"And That's How it Is"
Notes
Transcript
Verses
Verses
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Chaff, Condemnation, No Place
Chaff, Condemnation, No Place
Four different words have been translated "chaff" in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. In all of these instances it is consistently used to describe the the wicked in the presence of God.
How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?
Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters,
when he rebukes them they flee far away,
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills,
like tumbleweed before a gale.
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
As you can see, the Psalmist is using a concept that is sound and can be found throughput scripture.
In the process of winnowing, as it has been carried on in the East for thousands of years, the grain is tossed into the air so that the wind may cause a separation of chaff and straw. The light husks from the wheat and fine particles of straw are dispersed by the wind in the form of a fine dust; the heavier straw which has been broken into short pieces by the threshing process falls near at hand on the edge of the threshing-floor, while the grain falls back upon the pile. This straw is ordinarily saved and fed as "roughage" to the animals. It could easily be gathered and burned, as indicated in the above-mentioned verses, while the chaff is blown away beyond recovery, a strong figure to depict complete annihilation (Job 21:18; Isaiah 29:5; 41:16; Hosea 13:3; Daniel 2:35).
The wicked are like chaff in two senses. Chaff is worthless and chaff is burned. Chaff is not something that cane be recovered. Unlike the grain, which is preserved fully intact for usage, or the roughage, which can be gathered up and used for some purpose, the chaff is forever lost. The wicked have totally turned their backs and God cannot tolerate their presence. They live in a condition of misery and insecurity.
One theologian described it this way:
“...without root below, without fruit above, devoid of all the vigour and freshness of life, lying loose upon the threshing-floor and a prey of the slightest breeze-thus utterly worthless and unstable.”
Intimate
Intimate
While they wicked have no standing with God, the righteous have a close, intimate relationship with God. For the righteous, God is invested in and an active part of our lives.
The structure of verse 6 paints a picture of a God that is active in our lives. He is not just monitoring us to make sure we stay faithful. God is not just opening doors for us or charting our path. God is walking the journey with us. God is actively involved with us in a close, intimate, meaningful way.
Sometimes I find myself feeling a lack of connection with God. Or I may find that I do not feel his presence in my life. In those times, I can consider these verses. Am I walking the path of the righteous, which invites God into my life. Verse 6 makes it clear that God’s relationship with the righteous is a close, personal relationship where God is active and woven into our being.
The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
We are invited into this close relationship with God. Jesus described it this way:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
A vine and it’s branches are so woven together that it is difficult to know which is the vine and which is the branch. They are insuperable for the living plant. When Jesus describes it, he makes it clear that this intimate relationship between God and the righteous leads to beautiful outcomes. Jesus that not only will we bear fruit when we are in relationship with God but we will bear “much fruit.” And this fruit is not just acceptable - it is outstanding. This fruit is life-giving.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and the one who is wise saves lives.
This relationship between God and the righteous is the difference between life and death. The relationship is like a cool drink in the middle of a desert. It is a life-saving drink that gives purpose, direction and meaning. When we walk the path of the righteous, through Christ, God actively joins us in the journey.
Sad
Sad
However, verse six also paints a picture of life without God. It describes the experience of the wicked and it is not good. The way of the wicked is one of loneliness and loss.
Just as God is intimately involved in the lives of the righteous he is not intimately involved in the lives of the wicked. The way of the wicked is to experience life without God’s presence. And not only to experience the absence of God’s presence, but to also experience futility and loss. The way of the wicked achieve’s nothing and is pointless. The way of the wicked leads to destruction They lives of the wicked leave no value behind. Their lives are chaff, blown away and burned up with no value.
In his work “Estranged,” the great American poet, Axle Rose, wrote:
When you're talkin to yourself
And nobody's home
You can fool yourself
You came in this world alone
He goes on to write about feeling lost and estranged in life. He is experiencing the life of separation from God. The life of the wicked.
There is a sad, lonely futility in the lives of the wicked. There is difficulty outside the Garden of Eden. There is grayness in life without the bright, vivid colors of God. Christ brings light and hope to our lives.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Antonie, come help me close this out.
This is kind of a black and white issue. We are either seeking and relying on God or we are not.
Choices
Tree planted with purpose and spiritual nourishment or
Purposeless and spiritual starvation
God-invested and focused or
God-absent and lost
Estranged or
Connected
Antonie summation/close out