The Way of the Wicked vs. the Way of the Righteous

[Psalm 2]

This happened once when I went to a Christian bookstore. There, I met an elderly pastor from the presbytery who said to me, “If you had continued ministry in Korea, you would have been popular and well-known…” (I studied and ministered in Korea from 2001 to 2003).
At that time, somewhat playfully, I showed the elderly pastor a book I was holding called “Grace in the Wilderness.”
The reason was that I believed it was God’s will for me to do wilderness ministry in Los Angeles, USA, rather than urban ministry in Korea.
In the book “Grace in the Wilderness,” there is a phrase that says:
"To learn is to change. If you haven’t changed, you have not learned. ... Until you change, knowledge is not yours."
I truly cannot disagree with this statement.
I, who am gradually tasting God’s great grace in a place like a wilderness, am especially experiencing the power of God’s Word right now.
Therefore, even now, after reading, meditating, preparing sermons, and proclaiming the Word, I once again review and organize my writing like this.
However, when I ask myself, “Is this all there is?” the only answer I can give is “No.”
The reason is that true learning requires “transformation” (Hendricks).
So, I ask myself this question: “What kind of change am I really experiencing by the power of the Word?”
Among many changes, I am experiencing that the Lord is firmly establishing me on the rock through His Word.
This is the work of establishment that the Lord promised us (Matthew 16:18).
Especially whenever I face difficulties in ministry, I experience that the Lord helps me hold even more tightly to the promise given to His body, the Victory Presbyterian Church.
No, I experience that the Lord is holding me firmly through that promise.
Another change through God’s Word is that the Lord is training me to let His Word speak to my own soul.
This training began after I read a long time ago the book “Spiritual Depression” by Pastor Lloyd-Jones.
I still remember vividly. While reading, when Pastor Lloyd-Jones pointed out that the psalmist declared to his own soul,
"Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God..." (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5),
it was a great challenge to me.
Since then, I have been learning how to let God’s Word speak to my soul.
So, often when ministry becomes difficult, I let the Lord’s promise, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18), speak to my own soul, and I experience the Holy Spirit enabling me to stand firm again and carry out ministry with strength.

Last week, after meditating on Psalm 1, I challenged several members of the church to each proclaim to their own soul, “How very blessed you are, (insert your name)!” At that time, I proclaimed to my own soul, “How very blessed you are, James!” The reason is that the Lord has led me not to walk in the way of the wicked but to walk in the way of the righteous. In other words, the Lord has caused me not to follow the path of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but to delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on His law day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).

The Lord has allowed me to taste the fruit of faith (“bearing fruit in its season”), to live a vibrant spiritual life (“whose leaf does not wither”), and to enjoy the blessing that all my works prosper in the Lord (“whatever he does prospers”), so I could proclaim to my own soul, “How very blessed you are, James!”

Today, I want to meditate continuously on Psalm 2, focusing on the way of the wicked and the way of the righteous. I say “continuously” because the psalmist begins Psalm 1 with the words “How blessed is the man...” and also ends Psalm 2, in verse 12, with “Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” This shows the connection between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, so we should meditate on Psalm 2 as a continuation of Psalm 1. The content of this meditation centers on “the way of the wicked” (1:6) and “the way of the righteous” (1:6).

First, I want to consider the way of the wicked.
What kind of path is the way of the wicked?
We can think of three things:

First, the way of the wicked is the path of anger.

The world we live in is like a balloon about to burst.
It seems as if the anger of people in this world is ready to explode.
In this difficult and busy life, many people seem to be stressed and sensitive.
Perhaps because of this, people seem to be looking for something to vent their anger on.
Also, many people add fuel to the fire of their uncontrolled anger in their hearts because of hatred, jealousy, and envy.
Those of us living in these times need to think about the anger of the wicked who oppose us.
Although we may live in a country with religious freedom and may not feel this reality directly, in mission fields where there is no religious freedom, those who oppose Jesus Christ imprison and persecute those who proclaim the gospel of Jesus to their own people.

Look at the words in Psalm 2:1: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” The phrase "Why do the nations rage..." refers to the attitude of the people of the world who, filled with anger, try to destroy the Messiah, Jesus Christ, with a "gnashing of teeth and noisy outbursts" (Park Yoon-sun). We can see the fulfillment of this Old Testament prophecy, which predicted that those who oppose Jesus Christ would harbor hatred toward the Messiah and attack Him, in the Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament.

The people who slapped Jesus’ cheek, spat in His face, beat Him, and persecuted Him were full of anger. They gnashed their teeth and cried out, “Crucify Him!” trying to kill Him at all costs. What is surprising is that these angry people were the Jews, to whom Jesus came to bring salvation, and especially the religious leaders who were behind them, manipulating the situation.

The Pharisees, the high priests, and others who rejected the blessing and did not walk in the way of the righteous, but instead walked the way of the wicked (the path of the children of vipers), were among those who became angry at Jesus. Interestingly, these people are not as far removed from us as we might think. Therefore, we, too, have the possibility of walking the first path of the wicked: the path of anger.

When we consider the anger toward God, the noisy and hollow "prayers" and "praise" in the presence of the holy God, or the hypocritical attitudes trying to remove Jesus from our lives, we must look back at ourselves and ask: are we currently walking the path of the wicked?

Secondly, the path of the wicked is the path of managing vanity.

In the book The Grace of the Wilderness, there is a quote that reads: "Write your plans in pencil, and then give the eraser to God." As I read this, I reflected on my own ministry: "Am I truly entrusting my ministry plans to God? Or am I following a spiritual perfectionist mindset, unwilling to yield and allow God to work? Am I currently conducting a fruitless ministry?"

This is not only true for my ministry but also applies to the lives of all Christians. We must examine ourselves and ask if we are living our personal lives, our family lives, and our work or business lives entirely according to our own plans, without yielding to God. Are we allowing God to build our lives, families, businesses, and churches, or are we holding on to them ourselves?

Look at the first verse of Psalm 2: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” The Bible tells us that the people of the world are engaging in vain plans. This means that although the people of the world crucified Jesus, the Messiah, with the intent to eliminate Him, it was all in vain (Park Yoon-sun). The reason is that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. Though the people of the world killed Jesus and buried Him, their actions were in vain because Jesus rose from the grave on the third day (v. 7: “I have begotten you”). Thus, human plans that are hostile to Jesus are bound to fail. Plans that do not have the Lord’s presence are just in vain. This is why Moses, during the Exodus, said that if God did not go with them, he would not go up to the land of Canaan (Exodus 33:15). Plans without God’s presence are simply vain plans.

Finally, thirdly, the way of the wicked is the way of conspiracy and opposition.

Look again at verse 2 of Psalm 2: “The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against His anointed.” This verse speaks about how the kings of the earth and the rulers conspire together to oppose the Lord and His anointed, Jesus the Messiah. Furthermore, they wanted to break their bonds and cast off their chains (v. 3). In other words, the wicked who sought to kill Jesus Christ considered truth as a heavy yoke, and so they rejected the truth, trying to throw off the yoke (Park Yoon-sun). This verse reminded me of Ahithophel, the advisor to Absalom who sought to kill King David. If Absalom had followed Ahithophel’s advice, he could have killed his father, King David. But God sent Hushai, David’s advisor, to Absalom and used Hushai’s counsel to overcome Ahithophel’s plan (2 Samuel 17:14). In the end, King David lived, and Absalom died (18:14-15). When I think about this biblical story, I realize that in the end, no matter how the kings and rulers of the world may conspire against Jesus the Messiah, it is all foolishness in the sight of God, and God laughs at them (Psalm 2:4).

In today’s passage, the "Anointed One" (v. 2) clearly refers to Jesus, the Messiah, but I believe it could also refer to pastors in the present day. When people within the church conspire together to oppose their pastors, I imagine that God laughs from heaven and mocks them. How often do people inside the church oppose the anointed, the pastor, and conspire together to “push out the pastor”? Why don’t they think about the anger and wrath of God that will be poured out upon them (v. 5)? It is truly tragic. The era we live in is spiritually a dark age.

So, what is the way of the righteous? We can consider it in about three ways:

First, the way of the righteous is the way of repentance.

Look at Psalm 2:10: “Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.” The words “...be wise... be warned” are an exhortation to repentance (Park Yoon-sun). In other words, true wisdom and instruction involve quickly turning away from the path of anger against Jesus Christ, the path of vain planning, and the path of conspiring and opposing the Lord, and instead, repenting.

Second, the way of the righteous is the way of service.

Look at Psalm 2:11: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” How does the Bible tell us to serve? It says to serve “with fear.” That is, the Bible instructs us to serve God with reverence, trembling, and rejoicing in His holiness. Therefore, after we obey God's commands, we should be servants who can humbly say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10).

Finally, the way of the righteous is the way of worship.

Look at Psalm 2:12: “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” Here, the Bible says, “Kiss the Son.” What does this mean? It means to worship Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Park Yoon-sun). However, as I meditate on this verse, I am reminded of the scene where Judas Iscariot, who came to betray Jesus, kissed Him. The wicked Judas, who betrayed Jesus, whose life, as Jesus said, would have been better if he had never been born, kissed Jesus. Of course, this action is not that of one who walks the path of the righteous. In fact, Judas’s action is the behavior of one who walks the path of the wicked. What we must remember here is that Jesus is pointing out the evil of false worshipers who worship with deceitful lips, like Judas Iscariot. Could it be that we are offering false worship to God every Sunday, as the Lord has pointed out? Do we praise, honor, and worship the Lord with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him? Are our lips deceitful like those of Judas Iscariot? The one who walks the path of the righteous worships the Lord with truthful lips (v. 12). We must be those who walk the path of the righteous.

Dear brothers and sisters, how should we, the children of God who have been justified by the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross, live as we walk on the path of righteousness? If we are currently walking on the way of the wicked, we must turn around, repent, and serve the Lord with a joyful heart in reverence. We must truly worship the Lord. And even if the wicked are angry, manage vanity, and conspire to oppose us, we must trust in God, make Him our refuge, and faithfully and quietly walk the path of righteousness that the Lord Himself walked. Such a person is truly blessed.

I desire to be a servant of the Lord, walking in the footsteps of Jesus, who showed us the way of the righteous.

Shared by Pastor James Kim
(While pursuing repentance, service, and worship)