Chaff Driven by the Wind (Psalm 1:4-6)

1:4 The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.                           

1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

1:6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:4-6)

As we learned yesterday, Psalm 1 is an amazing passage that contrasts the righteous and the wicked. The text refers not to what people say, but what they do. The author of the psalm proclaims the same message as James: But someone may well say, You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works (James 2:18). 

While Psalm 1:1-3 describes the character of a child of God, Psalm 1:4-6 demonstrates the instability of the wicked, as well as their ultimate destruction. The word “wicked” in Psalm 1“refers . . . specifically to evil, not in its moral or judicial sense, but in its active form, i.e. mischief (Nu. 16:26). As such, it denotes perversity of mind (Pr. 15:26; Rom. 1:29) by which the natural man surrenders himself to evil impulses (Ps. 10:1–11).”^[1]

Once more, works do not save a person, but they are the natural result of an authentic salvation experience. A person who has an ungodly lifestyle cannot be considered a Christian no matter how much he knows about the Bible, or how holy his words sound. An African American preacher once explained that “it does not matter how high you jump, but how straight you walk when you touch the ground.”

1. The Instability of the Wicked (1:4)

None of the blessings that belong to the believer are available to the wicked. While the believer is like a tree with sturdy roots that is planted by streams of nourishing water, the wicked are like chaff. Chaff is the part of the plant that is unusable. When the farmer winnows his crop, the almost weightless chaff blows away. Chaff has no stability or root system. Neither do the wicked! Since they reject God’s path, they are like the foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matt. 7:24-27). They have no foundation on which to build their lives, and when the slightest problem comes along, they collapse into a heap because true strength can be found in no other place but God: On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God (Psalm 62:7). 

2. The Judgment of the Wicked (1:5)

Many try to rationalize their sin, but excuses do not work with God. The outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins once declared that after his death, if he were to learn that God exists, he would demand to know why God had not made Himself more easy to discover. The truth of the matter is that God’s creation testifies that He exists: The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory (Psalm 97:6). No matter how ironclad the wicked think that their excuses are, no wicked person will be able to justify their behavior when they stand before the Lord.

3. The Fate of the Wicked (1:6)

God continually knows the way of the righteous and protects His beloved children. On the other hand, the way of the wicked will perish. This statement refers to eternal punishment: But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8).

Conclusion: Destruction awaits the wicked, but thankfully they do not have to continue along their catastrophic paths. Those who reject their evil ways and trust in Jesus as their Master will become righteous children of God: The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Hallelujah!

---

^[1] D. R. W. Wood and I. Howard Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL.: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 1238.