Righteous Trees and Wicked Chaff (Preaching Edit)
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Intro
Intro
Psalm 1 is a wisdom Psalm
gateway not just of Psalms but to the wisdom literature.
In HB follows Malachi close of the prophetic books.
Psalm 1 & 2 - themes for the rest of the book.
two kinds of people, two kinds of paths of life.
what kind of people will we be?
blessed and righteous trees?
Or will we be wicked and perishing chaff?
firmly rooted in God’s Word?
blown around by every wind of doctrine of this world?
As I read through this Psalm I was reminded of when we move into our home.
mowing our backyard for the first few times
Psalm 1 = two standards for our lives:
one to be avoided
other guide us into a deep rooted relationship
blessed and righteous trees, we must be rooted in the word of the LORD.
ALT = live a useless life as a wicked and perishing chaff, blown away by the wind.
three pairs of verses,
each pair gives us a contrasting look at righteous trees and wicked chaff.
Read Psalm 1
Teaching
Teaching
Psalm 1 starts contrasting standards for our life.
1. As righteous trees we must reject worldly wisdom and be rooted in God’s Word.
1. As righteous trees we must reject worldly wisdom and be rooted in God’s Word.
describes the blessed man in negative terms.
They tell us first what he isn’t like:
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
Who are these wicked, sinners, and scoffers?
three classes of “fools” in the book of Proverbs.
“people who oppose God in their attitudes and their behavior.”
Hamilton Jr., James M. Psalms: Volume I: Psalms 1-72. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, Andreas J. Köstenberger, James M. Hamilton Jr., Kenneth A. Mathews, and Terry L. Wilder. Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021, 93.
Psalm 10:2-4 gives us the idea when we think of “the wicked”
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
preying on the poor, prideful, renouncing God, bitter atheists even.
may be true but some are kind, and may even be part of the congregation, they are just not godly.
wicked = guilty one before the LORD
not members of the covenant, unbelievers, therefore ungodly
Ross, Allen P. A Commentary on the Psalms. Vol. 1: 1-41. Kregel Exegetical Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2011, 185-86.
sinners are just that, those who miss the mark of God’s standard.
Psalm 25:8-9 reminds us that everyone can identify - humility is the cure.
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
scoffers as well, sinful, but they add pride
in fact the NT quotes Proverbs 3:34 substituting proud for scoffers in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5
Kaiser, Walter C. “1113 לִיץ.” In Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, edited by R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999.
34 Toward the scorners(proud) he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.
Proverbs 21:24 makes the pride of the scoffers explicit
24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.
danger for righteous trees is gradually give into the pressures of the wicked
we can see an example of this progression in the life of Lot the nephew of Abraham
In Genesis 13 Lot moved his tent next to Sodom, the wicked city,
by Genesis 14:12 Lot is living in Sodom,
the next time we hear of Lot in Genesis 19,
he’s sitting in the gate of Sodom acting as some sort of magistrate.
Ross. A Commentary on the Psalms, 187.
If you remember the story of Lot things go horribly wrong for him - family stained with the sexual sin of Sodom.
It’s easy in our culture to see how this influence can work.
We are bombarded with culture messages - telling us what is right and what is wrong.
don’t care about women unless for abortion,
don’t care if people hurt themselves if not accept and promote transgenderism,
pretty soon we are sitting on the world’s side, scoffing at “holier-than-thou” christians!
righteous trees don’t allows these kinds of people to influence them
doesn’t order his steps to the counsel of the unbelievers
doesn’t stand up for the ways of life that sinners advocate for,
he doesn’t dwell in the proud and arrogant ways of the scoffers,
instead the upright delights and meditates on the Lord’s instruction, look at verse 2
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Verse 2 stands in direct contradiction to verse 1.
The law of the Lord stands opposed to the counsel of the wicked.
Kidner, Derek. Psalms 1-72. Kidner Classic Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008, 64.
The word translated “law” is “Torah”
Torah includes much more than rules and regulations. It includes “the history of God’s acts to deliver his people and all of the instruction that he had given in his word.”
Hamilton Jr. Psalms, 93.
It’s easy to think OT law = legalistic rules.
John Collins helps us see the Torah as the Israelites would:
The “Torah is a book of God’s gracious initiative from beginning to end; it tells the story of the God who made the world, who never gave up on his creation even after human sin defiled it, and who called the family of Abraham to be his vehicle by which he brings his light to the whole of humankind.”
Collins, C. John. “Psalms.” In ESV Expository Commentary: Psalms—Song of Solomon, edited by Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, Vol. V. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022, 54.
How do we delight and meditate on God’s Word?
Listen to these questions from Danny Akin and answer them honestly about yourself:
• What do I think about when I daydream?
• What do I sing about when I take a drive or go on a walk?
• What comes to my mind and fills my heart when tragedy strikes and disappointment comes?
• In a 24-hour day, 10,080-minute week, 2,592,000-second month, how much time do I give to memorizing and meditating on God’s Word?
What we love, we will spend time with.
Smith, Josh J. and Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2022), 7.
read the Scriptures-daily whole counsel in a year or two
not a legalistic task checked off so God will like us
fertilizer to grow deep roots of faith,
to resist the winds of change in the world.
Trees actually grow deeper and stronger roots in windy areas
We don’t need the atmosphere around us to change,
we need to feed our roots, grow in greater dependence of God’s word.
memorize the Scripture carry when we wake up, and go to sleep,
as we work our job, study at school, or pray through the concerns of this life.
We need the law and instruction of the Lord to reorient our mind before we face the world and after we have felt its affects all day as Paul reminds us in Romans 12:2
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
How do we renew our minds?
By delighting and meditating on the law of the Lord
spiritually prosperous life according to the first two verses of Psalm 1?
restate verse 1.
Such a person walks in the advice of the godly,
he stands in the pathway of the righteous,
and he sits in the company of the hopeful.
He studies the Word.
He acts with wisdom.
He is devoted to God’s will.
This life is the truly prosperous life.
Smith and Akin. Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50, 7.
two types of people, two kingdoms vying for our allegiance
Jesus warned that there are only two paths in Matthew 7:
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
there are two outcomes, two kinds of people: tree people and chaff people
2. As righteous trees we must thrive where we are planted and bear fruit in our lives.
2. As righteous trees we must thrive where we are planted and bear fruit in our lives.
look at verse 3, the blessed man:
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Where else - trees and streams of water, bearing fruit?
8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.
Garden of Eden where the LORD planted the trees and where four rivers watered them.
abundance of good fruit growing.
James Hamilton points out that the poetic effect is that “meditating on the Torah mediates the presence of God, so that those who walk with God in the word experience a renewal of what life would have been like in Eden.”
Hamilton Jr. Psalms, 95.
not only the Garden of Eden that uses this symbolism
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
The Bible begins and ends with these beautiful pictures of a blessed life lived with the LORD.
meditating on the Torah day and night leads to a life that bears good fruit and is able to withstand the drought of life because of the sustaining power of God’s word.
Hamilton Jr. Psalms, 95.
Paul reminded Galatians
Christian life produces fruit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
These fruits of the Spirit are the true definition of prospering!
These are the sweetest fruits in life,
bringing a bountiful blessing to the man rooted in God’s Word.
In contrast to the strong, rooted tree, bearing fruit and not withering,
the wicked are chaff—blown away by the wind.
Contrast illuminated by Hamilton Jr. Psalms, 96-97.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
major issues not chaff bears bad fruit.
no fruit at all!
It is the husk that is thrown away, while the fruit is kept.
Threshing Grain background
Barry, “Threshing Floor,” and “Threshing Sledge,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Pastor Matt and his first tamale
The chaff is useless and temporary nature of the life of the wicked.
Like the corn husk around the tamale,
the chaff isn’t the good stuff,
t is meant to be cast aside—it’s temporary!
difference in length of righteous tree, versus the wicked chaff.
Half the psalm talks about the blessed man,
this is the vibrant life of a righteous tree!
ponder the description of the tree:
look at verse 3:
streams of water - he’s got all the provision he needs
fruit in its season - not a sponge - he pours out good fruit
leafs do not wither - longevity here - be around season after season
prospers in all that he does - his life is fulfilling God’s call –
like the trees in the Garden of Eden - in the presence of the LORD
verse 4 - wicked aren’t like that, their chaff, they blow away in the wind.
grass clippings on the sidewalk
They’re useless and temporary.
It’s tempting to say the wicked are surely useful for something.
They are charitable or kind,
Scripture is that only good works done by faith bring glory to God,
everything else is like straw.
Ross. A Commentary on the Psalms, 191.
Malachi is the last book before this Psalm
Malachi 4 = picture of the works of the wicked:
1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
The wicked are stubble and chaff, burned up!
They are not trees, they lack root and branch.
Jesus - about those who do not abide
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
Not only are the works of the wicked fruitless and useless.
The wicked are separated from the fruitful, like chaff from the fruit of the grain.
They will not survive the judgement and they will not be raised with the righteous.
BUT…
3. As righteous trees we must live in light of the resurrection when we will know the LORD as we are known.
3. As righteous trees we must live in light of the resurrection when we will know the LORD as we are known.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
Author uses two parallel lines = “God’s perspective, the wicked have no future.”
VanGemeren, Willem A. Psalms. Revised. Vol. 5. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008, 82.
judgment through - adversity and trial - the ultimate judgment on the Day of the LORD,
the wicked cannot survive.
VanGemeren. Psalms, 83.
“stand” here is different than verse 1.
verse 1 - the blessed man does not stand in the way of sinners.
word is actually “rise”
the wicked will not rise at the judgment
14 They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.
but they will be raised from the dead for final judgment -
therefore they will not survive the judgment,
but will be driven away like chaff.
Hamilton Jr. Psalms, 97-98.
Though two different words
contrast between those sitting with the scoffers
are now unable to stand in the judgment.
Idea from Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. Vol. 3: The Writings KETUVIM. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2019, 28.
The counsel of the wicked has led them astray,
their way is destruction.
destruction - not only because they do not know God,
but God doesn’t know them.
The apostle Paul says that when we see the LORD face to face, we will fully know as we are known.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
John encourages the church in 1 John 3, in a similar way.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Righteous trees are children of God, the LORD knows us
Look at the last verse of Psalm 1:
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Notice - the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
The author is contrasting the two outcomes.
Are you known by the LORD?
not just knowing facts about you,
an intimate knowledge,
knowledge that saves and protects.
This idea of knowing and salvation is how Jesus puts it too in Matthew 7:21-23
Ross. A Commentary on the Psalms, 193.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
If the LORD does not know you then all that is left is to perish.
John 3:16-18 makes this exact point
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The way of the wicked ties us back to the first verse.
We now see the fate of the one who trusts in the wrong counsel.
Idea from Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: Psalm 1, 28.
The first of the Psalm is “blessed”
The last words is “perish.”
Geoffrey W. Grogan, Psalms, The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 44.
Which path will you choose?
root yourself in the counsel of God,
Or will you be blown by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14)?
Choose today - will you grow in the ways of the wicked
7 that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever;
or will you root yourself in the LORD
12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
15 to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Jesus is the true blessed man of Psalm 1
We bless Him when we see His righteous life,
by His power delight and meditate on the Word of God,
so that we too can enjoy fellowship with God forever.
Idea from Hamilton Jr. Psalms, 98.
If you are already a righteous tree, there are still choices for you today.
What are you watching and listening to?
TV shows and videos - in Christ or of this world?
slowly eroding the soil -or poisoning the steams you drink from?
reject the world’s wisdom
dig into the word of God daily.
thrive in the good soil God has planted us in
do the good works He’s made us to do.
with an eye on eternity,
where we will live in the presence of the God
who knows and loves us.
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