Psalm 1:4 The Ruach of God

Psalm 1:1–6 NLT

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1:4 NLT

But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.

wind - rûwach - mind, spirit, wind

Psalm 1:4

My words -

The same word for "wind" that breathes life into the righteous is the word that drives out the wicked. That word in the Hebrew is "ruach". Psalm 1:4

The wicked are not in covenant with God.

They are everything that the righteous are not and some things perhaps that the righteous may be, but they are not in covenant with the Living God of all Creation. For all the wicked may achieve in this lifetime, that they are not in covenant and are not known by God, they are but empty husks, just chaff that will be driven away by the ruach, the wind of God.

Not so the Righteous, they have the Divine character of the One True God living within them and they are known by God.

What they do now will last from now into eternity. Fruit that remains. They will be brought into the counsel of God, tried and be will remain. The wicked will be turned away - Matthew 7:23

Passages

25 Would you terrify a leaf blown by the wind?

Would you chase dry straw?

Job 21:18

18 Are they driven before the wind like straw?

Are they carried away by the storm like chaff?

Not at all!

Psalm 35:5

5 Blow them away like chaff in the wind—

a wind sent by the angel of the Lord.

Psalm 83:13

13 O my God, scatter them like tumbleweed,

like chaff before the wind!

Isaiah 17:13

13 But though they thunder like breakers on a beach,

God will silence them, and they will run away.

They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind,

like a tumbleweed whirling before a storm.

Isaiah 29:5

5 “But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed

like the finest of dust.

Your many attackers will be driven away

like chaff before the wind.

Suddenly, in an instant,

Isaiah 40:24

24 They hardly get started, barely taking root,

when he blows on them and they wither.

The wind carries them off like chaff.

Jeremiah 13:24

24 “I will scatter you like chaff

that is blown away by the desert winds.

Daniel 2:35

35 The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.

Hosea 13:3

3 Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist,

like dew in the morning sun,

like chaff blown by the wind,

like smoke from a chimney.

Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Job 13:25–Ho 13:3). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

The BKC has the best commentary here thus far.

The Faithlife Study Bible below.

Also JFB on prevailing winds.

BKC

- The wicked (1:4)

1:4. In strong contrast with a blessed person (v. 1) is an ungodly person. The Hebrew word rāšā‘ is often translated wicked (cf. vv. 1, 5–6) but that may connote gross evil. People described by rāšā‘ are not in covenant relationship with God; they live according to their passions. They are not godly. They may do kind and charitable deeds, but God’s evaluation of them is that they are without eternal merit.

The psalmist compared them to chaff, the worthless husks of the grain blown away by the wind in the process of winnowing. Such is the contrast with the fruitful (cf. v. 3), valuable, righteous person.

Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 790–791). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

- FSB

1:4 chaff The husks and stalks of wheat blown away by the wind as grain is winnowed.

In contrast to the stable, flourishing tree of the righteous, the wicked are fragile and temporary (Isa 29:5; Hos 13:3).

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 1:4). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Psalm 35:5 Blow them away llike chaff in the wind- a wind sent by the angel of the Lord.