A Righteous Person Does Not Seek Counsel From the Wicked.

 Transcribed by AI

Radio Voice of Life, Kurdish music... How good it is when our hearts are alive, when our spirits are alive, when transformation has taken root in our hearts. Nothing will make me join the hands of the wicked, nor sit with the mockers.

How wonderful it is to listen to this first Psalm and then we will talk. Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. Amen.

Thank you, beloved listeners. We have seen something very disheartening and discouraging. A clip of a house being robbed in Kabul. The thief had become so ruthless that when he entered a house to steal, whether he could take anything or not, we see that he resorts to killing. Why such cruelty? We saw from the listener how painful it was that the family was mourning in grief and sorrow for this house. One or two family members had lost their lives. Soldiers had also been killed. When I heard this, I was a shopkeeper. When my father passed away, we faced many hardships in our lives. I work in my shop.

One day, two or thirty people came to my shop. They bought something. And this story is about that thief. Yes, it’s about that thief. I brought them tea, I served them. They said, after they left, only a month later they contacted me again and wanted me. So, before they committed the robbery, was it just an invitation? They asked me to come to their house. I went to their house and saw that several other people had come. They said, we do these things, we rob or we go into houses. You should join us; your life is not good. From this, we get good benefits. Yes, and I understood that I had become part of this.

Dear listeners, beloved fathers and mothers, we urge you to pay attention to your youth. Yes, be aware of who they associate with. Dear listeners, fathers and mothers, please be aware of your youth. Fathers, when we see a thief entering a house to steal and killing the owner, there is a fear in their hearts of being recognised, so they feel compelled to harm someone. This leads to three people being killed and one being injured. The family member of the deceased says revenge must be taken. The person who was caught must be held accountable for killing my husband and child.

My dear listeners, if we hit back and strike again, the cycle of blood will not end. The same issue will remain and get worse. Revenge leads to violence, so one must be careful. One must be cautious about expressing such things, as it might lead to more families losing their loved ones. Why did you give such a judgment? And everything that the court or the judiciary decides, one must accept it. For this reason, dear listeners, today we read in the Psalm that says do not walk in the counsel of the wicked. Do not stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of mockers. The Psalmist first introduces us to the blessed man, and then advises us not to follow the counsel of such people or to join them.

This means we have free will. We can reject it. We can say, "Brother, I will not do this in my life." However, the main reason, if we look at all the tragedies and unexpected incidents happening in Afghanistan, is due to unemployment, poverty, and many other things that lead the youth to associate with wrongdoers. Dear listeners, God does not judge people based on our salvation, our gender, our nationality, or our ethnicity. Instead, He judges us based on our faith. How much faith do these young people have in God?

Let’s see what the book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verses 5 to 8, says. The Lord says, "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Amen.

Truly, beloved listeners, how beautiful the word of God is as we read each part, telling us not to trust in man. Yes, we must trust in God. We rely on God, asking Him for strength. Yes, He has power over us. However, unfortunately, we often see families in Afghanistan, our relatives, neighbours, and even our own families, relying on worldly things they see, trusting in prophets and saints, and even turning away from God, going towards the dead. Unfortunately, we saw one of the former leaders of the government going to the grave of a deceased person to ask for prayers.

This reliance on man completely rejects God and becomes like a bush in a wasteland where nothing grows. But blessed is the one who says they are beside streams of water, whose roots reach the water, and whose leaves do not wither. Even during drought, you may find your life in a dry desert. As we mentioned in the previous programme, Brother Hayatullah concluded his last message by saying that we remain in a dry desert, forgive my mother. Perhaps your lives have become dry, but you are not part of that dryness. Yes, and this is God's advice to us.

So, dear listeners, obedience to God makes us part of the blessed ones. But if we think deeply and reflect on the word of God, we can always spend our time reading the word of God in our own language. About how the word of God can transform our lives, how God can change us, not how friends lead us to theft or to gatherings where we gossip and do wrong.

Let’s transform our thoughts a little. About how the word of God can change us and how it encourages us, even directing us towards good. And what happened to those thieves caught in the robbery? Sisters and mothers, pray for your children. Be mindful of the company they keep and present them before God. Do you know how precious it is to be in the presence of God? If you want to understand why you should read the Bible, why you should read the Gospel, why you should believe in Jesus Christ, who is the way to life and salvation, this word of God will enlighten you.

It is not just about listening and then leaving. Let us today refer to the Bible, which includes the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospel, which completes everything. Let us reflect on this. Let us understand that God is a God of love. You should take root in the word of God. You should cling to the word of God that will change your lives. It is the word of God that helps you know the true God better and seek Him more. Perhaps one day you will regret not having read this years ago.

So, my dear ones, as it says, meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. Whoever finds delight in God is like a tree planted by streams of water. Even in difficulties, they will not wither. Do you want to not wither? Do you want to not lose hope? Do you want your life to be joyful from within? To know the true God with your heart and mind? And the wicked, as it says in verse 4, are not like this; they are like chaff that the wind blows away.

This is the word of God that is sweet like honey. It changes our behaviour. It transforms our lives and brings glory to God. Perhaps you have seen how a farmer, when harvesting his land, separates the wheat from the chaff. When the chaff is separated, the grains remain, and the farmer raises them against the wind. Then what happens? All the chaff is blown away because it is light, while the pure grains remain in the ground, representing the life of the faithful who serves God.

Therefore, the wicked will be judged according to their deeds on the Day of Judgment, and sinners will not have a place among the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. So, dear listeners, we do not want to be in this difficult and critical situation, where poverty is screaming, where there is hunger, where there is a lack of money, and where people have become desperate and mentally disturbed, doing anything to survive. What we have is enough, and we should be satisfied. The heavenly banquet of God is open to all who are hungry, and today this heavenly banquet invites you, saying, "My daughter, my child, all of you come to this table and eat of our spiritual food." Yet, you may not accept this invitation from God, getting caught up in things that are temporary and fleeting, without realising the consequences that follow. But the banquet of God is set for the hungry, and it says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Amen.

Dear listeners, this was our programme for this week. I commend you into the powerful hands of God. Goodbye, and blessed is the one who looks to the Lord and sees that He is good.