Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. [Psalm 1: 4, 5]
Having described the righteous as a fruitful tree planted by streams of water, the psalmist now directs his attention to the wicked. The contrast could not be clearer.
To illustrate the plight of the wicked, the psalmist uses a picture from farming. After wheat had been harvested, the grain was separated from the straw by threshing – beating the wheat with a wooden flail on a hard floor. This also separated the edible grain from the inedible chaff. Finally, the grain and chaff were thrown into the air, and the wind carried off the chaff away.
While the righteous are fruitful and prosperous, drawing on God's provision, the psalmist describes the wicked as chaff – unwanted waste, rootless and useless.
And for those who set themselves up against God, who mock and who will not repent, those words – harsh as they are – describe what they ultimately become.
And judgement will be the time when the differences between the righteous and the wicked will become clear. The righteous will be condemned and will have no place among God's people.
Many people make no conscious decision to walk away from God and all he offers. Their condemnation will happen as the result of thousands of small decisions about ordinary things which they take over the course of their lives.
Lord, is there anything in my life that you see as chaff? Help me to repent.
David Long
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