.

The wording of Paul {“righteousness, apart from law, has now been made known”} in Romans 3:21 (given above) was his acknowledgement of there was a dimension of righteousness by law. Even Jesus recognized that there is righteousness by law:

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 15:17-20).

In the passage above, Jesus recognized there is a level of righteousness by law, but He, in verse 20, emphatically stated that we need a righteousness that surpasses that which can come from the law, to enter the kingdom of heaven or God. This higher righteousness, not possible to the OT people, but is possible to us to have, through faith in Christ Jesus (If you can believe, when Jesus was in Sheol (=Hades) {upon his crucifixion}, dead OT people, generally, decided on whether or not, they would believe in Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus did go to Sheol {but NOT to HELL}). Over-shadowed by grace, although we tended not to talk about righteousness in terms of righteousness by law, there is still a dimension of righteousness that has to do with faith in God’s Word (which, is His laws; God’s words are laws, men!).

So, we come back to the issue of us reading that OT persons being labeled as righteous. The correct way to view the matter is that while OT people did not have the righteousness {righteous state} of Christ Jesus, if they were nevertheless found by God to be of the way of thinking, feeling, and acting in conformity to His will, then {which took into account the fallen nature of men} and therefore, not needing rectification in the heart or life, they could be said by God to be righteous. After all, righteousness is about being right with God, in agreement with Him and flowing with Him; the more righteous we are, implied the more in-sync, we are with God in rightness, in thoughts, in timing, and in actions. Do not get me wrong; I am not saying that God just ignored the consequence of the Original Sin, but that, for the OT people, He had relegated it to one side, awaiting its cure which was and is found only in Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection. I believe Jesus after His death, in the 3 days before His resurrection, went to Sheol, even to the people before The Flood, in Sheol, and preached to them (1 Peter 3:18-20a).

Faith ties in nicely, too, with righteousness, for when we know about God and know God more (principally through His Word), our faith grow stronger and stronger. And when we act on our faith, we believe what we are doing coincides with God’s heart and desire, and God is going to count to us righteousness (being right with Him) {Therefore, is there not, a dimension of righteousness through acting according to His Word (which is in fact His laws)?}. In OT, faith might not be in Jesus Christ, but if it was faith in God, it counted too, for then Jesus Christ was not manifest. That must be so, for Scripture said that Abraham’s faith in God was counted to him as righteousness. It might not be God rendering a man as righteous, in STATE, and therefore, OT “justification” might not be the same as that in NT, nevertheless, righteousness counted by God were ACTS of righteousness pointing to the righteousness of the person in question.

Today, under NT era, God still counts to a believer, ACTS of righteousness, for his righteous deeds, although the NT terminology of rendering ACTS as FRUIT is preferred by many, because of Jesus’ parable involving a good TREE producing good FRUIT, and good FRUIT ought to come from a good TREE {if bad FRUIT, TREE cannot be good}. To me, it is the same; for act or fruit, it is the outworking from, and the pointing to, a STATE; and for the NT believer, that is the Jesus imputed righteous STATE which he MUST INTERNALISE AS HIS OWN.


Anthony Chia, high.expressions – I believe there is the imputed righteousness of Jesus for the NT believer, and there is still the requirement for him to live his life out in righteousness, producing fruit of righteousness by his active righteousness. What do you think?

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Psalm 34 – I will teach you the fear of the LORD

Preamble: Firstly, this psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Secondly, in the KJV translation, the preamble, “Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left.” was not present. This preamble was inserted into the NKJV and also in this NIV translation. Such an insertion for a psalm was meant to provide the context or “type” of context for the psalm. However, the issue here was that it had introduced ambiguity due to the word, “Abimelech”.

Of David, there was a specific name, “Ahimelech” but not “Abimelech”. Ahimelech was the priest at Nob, the priest that David had approached when the latter was on the run from King Saul, after the 2nd time Jonathon had told on his father’s ill-intention, to David. This was recorded for us in 1 Sam 21:1-9. But in that passage there was no pretence of being insane. It is possibly not an inadvertent mistake made in the spelling of the word, where “b” should have been “h”, as thought by some.

Who then is Abimelech in David’s time? In that same chapter of 1 Sam 21, in verses 10-14, we read that, from on that day, the day David left the temple at Nob, he went to Gath, in the territory of the Philistines. In 1 Sam 21:13, we read that David pretended to be insane, and in verse 14, he managed to get away from the Philistine king at Gath, on the account of that faked insanity. But the Philistine king name was not Abimelech but Achish. Because there were 2 other Philistine kings being referred to as “Abimelech”, it is believed that perhaps, “Abimelech” was also used the same way as “Pharaoh” was used to refer to Egyptian kings, and so, it is possible that “Abimelech” was referring to Achish, and not Ahimelech, the priest at Nob.

In any case, it was all pointed to that season of David’s life, and that is the purpose of this insertion.]

The way to read this article is that the orange underlined texts are the verses of the Bible (NIV, unless otherwise stated). The black texts following the Bible verses (and enclosed by square brackets) are my commentaries. At the end of these Bible texts and commentaries, I may have inserted a section on "Points to take note/What we have learnt/can learn".



Psalm 34

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left. [Please see comments in the preamble.]

1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together. [Regardless, whether it was before Ahimelech, the priest at Nob or before Achish, king of Gath, the situation for David at this season of his life was that he was on the run from King Saul who had wanted to kill him, despite his great service as the chief commander of the king, and that he was steadfastly loyal to the king. This was after the 2nd time king Saul’s son, Jonathan, had helped David to find out the evil intention of Saul, and David had to flee, and with this flight, he would be a fugitive of the King.

Yet, here, we read that David declared that he would extol the LORD at all times; he would praise the LORD always. His soul would (still) boast in the LORD. Let all the afflicted hear and rejoice, said David. David called for his hearers to join him to glorify the LORD, to exalt His name together.]
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame. [Recounting the past faithfulness of the LORD towards him, he said he sought the LORD, and He answered him; God delivered him from all his (past) fears.

Then he declared that those who look to God are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. David had experienced such, and continued to believe such, and he declared such.]
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. [I believe verse 6 was referring to David himself. He called himself as “this poor man”. This is not an inferiority complex manifesting itself; rather it was an honest understanding of one’s state before the omnipotent God. In men’s terms, David was hardly a poor man; he was a mighty warrior, “Saul (also a warrior with great physique) slain his thousands, but David, his tens of thousands”; and David was highly respected by many (many great men followed him, despite him having lost his rank in the army of the king, and was on the run {a fugitive of the King}); and he was loved by many; and the house of his father, Jesse, was of some means. David said he called, and the LORD heard him; and He saved him out of all his (past) troubles.

David declared that the angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. David called for hearers to come to experience the Omnipotent God – come, and taste, and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. David always sought refuge in the LORD, and in no others, or in no other thing. This had always been David’s attitude, and we can read of such in other psalms of his. For example, in Ps 62:1-2, we read of the same:

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

David then summed up the state of one who lives in the fear of the LORD – those who fear the LORD lack nothing (v9). Verse 10 must be read together with v9, and it is not quite appropriate for people to quote v10, to imply those who seek the LORD, per se, will lack nothing. It is those who seek the LORD in the fear of Him that will lack nothing.

Lions were used here with connotation to mean that no matter how majestic and powerful men might be (even to the extent that they might be like the lions), they still could grow weak and hungry, in other words, have times of needs; but for those who fear the LORD, not that they will not have such needs, but when they seek the LORD, their lack will disappear; but not necessarily so, for those whose dependence is not on the LORD.]
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him. [Having elaborated on what was so good about being fearing the LORD, in the next part of this psalm, David said (v11), “I will teach you the fear of the LORD”.


Let’s recap what is so good about living in the fear of the LORD:

1. When you call to the LORD, He answers you (v6).

2. The angel of the LORD encamps around you, and delivers you (v7).

3. You will be able to taste and see the goodness of the LORD (i.e. be blessed of the LORD) as you refuge in the LORD (v8). You will see many good days (v12).

4. Resting on the above, that is how the LORD delivers you from your (own) fear (v4).

5. And when your fear is no more {delivered by the LORD as you have sought Him in the fear of Him}, your face will be radiant, and not covered with shame (v5) {when you are fearful, your face is not radiant; it is only when you are confident, and that confidence is in the LORD, that your face will be radiant}.

6. Your confidence in the LORD is not misplaced, and over time, you will be like David, able to glorify the LORD, and exalt his name (v3), able to boast in the LORD (v2), and extol Him at all times, and have the praises of Him always on your lips.

7. To sum it all, you will lack no good thing when you seek Him in the fear of Him (vv 9 & 10).


This is David’s teaching on the fear of the LORD:

1. Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies (v13). You will see many good days {don’t you love that kind of life?}(v12).

2. Turn from evil and do good (v14a).

3. Seek peace, and pursue it (v14b). The peace here should be interpreted in the context of the verse of turning from evil and doing good. So, here is an example of “peace” as not being an “airy, fairy” thing which one cannot grasp or do not know how to obtain it. When one does a bad thing or an evil thing, there is always the uneasiness, a “disturbness” in him. Over time, the accumulation of such, will cause one to lose peace, and so, an easy way to look at peace is to look at the opposites - uneasiness, “disturbness”, fear, guilt, shame, etc. The opposite of righteousness is unrighteousness or evil or wickedness. And so, one has to stay on the righteous side, pursue righteousness, and that means that one has to turn from evil, avoid evil, and avoid doing bad; do good, instead.

4. God is holy and righteous. The foundation of his throne comprised righteousness and justice (Ps 89:14a). This means that God, by His very nature is opposed to non-holiness, unrighteousness, evil, wickedness, and injustice. Holiness, righteousness, and justice have affinity with God, and such will draw out God’s love and faithfulness. Holiness, righteous, and justice is first, and come next, is the love and faithfulness of God. Love and faithfulness go before Him (Ps 89:14b).

5. It is no wonder David declared that the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry (v15); the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, and even to cut them off {if one remains stubbornly wicked, I believe he faces the risk of being counted or reckoned with Satan, and may suffer the same destiny as Satan} (v16).

6. When the righteous cry out, the LORD not only hears; He delivers them from all their troubles (v17).

7. It is entirely possible that righteous ones can have their hearts broken, and their spirit crushed. Verse 18 should be read together with the verse preceding it and that after it. In fact, what v17 was also saying was that righteous people do have troubles! If they were without troubles just because they were righteous, then there was no need of God’s hearing and delivering of them from their troubles. By the same reasoning, righteous people do get hurt (be brokenhearted), and their spirits do get crushed by insensitive and cruel people. But David declared that the LORD is close to the righteous who are brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit {and Holy Spirit can quicken (and re-quicken) the spirit of men}.

8. There we have it – a righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all (v19). God protects him (v20). Here, the choice use of “his bones”, in my interpretation, was meant not only to say that God provides physical protection to the righteous ones, it also meant to say that the LORD enables the righteous to stand, for “his bones” or “his frame” was symbolic of that which holds us up.

9. Ultimately, this will be apparent:

(a) Evil (meaning here, the principalities of darkness) will slay (even if, indirectly) the wicked men {or those who remain stubbornly wicked}; the enemies of the righteous will be condemned (v21). In the end, those judged wicked (opposite of righteous ones), they will be condemned (to Hell). What this meant is that if one does not live in the fear of the LORD, he is prone to be ensnared to wickedness, and if he remains stubbornly so, evil will be the cause of his destruction.

(b) The LORD redeems His servants {His righteous} (v22). Contextually, therefore, what it meant was that only the righteous are the servants of God. In fact, Scripture had it that unless one is righteous, all his works are like filthy rags. It is important to understand that it is not suddenly, David mentioned another group of people; no, David was referring to the righteous as servants of God, and what that also implied was that righteous ones of God do not contribute nothing, do not do nothing, of no fruit acceptable to the LORD – righteous ones bear fruits, and so, are the servants of the LORD. And so, contextually, it is also not anyone who takes refuge in Him, will not be condemned, but it is anyone who is live in fear of LORD who takes refuge in Him, who will not be condemned.

10. To sum it all up, to live in the fear of the LORD, is to embrace 1 Pet 1:16 (or Lev 19:2) – For it is written, “Be holy because I am holy.” Our God is a holy God; that is Him. So, be holy, be righteous, be just.

Lastly, since it is an acrostic poem, I have attempted a re-cast of it; making it acrostic to the English alphabets, all 26 alphabets:


Psalm 34 {recast – acrostic to English alphabets, by Anthony Chia}

(A)t all times, I will extol the LORD.
(B)e on my lips, His praise will always be.
(C)ome whatever may, my soul will boast in the LORD, and so, let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
(D)o as I do, glorify the LORD, and exalt His name with me.
(E)ncumbered by fear, but when I sought the LORD, He answered me and delivered me from it.
(F)aces with radiance, and not shame, will be had, for those who look to Him.
(G)reat company of angels encamp around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.
(H)urry, taste and see that the LORD is good, for blessed, is the man who takes refuge in Him.
(I) declare, “Those who fear Him lack nothing. So, fear the LORD, you saints.”
(J)oyfully I say, “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
(K)ingdom people, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
(L)onging for many good days in your life, then keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.
(M)ake it a point to turn from evil;
(N)either should you ignore doing good.
(O)mit not the seeking of peace;
(P)ersist in it.
(Q)uick to go for righteousness, for the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.
(R)est assured that the face of the LORD is against those who do evil;
(S)urely, He will cut off the memory of them from the earth.
(T)he righteous ones cry out, and the LORD hears them;
(U)ntil He delivers them from all their troubles will He ceases to act.
(V)erily, the LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
(W)hen a righteous man is troubled, and he may have many troubles, the LORD delivers him from it, each time;
(X)-ray will show none is broken, for He protects all his bones.
(Y)es, evil will slay the wicked, and the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
(Z)ealously, on the other hand, the LORD redeems His servants with none condemned, of those who take refuge in Him.]


Anthony Chia – Do not just say, “Those who seek the LORD will lack no good thing”, but rather say, “Those who seek the LORD in the fear of Him will lack no good thing” or “The righteous will lack no good thing”, for Ps 37:25 says: “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”

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About wickedness, sin, and righteousness, and the consequences, in a nutshell – Psalm 1

The way to read this article is that the orange underlined texts are the verses of the Bible (NIV, unless otherwise stated). The black texts following the Bible verses (and enclosed by square brackets) are my commentaries. At the end of these Bible texts and commentaries, I have inserted a section on "Points to take note".
{For full listing of all articles in this Psalms exposition series, click here}


Psalm 1

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. [To me, being blessed is being divinely favored (being divinely favored, peace and fullness of joy are ours, too). If we want to be divinely favored, the psalmist said that we are not to think or act wickedly – stay away from wicked counsel; we are also not to sin – do not engage/indulge in the ways of the sinners; and we are not to let any unbelief and pride to get better of us – mockers act out their unbelief and pride in scoffing/scorning (expressing insolent doubt openly or emphatically/act with contempt/disdain).]
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night. [Instead, we are to delight in (to take pleasure, to enjoy) the law (Word, laws, precepts, commandments, and instructions) of the Lord, and on this, we are to meditate day and night (spend as much time as you can).]
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. [The psalmist said that if we rid ourselves of wickedness, sin, and unbelief and pride; and delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night, we will be like a tree planted by streams (not one stream but many streams) of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – a pretty fantastic tree, I would say. The psalmist added that the man who is like this tree, will prosper in whatever he does.]
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away. [The wicked, on the other hand, would not be like the tree described in verse 3; instead they will like chaff (the husks of grains) that the wind blows away (winnowing described). So badly is the picture of wicked people that the psalmist used not even a tree to describe it, only as husks that eventually will be discarded.]
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. [The psalmist was saying that because of the marked difference between a righteous man (tree) and the wicked (chaff) or sinful man, the wicked will not stand a chance in God’s judgment to come; and the sinners, cannot be together with the righteous in God’s coming gathering.]
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. [The psalmist declared that the Lord watches over the righteous. The wicked on the other hand, without the covering (of blessings and protection) of the Lord, will perish.]


Points to be learnt:

Although Psalm 1 is a short psalm, it contains the important keys to a right Christian life. It is so fundamental that many of us just took it for granted after a while, and went on to search for more fanciful keys instead of meditating on it to draw out the little nuggets in them.

1. Do not be stubbornly wicked
I believe there are 2 categories of people we must diligently ensure we do not get classified into, the proud people (scoffers, taken to the extreme) and the wicked people. The Word of God says that God opposes the proud. I surely do not want to stand in opposition to God. Next, if righteous people are at one end of a stick, wicked people are at the other end. Although it is right to say all sins are sin, biblical recordings appeared to have shown wickedness is of the form of sin that God would literally punish directly (not through “handing over”/”giving over”) when it gotten really bad. The events of The Flood and The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind. In both these events, wickedness was the reason, and direct punishments were meted out by God. I believe it got to do with the holiness of God, the very nature of God.

The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5 – pertaining to The Flood).

Now the men of Sodom {and Gomorrah} were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD (Genesis 13:13 – pertaining to The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah).

From the psalm above, we can see that wicked people are likened to chaff. Chaff are discarded by wind, be blown away or by fire, be burnt – not much of a mercy, isn’t it? The way I understand verses 4-6 is consistent with the notion that wickedness can get punished presently (in current living) {v4, 6}, or get punished when Judgment comes {5}. Implicitly, from these verses, we can also see, perhaps, generally, punishments for other manners of sin may be allowed to be deferred until Judgment, until the gathering of the righteous by the Lord. So, in this respect, the many so-called “bad things” that happened to people may very well be cases of God’s “giving over” or “handing over” of people to workings of the fallen world/sins, God did not cause them. The holiness nature of God does not permit God to be wicked in any way (if He brought destruction, it was because His holiness demanded it), and God is long-suffering, giving people opportunities and time to repent.

I believe stubbornly wicked people will face trouble getting God to hear them or act for them. One reason, I believe is that for wicked people, there are many prayers/petitions against them, reaching to God. God does not ignore the cries of his people. That was what happened for Sodom and Gomorrah; the cries were so much and great that God told Abraham that He, God, was going to see for Himself, before deciding to destroy the twin cities by direct pouring down of burning sulphur from heaven.

2 things I want to say in case it is not clear: One, please do not think that we cannot be classified as wicked just because we are Christians. There are wicked Christians in the world (Of course, we like to say they are part of the back-slidden Christians, nonetheless they are Christians). The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:13 called the sexually immoral Corinthians believer, a wicked man. Two, I am not saying that there cannot be mercy and grace still shown for such a person, a wicked man. The Lord is sovereign, said His Word, He will show mercy to whosoever He wants. An example is of course, the Apostle Paul. Don’t you think Paul or previously known as Saul, before his conversion, was wicked. He wrongly accused the believers, hunted them down; voted for their punishments, even death by stoning (Paul voted for the stoning of Stephen). The Lord Himself said that Paul was persecuting Him! Yet, the Lord granted mercy to him; gave him the chance to repent, used him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and let him be an apostle.

But, remember always, when it comes to interpretation of the Word, we must consider whether something was recorded for “norm” prescription or it was an isolated event. I prefer to live by the norm and not by the isolated. A broad analogy would be like the Word saying that there is big gate and a small door, the small one being the door to the kingdom of God, the big gate being the gate to Hell. We are to go for the small door but there are those, who instead of accepting the small door, want to try (even, try their luck, I would say) to find some crack somewhere in the wall of the kingdom of God to squeeze through. My warning to these people is that God has a prescribed doorway for us to enter, if you want to be like cockroaches to come through the cracks, do not blame God when He decides to let one cockroach through and not another. In other words, just because Paul got through does not mean that you too can be wicked and then able to get through at the end.

2. But be righteous
But you might say, why do I still want to be bothered with righteousness, I am not wicked and so, will not have God up against me, and that God is long-suffering, tending to defer the punishments for sinners until Judgment comes; and I do not mind taking my chances with the workings of the fallen world/sins? But I say, you better think twice if you do not want to be bothered with righteousness:

a) Look at verse 5 again; you may not get through the final judgment to get to the kingdom of God, are you prepared to accept that? If you are a Christian, and you cannot be bothered with the ending or end-result, I say you are still foolish.

b) Morbid, you may say, still I will say: you do not know the day and the hour you will die. Even though you have had your salvation or are born again, are you sure if you knowingly and stubbornly remain in sins, you will get pass the small door, when you die unrepentantly? Controversial, but worth pondering over!

c) Verse 3 said that for people who practice righteousness, whatever they do prospers. Verse 6 said God watches over them. They are like a strong and fruitful tree, evergreen and do not wither. These verses, 3 & 6 obviously are referring to present living on earth. Won’t you like that? Here is a God’s prescribed way to a blessed earthly life: avoid all wickedness, sins and unbelief and pride; go deep into God’s Word, delight in it, meditate on it day and night - a “clean and narrow way”, so to speak; and at the end of day, you get to enter the kingdom of God, as well. You want to ignore that?

3. And a key to righteousness is in delighting in his Word, and meditating on it day and night
The Word is the spiritual food for the Christians. If we do not feed on it, we cannot grow healthily in our Christian life. Physically, if we do not delight in food, and we do not take our regular meals, what will happen to us? Physically, we will not grow strongly and healthily. It is the same for spiritual growth and health, we have to delight in the spiritual food, the Word, principally, and take our regular meals. And when we grow healthily spiritually, we grow in righteousness.

Very briefly, this is how we feed spiritually (for a fuller discussion on Spiritual food and spiritual feeding, read my separate article – Spiritual food):

We hear the Word of God (or read them). Faith comes from the hearing (or reading). With faith, we act out the Word. With action based on faith, we begin to experience the Word in action, and this experience is what feeds us properly. With a feeding we grow a little, and we go back for more of the same – hearing the Word, and going into action based on faith. Experiencing the Word in action is experiencing God in action. From experience, we know food is good. A newly born, after a meal of milk becomes satisfied, and learns to understand food is good, and will develop a delight in food. It is the same with the spiritual man and spiritual food; we are to understand that spiritual food is good for us, and begin to delight in it. The more you delight in it, take pleasure in it, enjoy it, the more you will feed on it; day and night, you will meditate on it – you think about it, ponder about it, try to gain understanding of it, and you think about its applications, etc. In other words, day and night, you chew on it.

The Apostle James said it very clearly that the faith you get from hearing (or reading) the Word, if it is not applied in action, is dead (James 2:17 - … faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead).

And James also explained through the example of Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of his son, Isaac, that righteousness comes from putting faith into action.

You see that his {Abraham’s} faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith {unapplied faith} alone (James 2:22-24).

So when we feed correctly, we grow healthily spiritually; and what do we grow in? Righteousness. Yes, when we grow healthily spiritually, we grow in righteousness.

It should be clear that the righteousness I am referring to, is the active righteousness that we are supposed to grow in. The Bible talked about 2 concepts of righteousness – imputed righteousness that comes from Jesus, and active righteousness that the follower of Jesus has to grow in and to live out. Both kinds of righteousness are based on faith.

If we do not want to grow in and live out that active righteousness, I believe we cannot be like the tree of verse 3 – a tree planted by the streams of water, yielding fruit in its seasons, and has leaves that never wither, and be prosperous in whatever we do.

Also, the practice of active righteousness leads to holiness (Rom 6:19). And that is important, because without holiness we cannot see God (Heb 12:14).
What is your choice?



Anthony Chia – Lord, my choice is to be like the tree of verse 3. Help me to accomplish that by your grace.

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