The Company You Keep in Your Thoughts
Written for Bible Journey Plan. Our editorial standards.
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.
Psalm 1:1-2 KJV
The people around you are not the only voices keeping you company. A video, a repeated joke, or the things you imagine when nobody is speaking can influence the direction of your thoughts. Psalm 1 teaches us to notice where we are receiving advice and what we are learning to enjoy.
The answer is more than avoiding a few bad influences. The psalm describes delight in God's Word and steady attention to it. Scripture gives truth worth returning to when other voices make a wrong choice sound ordinary. Read carefully enough to understand the passage, then carry something true from it into the day.
This does not require treating people outside your church as enemies. Christians should love their neighbors and speak kindly. We should also refuse advice that leads us away from the Lord. A friend may be enjoyable to spend time with and still be wrong about a particular choice. Let God's Word have the authority to correct both the advice you receive and the desires already growing inside you.
Keep the passage in context
Psalm 1 contrasts the influence of the ungodly with delight in the law of the LORD. The blessed life receives its direction from God's truth.
Read further: Psalm 1 in the King James Bible.