Scoff Not, Yet You Might Still Be Scoffed

Scripture passage that caught my attention today: Psalm 1:1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;

Observation: I’ve read this Psalm many a time but never really focused on the word “scoffers” before. Today it caught my eye. “Scoffers” are not well-thought of in Scripture.

Application: Do you ever ‘scoff?’ In some ways I suppose we all do…at least on occasion. We might think—or maybe even say—things like: “you do something like that and call yourself a Christian!” That’s scoffing.

Ironically, such things are often thought or said by fellow Christians! I’ve done it myself.

Complicating the matter is the fact that if people scoff at us, we have a tendency to scoff back. “Well mr/miss smarty-pants, I don’t see you exactly rising to the occasion now, do I?” That’s scoffing too.

Scoffers aren’t really mentioned very often in the Bible--only about 19 times in the NRSV translation, for example. Most of those occurrences are in the books of Proverbs and Psalms. It should come as no surprise that these books are categorized by scholars as “wisdom” books in the Bible. And so clearly the wise would say that there is no wisdom in scoffing!

But how does one treat a scoffer? What should we do when someone seems to scoff at us? Well, this is where it gets interesting. In Proverbs 9:8 it says, “A scoffer who is rebuked will only hate you; the wise, when rebuked, will love you.”

And so, even though scoffers might seem like a pain at the time, the wise person will take it in stride, learning what he or she can from the experience, loving rather than scoffing in return, and quietly letting the rest go. If one is truly dealing with a scoffer, efforts to correct are simply wasted time, energy, and breath.

Unfortunately, this is harder than it sounds. In the first place it’s hard to distinguish authentic critique from scoffing. And in the second place it’s hard to love the scoffer when the scoffing itself may hurt.

Thankfully the Bible, in the very first verse of the very first Psalm, gives us significant incentive to try: those who do not sit in the seat of scoffers will be, well “Happy.” ☺

Prayer: Lord, help us to focus on the non-scoffing paths that lead to happiness and joy (even in the midst of various forms of stress and/or suffering). It’s quite simply, a better way to live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Nehemiah 11-12, Psalm 1, and Acts 3)