Psa 1:4-6 | 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 1:4-6

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).

Two Ways, Two Destinations

The word “for” with which this verse begins indicates that the reason, or summary, follows from the judgment of the previous verses. “The way”, both that “of the righteous” and that “of the wicked”, refers to the entire walk of life of both groups. The LORD knows what both ways are like and what they end in.

Of the way of the righteous we read that “the LORD knows” it. This “knowing” has a deeper meaning than that He is familiar with it, that He knows which way they are going. It is not a purely intellectual knowing, but a knowing grounded in experience through communion of life, a knowing from love. Knowing the way of the righteous means that He has fellowship with the righteous on the way they go. He shares in their experiences. They go their way with Him and therefore He goes with them.

“But”– this indicates the contrast with the previous line – ”the way of the wicked will perish.” Their way is a way that leads to destruction and death. The LORD does not know their way. They live their lives in a way that He abhors. Their whole life will perish, like the chaff. When He judges them, He will say to them: “I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS” (Mt 7:23). They will not enter the realm of peace, but will be eternally unhappy and miserable.

This last verse clearly identifies the difference between the reason for the happiness of the righteous and the reason for the calamity of the wicked. God knows, approves, loves and rejoices over the life of the righteous, but He has no part in the life of the wicked. That life He does not approve, He does not love it, and He does not rejoice over it. Their eternal destiny depends on His appreciation of the lives of both groups.

The psalm begins with God’s blessing on the single person, on the righteous (singular). The psalm ends with the warning that one who nevertheless chooses the way of the wicked (plural), the way without Him, will end in destruction.

Also in the sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus begins with a multitude of blessings: Happy, happy, happy … (Mt 5:1-11). The sermon on the Mount ends with the two ways: the broad way, on which many walk, and the narrow way, on which few, some, walk (Mt 7:13-14). Reference is also made to two builders: one who builds on the sand and one who builds on the rock. The latter is the one who obeys the words of the Lord Jesus, “these words of Mine” (Mt 7:26).

We do not yet find this last in Psalm 1. Here we hear about the way with God, but we hear nothing about believing in a person, the Christ, the Immanuel or the God with us. All subsequent psalms are about Him.