The Righteous & The Wicked

Psalm 1 is, obviously, the first Psalm in the Psalter (that’s what some call the collection of 150 Psalms—The Psalter—isn’t that a cool name?)

Psalm 1 is first, but why? There are Psalms that focus on God’s love and mercy and grace and forgiveness; why aren’t any of those Psalms the first Psalm?

If it was based on sheer usage and fondness, Psalm 23 would be the first of the Psalms.

But this Psalm, 6 short verses, has been given primacy of place. This Psalm is the introduction to the whole book. It’s the prologue—the section that introduces the key themes and theses of the rest of the book.

Psalm 1 speaks to us of the first things, the primary things; the stuff we need to get clear from the start; what Psalm 1 discusses is what matters, and matters deeply at the outset.

Psalm 1 wants to get this point across to you and me:

Nothing is so crucial as your belonging to the assembly of the righteous.

Nothing matters as much as this, nothing; contrary to what we tend to think is important—even those things that carry some importance with them—nothing is so crucial as your belonging to the assembly of the righteous.

Jesus summed up the concern of Psalm 1 in His great sermon when He said,

Matthew 7:13–14 NIV

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Similarly, Psalm 1 makes a contrast between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked, between the two roads as Jesus would put it.

Nothing is so crucial as your belonging to the assembly of the righteous.

Let’s ask some questions of this Psalm as we seek to understand its message.

Who are the righteous? What is the direction of their life? Where do they take their cues for living?

The very first word of the Psalm is blessed.

This Psalm is speaking about the blessed person, the happy person, the person who is blessed by the Lord.

This person—the blessed person—is not neutral when it comes to evil, but is the one who shuns rejects evil at every turn.

Notice the threefold statement about the blessed person in verse 1:

Psalm 1:1 NIV

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,

Blessed are those

1. Who do not walk in step with the wicked

2. Or stand in the way that sinners take

3. Or sit in the company of mockers

This verse will help us get at the direction of the righteous person’s life.

First, the righteous do not walk in-step with the wicked.

This concerns their way of thinking, of forming plans; their mindset and their outlook.

The righteous person doesn’t think like the wicked—it’s not all about them, it’s not selfish; it’s not ‘do whatever feels good’, or do whatever you please.

The righteous person has a different worldview than the wicked—all the way around, their mindset and outlook are different

Second, the righteous do not stand in the way that sinners take.

This—the way—speaks about their behavior, their actions, their practices.

The wicked have a particular brand of behavior and actions and practices, things they don’t think twice about doing.

They don’t think about what they’re doing or participating in or how they’re behaving because God is out of the picture; their body is their body. What they do on their time is their business. “Who are you to tell me what to do?” they might ask.

The righteous person doesn’t behave or act in the way of the sinner; they don’t participate in those things.

Third, the righteous do not sit in the company (seat) of mockers/scoffers.

The seat or company is referring to a kind of belonging, where one settles most comfortably.

The wicked are comfortable among one another; the wicked can plop down on the couch next to one another and feel at ease.

On the other hand, the righteous have no fellowship with the wicked—they don’t belong, there’s no kinship there, they aren’t comfortable alongside them.

The righteous are separate, they are set-apart from the wicked.

The theme of church camp this summer—Camp CYOKAMO—was “Be Different”.

Our kids learned from God’s Word what it means for the people of God to be different, to behave differently than the world around them might. They learned that they are to be holy as God is holy, to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, to be separate, set-apart, different. They learned that they are to be, in a word, weird.

Being weird is not all bad; we are meant to be separated and set apart from the wicked.

If you, by the power of the Holy Spirit, are living a God-centered life, your friends and family might think that you are weird because you do this and won’t do that—and that’s natural; we can’t abandon holiness for the sake of fitting-in.

But neither can we be so weird that we have no contact with those we are trying to reach. In the quest to be separate, some religious people have gone way too far—trading in cars for horse and buggy, shunning most technological advancements, living a life of cloistered silence in a monastery, etc.

How we are supposed to be properly weird, I don’t fully know. But I do know that the important distinction between us ought to express itself in the way we think, in our behavior, and in our belonging.

We can’t always go with the flow, exchanging our souls for the sake of tolerance.

There’s a big difference between the righteous person of Psalm 1 and what some refer to as the “good ol’ boys.” Everyone likes the good ol’ boy; not everyone will care for the righteous.

We must be, in many ways, counter-cultural. The culture will ebb and flow, will go this way and that, will swing from right to left and back again. The righteous are to stand their ground.

But we can’t quarantine ourselves completely and still fulfill our mission to minister to those who don’t know Jesus.

There is, according to Psalm 1, a visible difference between the righteous and the wicked, certainly in what the righteous don’t do.

But the difference extends into what the righteous will do.

Psalm 1:2 NIV

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

Verse 2 marks the shift with the word but. The Psalmist has instructed us by telling us clearly that those who are blessed do not walk in-step with, do not stand in the way of, and do not sit among the wicked.

The blessed, the righteous instead delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on His law day and night.

The righteous reject the philosophy of this dying world, simply because they have learned to delight in the law of the Lord.

What is the law of the Lord?

It’s instruction, it’s teaching, it’s guidance, it’s direction.

The law of the Lord is more than just the law of Moses, more than just the 10 Commandments. It’s the entire revelation of God to man—for us, it’s the Bible in these 66 books.

Godly people know that God’s Word gives us a completely different view of life than is found in the world. The Bible tells us the truth about life—and we have this Book to meditate upon, day and night.

The Bible reveals the power by which we can live lives pleasing to God; this, something we can’t do on our own.

The Bible gives us knowledge of Jesus Christ—our Redeemer, our Savior, our Righteousness. Apart from this God-given revelation about Jesus, we would be numbered among the wicked.

Derek Kidner makes a good point: “Whatever shapes a person’s thinking shapes their life.”

You are going to take your signals from somewhere, it’s just a matter of what it is that will inform you.

To delight in the law of the Lord might seem a little silly to some. To others, they might think we’re weird—but this is the good kind of weird; this is the weird we’re supposed to be.

Is our delight, our joy placed in temporary things that are passing away—family, country, sports, money, fame, popularity, good looks?

Or, is our delight and joy in the eternal, in that which will last forever—do we delight in the Triune God, in His Holy Word, in the fellowship of His people?

Meditation seems a little strange, a little bit of Eastern mysticism thrown in to the Bible.

But this isn’t the cross-your-legs-and-hold-out-your-arms-and-hum kind of mediation. No, this is directing our focus to the Word of God, so that it fills our hearts and minds.

When the wicked are tempted to sin, what’s to stop them from giving in?

When the righteous are tempted to sin, their meditation on the law of the Lord will bring to mind the fact that God is our refuge and strength in times of trouble; the righteous can pray the words that are, by meditation, written on their heart: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence.

Memorizing verses (even chapters) of the Bible is a great way to meditate on God’s law. If you think you can’t memorize, I can introduce you to about 200 2nd and 3rd graders who memorized at least one verse in less than a day. Some memorized over 50.

What Bible verse do you have memorized?

The righteous delight in the law of the Lord and meditate upon His law day and night because they know that this is the Word of God that sets people free, that delivers people from the tyranny of walking and standing and sitting in the company of the wicked; the righteous know that the law of the Lord in which they delight, upon which they meditate is the very best way to live this life.

“People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

The Psalm has shown us what the righteous are against and what they are for. Now, we are given a description of the righteous.

Do you know most grown up books didn’t have pictures. “You’re telling me I have to read this 300-page book and it doesn’t have any illustrations?”

I’m learning, though, that the best books do have pictures—maybe not literal drawings on the page—but the best books are written in such a way that you can see what the author is describing.

This is the very best book, and right here in Psalm 1, we are given a great picture—a picture of the righteous (do you see the picture in verse 3):

Psalm 1:3 NIV

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

Like a tree planted by streams of water…can’t you see it?

The righteous person, the blessed person is likened to a tree…a tree planted next to, not just one stream of water, but next to streams of water.

The righteous person, the blessed person is the one who has learned to draw upon the strength and beauty of God, drawing life from Him who is an endless source of goodness and nourishment—streams of water.

The righteous, like this tree, are stable and vital and productive and durable and prosperous—they are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

“The one who says ‘no’ to the world and ‘yes’ to Yahweh’s Word is both rooted and lively.” – Dale Ralph Davis.

A tree has long been a metaphor for those who are strong, those who are steadfast. So it is for the righteous.

I’ve known many a believer in their 80s and 90s who have and will testify to the fact after decades of belonging to Him, that God has never stopped giving them stability, that He has always kept them on their feet, that He sustains them with life in Jesus: like a tree.

Like a tree planted by streams of water…

Not so with the wicked!

The wicked are given a different picture to describe them; none of what was said of the righteous can be said about the wicked.

Psalm 1:4 NIV

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

The Psalmist compares the wicked to chaff.

Country folk will quickly get the illustration of chaff. I grew up in wheat country—wheat as far as the eye can see, and in western Kansas the eye can see quite a ways.

Come wheat harvest, farmers are in their fields cutting wheat. Custom Cutters come through, making their way from Texas on north.

The combines enter the fields to do what combines do. (The name ‘combine’ was given because these machines combine three processes in one machine—reaping, threshing, winnowing). The combine cuts the crop, and then separates the wheat from the chaff and the straw.

Quite a bit of the worthless chaff will get caught in the constant western Kansas wind and blow, well, everywhere. It gets all over. It sticks to your sweaty skin; gets down the back of your shirt and itches like mad.

Ray Steadman says this: “In every culture around the world and at every point in history, chaff has been regarded as the most worthless stuff imaginable.”

Back in David’s day, a thousand years before Jesus, the only thing farmers could do with chaff was scoop up the cut grain and toss it into the air—the chaff blows away with just a little help from the wind and the grain falls back down to the ground.

Today, two-thousand-years after Jesus, that is still the only thing you can do with chaff: let the wind blow it away.

The wicked, God says, are like chaff. They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Nothing more is said. I guess there’s not much to be said. What else can be said about chaff than that the wind blows it away?

The wicked are like chaff. Those who have no room for God are like worthless stubble that blows in the wind.

They may be very impressive by the world’s standards. They may be kings and leaders, authors and actors, CEOs and philanthropists—but if they are not on intimate terms with the infinite Creator, they are like chaff.

In one of the least popular baccalaureate sermons ever preached, instead of telling the graduating class to follow their dreams, I made it clear that worldly power and wealth and status and luxuries will all burn up in the end; what good is all that temporary stuff?

It’s mere chaff. And a life consumed with chaff is itself chaff.

“They may have their names etched on bronze plaques; they may even have their faces carved on Mount Rushmore. But if they do not know God (by faith in Jesus Christ), then their lives have been wasted. They are, in God’s evaluation (the only evaluation that matters): chaff.” [Ray Steadman]

The wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away—this vivid picture is followed these dreadful words: Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

What will come of the wicked?

Psalm 1:5 NIV

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

It’s poetic, yet very clear: the wicked will not stand in the judgment—speaking of the final judgment.

This is serious stuff. This is no game.

What will come of the wicked?

They have no justification, not a leg to stand on. They will not stand on that day. They are like chaff. If all a person has going for them is what they’ve done, they will not be able to stand before the Judge on that Day.

They have no communion; they’ve been cut off from the assembly/the congregation of the righteous. They stand outside.

They have no hope—(verse 6) The way of the wicked will be destroyed. The wicked will perish.

There are many who will be as chaff on that day, precisely and only because they do not belong to the assembly of the righteous, because they do not belong to Jesus.

Dale Ralph Davis reminds us of this solemn truth: “You can be numbered outwardly among the people of God and yet be one of the wicked, one of those who will not stand in the judgment.”

Jesus made this truth clear when He said,

Matthew 7:21–23 NIV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

One can be sound, sincere, successful…and lost. Like chaff in the wind.

>What will come of the righteous?

The righteous have been described as those who don’t walk, stand, or sit with the wicked; as those who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate upon it day and night; likened to trees planted by streams of water.

But what of their destiny?

The Psalmist tells us in verse 6 in as beautiful a sentence as there is:

Psalm 1:6 NIV

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.

It’s simple and it’s beautiful. The Lord who makes them righteous will also watch over them.

Some of your Bibles read: For the Lord knows the way of the righteous.

Whether it’s that He watches over or that He knows—the tense of the word points to the ongoing nature of the Lord’s work.

The Lord continually watches over; He knows continually, without end or break.

The Lord is intimately concerned about every step the righteous take.

Their path, their way, their road—with all its twists and turns—is being watched over by the Lord. He knows their path. He knows the road they’re on.

He cares for them. He sustains them. He keeps them until the Judgment when He will say, “They belong to me” and the righteous will be with their God and enjoy Him forever.

The righteous will persevere, preserved by the Lord.

The wicked will perish.

“The two ways, and there is no third, part forever.” [Derek Kidner]

>Do we see why this Psalm is the first of the Psalms?

It deals with the first things. We must, before we do anything else, make sure that we belong to the congregation of the righteous; we either belong to the assembly of the righteous or we are numbered among the wicked. There is no third option.

The last word of the Psalm, speaking about the wicked, is destroyed (or perish). This is the fate of the wicked.

It’s the same word used in the most well-known Bible verse:

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Perish. Destruction. This is the fate of those who have no part with Jesus, who do not belong to Him.

It’s not that some people are better than others, that some people are righteous on their own.

This is a lie we tell ourselves: “I’m righteous, they’re wicked. I’m good, they’re bad.”

Apart from Jesus, we are all of us bad, wicked, lost. Scumbags.

Romans 3:10 NIV

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

Let’s get that straight.

Who are the righteous? The righteous are those who belong to God in Christ Jesus. Only Jesus is righteous. Only Jesus can make us righteous.

God demands perfection—and at this we all fail.

God demands perfection and, praise God, He provides that perfection through His Son.

You see, “God provides what He demands.” – H.B. Charles, Jr.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In Christ, we are righteous. Without Him, we are wicked.

Nothing is so crucial as your belonging to the assembly of the righteous.

Make sure, today, you are among the congregation of the righteous.

How do you get in?

Come to Jesus who says,

John 10:9 NIV

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Come to Jesus, friends. Come to Jesus today.