Blessed Authority
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” – Psalm 1:1-6
There is nothing more authoritative and powerful than the prophetic word of God. “Thus saith the Lord.” – these are the words that everyone is clamoring for. The temptation for anyone with any amount of authority is to lord it over those who are under them. Those outside of the fold of God love to exercise their authority. But this should not be so among God’s people, for even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45). It is not surprising when we are told by someone in a position of authority, “you must do this.” Parents do this with their children all the time, and now the consciences of those children are bound to obey their parents. What a great weight of responsibility that we have as parents! Likewise for anyone else in any authority. And the greater that authority, the greater the weight of responsibility and accountability to God that we ought to feel. And with that responsibility should come humility before the authority of God to ensure that – whatever it is that we are commanding those under our authority to do – that we are clear when we are speaking our own words and not God’s.
The dilemma we face is that sinful man is placed into positions of authority. Won’t parents tell their children to do things that are not explicitly in scripture? And if so, how can we be sure that those commands are warranted? How could a child know that? What if we sin in our authority? We likely will. After all, we are sinners, and sinners sin. The answer to this dilemma is not the removal of authority. The answer is not for authorities to be passive and those under authority to start miniature revolutions wherever they are. Children, put down your Nerf guns. Rest assured, there is judgment for the wicked, and they will not stand in it. They are like chaff that the wind drives away. They are not rooted like a tree by the streams of water. Their leaf withers, and with it their authority is temporary.
So, how do the righteous root themselves so that they weather the storms of the ways of the wicked? How do we rightly exercise the authority that God has given us? How do we rightly submit to authority, even potentially to ungodly, wicked authority that is deceived by spiritual forces of darkness in opposition to God (not that I’m saying that any particular government official of ours is demonically deceived, just to be clear)?
1. Meditate on the law of God
Do we delight in the law of God, as the psalmist does? God’s laws are not burdensome for the believer, for in Jesus Christ we are freed from the burden of the law, with its consequence of death and separation from God. And now we are free to walk in God’s ways as he has created us to. God’s laws are clear and he never leaves us guessing. Unlike the laws of man, which are often unclear and burdensome, the believer has no uncertainty of where he stands with God. His greatest law of all is the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the freedom which is our justification. If you’re trying to sort through all the laws being handed down these days, meditate first on God’s laws. God does not expect anything more or anything less than what he has revealed to us. Let’s thank him for the goodness of his law and his kindness in revealing it to us. It revives our souls. It is always certain in the midst of the chaotic world we live in.
2. Walk in the congregation of the righteous
There’s no place else we’d rather be than to be in fellowship with one another. But this means so much more than simply our physical presence. It means we take counsel from one another and that we walk in step with each other. Too often though, we take our cues from the world and simply do what everyone else in the world around us is doing. Be on guard, the world has motivations, fears and commitments that are opposed to God and the gospel of Jesus. The reason we gather together is worship God as we feed together on his word. If we are not prioritizing the unity of the body of Christ, then where else are we finding counsel? If we’re not careful, the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners and the seat of scoffers have attractively free memberships.
3. Bear fruit in season
Now is a time of sowing, and that sowing may be painful. Our primary sowing is with our intake of God’s word and our obedience to it, as hearers and doers. Our constant temptation is to short cut the process of growth that God has established. We want results now. We want change now. But our meditation day and night on the law of God and our walking in the congregation of the righteous will produce its fruit in season. And that means waiting for the season of fruit that God has determined. And we must constantly evaluate, are we desiring the outcomes that God desires? Are we submissive to his authority to determine all things in our lives? It could be that our peaceful, quiet, respectful, humble submission to authority is one of the best testimonies to the gospel, for Christ before us acted that way too.
4. Trust in the Lord
Any fear that competes with our fear of the Lord is a weapon in the claws of demonic forces. A fear of government overreach is just as spiritually threatening as a fear of getting sick. Those who fear the Lord are the freest individuals ever. No powers in this world hold ultimate sway over us, for we are members of an alien kingdom. We can freely submit to authority in this life, not because we have to, but because we willingly love our neighbors. We trust in the Lord by first being obedient to him in all our ways, and then as much as we are able we are obedient to all other authorities in our life. The counsel of the wicked would seek to make us fear something other than God, and currently it plays on the fear of the loss of life or the fear of losing our liberties. But they are deceived if they think they are lording their authority over us, for we submit to the Lord of lords. The abuse of authority is what sent Jesus to the cross, and it might send us to our deaths too. But even if we walk through the valley of the shadow, we fear no evil, because God’s authoritative word is forever fixed in the heavens and he has determined it all, and we trust in him.
So what must we do? Let’s keep a clear distinction in our minds between, “thus saith the Lord,” and all other words we receive, and let’s remember where we can find that ultimate word, in the congregation of the righteous, and let’s remember that God guarantees its fruitfulness in our lives.