In part two we take a look Psalm 1:4-6.

• Godly Living Insures True Blessing (1-3).
• Ungodly Living Insures Eternal Destruction (4-6).

God Declares the Impermanence of the Ungodly – (4)

Verse 4 begins with a terse statement: “Not so the ungodly!” The blessings that accrue to the godly person do not come anywhere near the ungodly.

Interestingly, to bring out the force of the negative, the Septuagint (LXX) renders this as a double negative: “Not so the ungodly, not so!”

You that are ungodly, there is no special providence for you. Where will you run in the day of trouble? To whom will you turn for help in the day of God’s wrath? Where is your shield in the hour of battle?

Rather, the ungodly are like worthless, wind-driven chaff. Chaff is connected with one of the most valuable products on the planet: wheat. It is the husk which houses the wheat. But it is neither living, fruitful, nor nutritious. It is fit only to be removed by the winnowing process and then scattered to four winds or be burned.

Note the contrast between v. 3 and v. 4: “a tree” (k’ēts in Hebrew); “chaff” (kamōts in Hebrew). Note the play on words in Hebrew which is difficult to express in English. The imagery of the well-watered tree and the wind-blown chaff is stark and emotionally gripping. Rootless, fruitless, lifeless — chaff describes the spiritual existence of the ungodly.

God’s Discriminating Judgment Separates the Wicked from the Righteous – (5)

The ungodly will be condemned at the time of judgment. They will not stand in the “assembly of the righteous.”

In v. 1, the godly person had to go it alone (blessed is “the man”). But now the individual of v. 1, has companionship in the fellowship of the righteous! Sinners are now excluded!

Spurgeon said it well: “Sinners cannot live in heaven- out of their element. Sooner could a fish live in a tree than the wicked in heaven.”

God’s Discriminating Judgment Brings About the Final Destiny of the Righteous and Wicked – (6)

“The Lord knows the way of the righteous.” The blessedness is not so much knowing God as being known by Him! The Hebrew concept of “know” is somewhat different from Western thought. To us, “know” connotes “intellectual knowledge.” In Hebrew, there is a rich semantic range of meanings in which the senses predominate. “Know” suggests the concepts of intimate ownership, relationship, and fellowship.

“But the way of the wicked shall perish.” In v. 3, the righteous prosper. In v. 6, the wicked perish.

The active, transitive verb “knows” versus the stative, intransitive verb “perish.” Another stark contrast!

Interestingly, the author leaves unexpressed the understood clauses: “The Lord knows the way of the righteous [therefore it shall last]. The Lord does not know the way of the wicked [therefore it shall perish].” Only half of the antithesis is stated in each clause. This heightens the contrast.

The parallelism and contrast in Psalm 1 amazing:

• The discriminating way of the godly (1-2)
• Discriminating way of God (6)

• Disassociation from wicked (1)
• Association with God (2)

• God’s association with the godly (6a)
• God’s disassociation (removal) of the wicked (6b)

Here is the great divide. It is not rich or poor, but the godly and ungodly. To be on God’s side is blessedness. To be opposed to God is ruin. The wicked write their epitaph on cardboard. God carves the name of the righteous in granite.

Verse 6a — God’s gift to the righteous is the gift of Himself! “In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). The Lord “knows” the righteous.

Verse 6b is a drastic picture of futility: “the way of the wicked will perish.” Like the movie The Matrix, where Agent Smith says to Neo: “You hear that, Mr. Anderson? . . . That is the sound of inevitability. . . . It is the sound of your death . . . . Goodbye Mr. Anderson.”

So maybe the question is not “Do you know the Lord?” but “Does the Lord know you?”