"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers  The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:1-6)

This article is the third in a three-part series on Psalm 1. To better understand the Psalm, I recommend you read the first two articles before reading this one. You can read PART ONE and PART TWO. In Psalm 1, the word of God contrasts the righteous man, who is called “blessed” or “happy,” with unrighteous people, who are called “the wicked,” “sinners,” and “scoffers” (v. 1). In the first article, we focused on verse one. In the second article, we examined verses two and three.

At the end of the second article, we concluded that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who ultimately fulfills Psalm 1. As a result, anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and receives God’s gracious gift of salvation in Him is considered righteous through their union with Christ by faith. Therefore, all Christians are to learn from the righteous man in this Psalm and walk in the counsel of the Lord as he walked in order to know the blessing of God, which is theirs in Christ.

Once a Christian delights in, meditates upon and obeys the word of God, he/she will be like the firmly planted tree spoken about in the Psalm, and they will bear fruit and flourish just like the righteous man in Psalm 1. This is the Truly Blessed Life. The Life of the man or woman who walks with the Lord (obeys His word) by faith in Christ and reaps the benefits of godliness. For the remainder of this article, we will complete our study of Psalm 1 by briefly looking at verses 4-6.

In verse four, the psalmist says, “The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.” Here, the wicked and the righteous man are sharply contrasted. In verse one, we were told that the righteous man does not heed the counsel of the wicked but delights in and meditates upon the word of God (vv.1-2).

As a result, he is likened to a firmly planted, fruitful, flourishing, and prosperous tree (v. 3). But, in this verse, the wicked is likened to chaff. Notice that ‘the wicked’ is plural. This tells us that the psalmist is referring to all of the ungodly. In Biblical Hebrew, the word for ‘the wicked’ speaks of those who are unquestionably guilty of their crimes. These people do not embrace and delight in the word of God. Instead, they embrace and delight in their wickedness and sin. Therefore, the wicked are not blessed by the Lord.

Chaff were husks of wheat or other types of grain. It was lightweight and useless. Through a threshing process, the chaff was separated from the grain and usually taken away by the wind. The word of the LORD says in Isaiah 17:13, “The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, but He will rebuke them and they will flee far away, and be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind, or like whirling dust before a gale.”

In this metaphor, God’s word pictures the condemnation of the wicked in the final judgment for us.  They, like chaff, will be driven away.

If you are not in Christ, you are one of ‘the wicked.’ You willingly disobey God, although you claim to be strong, self-empowered, purpose-driven, and blessed. But God’s word declares that you are not blessed. If you are not walking in the counsel of the Lord, if you are not obeying His word, then you will be driven away by the winds of God’s judgment, just like chaff.

In verse five, the psalmist says, “Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” This is an ominous verse. It means that both now and in the future final judgment, ‘the wicked’ will not stand with the righteous. There is now, and there will be, then, a separation between the righteous and the wicked. And on that final day of judgment, the wicked will appear before God and receive His just condemnation for their wicked, sinful, and unrighteous acts of rebellion and disobedience.

The word of God reveals that on that day, the wicked will be gripped by terror and fear as they come before the One whose “eyes are like a flame of fire” (Rev 1:14b & Rev 19:12). And then they will be thrown into “the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15) ESV. The Lord Jesus Christ will judge every wicked sinner, for “He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.” (Matt 25:31-33).  

Jesus’ sheep, “the congregation of the righteous,” will inherit the kingdom prepared for them by their King from the foundation of the world (Matt 25:34b). They will go with Him into eternal life. But the goats, “the sinners,” will be cast into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt 25:41). They will go away into everlasting punishment (Matt 25:46).  

If you believe in Jesus, the Son of God, then you belong to the congregation of the righteous. You are one of Christ’s sheep. As you join the assembly of the righteous to worship the Lord on the Lord’s Day, the wicked may be among you. But even then, they are excluded from the fellowship of God and His people. God distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked. And there is coming a Day when that separation will be made final/eternal.

In verse six, the psalmist says, “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.” Let’s start by examining the second phrase. The way of the wicked is the way of pride, unbelief, and rebellion. The following words characterize it, “I can do what I want, and I can live my life without God.” As confident as the words of the wicked appear, they are arrogantly foolish because the way of the wicked does not end in triumph; instead, it ends in judgment and eternal death. For the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23a).

The word of the Lord tells us in Matthew’s gospel account that the Lord Jesus Himself will do away with the wicked. Referring to Jesus, John the Baptist said in Matt 3:12, ^“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” NASB.

Once more, we see the use of the word “chaff.” As we noted earlier in this article, the wheat or grain was separated from the chaff through threshing. The grain was kept, but the chaff was blown away because it was useless. However, in our text from Matthew, notice what Jesus does. Firstly, He uses the fork to clear His threshing floor. Secondly, He gathers His wheat into the barn. Thirdly, He burns up the chaff.

Matthew reveals that Jesus is actively involved in every step of the process. In this picture, the threshing floor and the wheat belong to Jesus, but the chaff does not. The wheat represents His disciples, the righteous. But the chaff represents unbelievers, the wicked. The wicked do not belong to Jesus. Now, look at what Jesus does to the chaff. He does not let it blow away with the wind, which was usually the case.

Instead, in Matthew 3, Jesus actively takes the chaff and burns it up with unquenchable or inextinguishable fire. This is the terrifying picture of the wicked being thrown into the fires of hell. Do you want this to be your reality? I certainly hope not.

In stark contrast, the first part of verse six says, “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous.” The way of the righteous is radically different from the way of the wicked. The following words characterize the way of the righteous, “God has told me the way I am to live; I must obey and live for Him.” The way of the righteous is the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the way, the truth, and the life… (John 14:6).

When the Bible says that the LORD knows the way of the righteous, it means more than just head knowledge. It means that the LORD knows intimately and lovingly approves of the way of the Righteous. This is true because the Lord Himself, who is perfect and righteous, ordained the way/pathway of righteousness. This is the path that all sinners must take for redemption and blessing. It is the path of repentance (turning away from sin & the wicked way) and faith (obedient trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation).  

Dear sinner, you must repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Belief in Jesus, the Son of God, as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures, is the only way you, a wicked sinner, can become a righteous saint. And salvation in Christ is the only way to have a truly blessed life. If you want to be saved, repent of your sins and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ today. He will make you a righteous man/woman and add you to the assembly/congregation of the righteous.

“Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!” (Psalm 40:4 ESV).

Amen