Psa 1:5 | KingComments | STEP | The contrast between the God-fearing – or the faithful remnant – described in the previous verses and the wicked now being described is strongly expressed in . The first line of reads in Hebrew “not so the wicked”, indicating that the emphasis is on the words “not so”. It is a short and powerful exclamation saying that the existence of the wicked is totally different. The wicked have nothing of all that the God-fearing has and does. It is completely absent from the wicked. The God-fearing is a vigorous, healthy, fruit-bearing, evergreen tree. Against this the wicked contrast dramatically, for they “are like chaff which the wind drives away”. The picture now portrayed is no longer that of a tree, but of a threshing floor, where the chaff is separated from the wheat. On a threshing floor, usually on a hill, both the chaff and the wheat are thrown up into the air, so that the chaff is blown away by the wind and separated from the wheat. The chaff looks externally like wheat, but is worthless, useless, and weightless. The chaff, the wicked, may remain for some time among the wheat, the righteous, but the time is coming when the wind of God’s judgment will blow it away. Christ will deal with the wicked at His coming. Then “He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” ( ; cf. ; ; ). Prophetically, the chaff represents the unbelievers in Israel ( ). They will be taken away by judgment, while the righteous will enter the kingdom alive ( ). begins with “therefore”, a word that indicates a conclusion from the preceding. Because the wicked are so worthless and weightless, “therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment”. The end of the wicked is not always clear during their lives while they are practicing wickedness. They may reap appreciation from people. But from God’s perspective, the wicked have no future. That will become apparent when they stand before the great white throne to be judged by Christ ( ). Then they will have nothing left to say. All their boasting will be gone. They will be stunned to hear their judgment and without any resistance undergo their judgment: eternal fire. When the wicked are blown away by judgment, “the assembly of the righteous” remains. No sinner is part of it. It is a holy fellowship. All dirt has been washed off from it and the blood-guilt has been washed away from it ( ). On earth there is already a radical separation between the righteous and the sinners. That separation will be everlasting. On earth, the sinners have cast out the righteous from their fellowship. In the realm of peace and for all eternity, sinners will not be in the fellowship of the righteous ( ; ).

‏ Psalms 1:5

The Wicked

The contrast between the God-fearing – or the faithful remnant – described in the previous verses and the wicked now being described is strongly expressed in Psa 1:4. The first line of Psa 1:4 reads in Hebrew “not so the wicked”, indicating that the emphasis is on the words “not so”. It is a short and powerful exclamation saying that the existence of the wicked is totally different. The wicked have nothing of all that the God-fearing has and does. It is completely absent from the wicked.

The God-fearing is a vigorous, healthy, fruit-bearing, evergreen tree. Against this the wicked contrast dramatically, for they “are like chaff which the wind drives away”. The picture now portrayed is no longer that of a tree, but of a threshing floor, where the chaff is separated from the wheat. On a threshing floor, usually on a hill, both the chaff and the wheat are thrown up into the air, so that the chaff is blown away by the wind and separated from the wheat.

The chaff looks externally like wheat, but is worthless, useless, and weightless. The chaff, the wicked, may remain for some time among the wheat, the righteous, but the time is coming when the wind of God’s judgment will blow it away. Christ will deal with the wicked at His coming. Then “He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Mt 3:12; cf. Job 21:18; Psa 35:5; Hos 13:3). Prophetically, the chaff represents the unbelievers in Israel (Zec 13:8-9). They will be taken away by judgment, while the righteous will enter the kingdom alive (Mt 24:40-41).

Psa 1:5 begins with “therefore”, a word that indicates a conclusion from the preceding. Because the wicked are so worthless and weightless, “therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment”. The end of the wicked is not always clear during their lives while they are practicing wickedness. They may reap appreciation from people. But from God’s perspective, the wicked have no future. That will become apparent when they stand before the great white throne to be judged by Christ (Rev 20:11-15). Then they will have nothing left to say. All their boasting will be gone. They will be stunned to hear their judgment and without any resistance undergo their judgment: eternal fire.

When the wicked are blown away by judgment, “the assembly of the righteous” remains. No sinner is part of it. It is a holy fellowship. All dirt has been washed off from it and the blood-guilt has been washed away from it (Isa 4:3-4). On earth there is already a radical separation between the righteous and the sinners. That separation will be everlasting. On earth, the sinners have cast out the righteous from their fellowship. In the realm of peace and for all eternity, sinners will not be in the fellowship of the righteous (Mt 13:49-50; Rev 21:27).