Before I had knee surgery I had a plan. I would walk for a period of time, then stand to give my knee a rest and finally, the discomfort would require that I sit for awhile. And it usually worked. After a break, I would repeat the cycle—walk, stand, sit. As long as it eased the pain, it worked for me. At least that’s what I thought. Actually, it wasn’t doing anything to relieve the problem; it just made me feel better. The author of Psalm 1 seems to be familiar with my pattern. In the first couple of verses he talks about “walking, standing, and sitting.” The context, however, has nothing to do with a painful joint. He’s talking about a bad heart, not a bum knee.
As we read the story of Samson in Judges 13-16 we see that he was one who failed to follow God’s instructions, choosing to walk, stand, and sit in the company of those set against God. Chosen by God as a judge for Israel, Samson’s life became a roller coaster event with incredible highs and unbelievable lows. When he fully obeyed God, he was used in miraculous ways to defend God’s people, but in the end his life took a downward spiral that ended in his death. We read in Judges 16:30 that God used this tragedy for good, but I wonder what might have been had Sampson’s life been lived in total surrender to God.
If you don’t know the entire story of Samson, you are at least somewhat familiar with the sad ending and the woman who brought him down. Actually, I don’t think the blame rests totally on Delilah. Samson had already been walking where he shouldn’t have gone and he had spent time in places where God was not honored. As a result, at the end of his life he was reduced to providing slave labor for God’s enemies.
Psalm 1:1 tells us that the man “who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers” is blessed. This promise, however, goes beyond just walking, standing and sitting. When we are wondering what to do, when we have decisions or plans to make, whose counsel do we seek? It should be godly counsel. And those who belong to God should perform daily attitude checks to make sure they’re not standing in the path of sinners and by definition, behaving like the unsaved world around them. Finally, believers in God are not to sit and get comfortable among those who scoff and ridicule their beliefs.
What’s the alternative? Psalm 1:2 explains that our delight is in the law of the Lord. Our beliefs, our behavior and where we feel comfortable belonging must be based on the Word of God, the basis for our faith and our daily life. James reminds us that pure and undefiled religion before God includes among other things, “to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). In other words, we are in the world, but not of the world. As children of light, we have been sent into the world to reach those who are walking, standing and sitting in all the wrong places.
Samson is a study in contrasts. He was greatly blessed by God but failed to use the gifts he was given to honor God. Are we following harmful patterns in our lives, patterns that simply make us feel better? Are we sure that we are not walking, standing or sitting where we have no business being?