The Psalmist starts the first Psalm as “the way of the righteous and the wicked”, a song and prayer for today.

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; ²but his delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law, he meditates day and night.

³He 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. ⁴The wicked are not so, but like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ⁶for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalms 1:1-6 (ESV)

In my reading this and meditating on this verse, I find a profound sense of justice. God will not let the righteous man be trodden to the ground but will always provide a way for him to prosper. Those who seek the LORD will never return without grace. The vivid picture that David shows us here is of a tree, a tree planted next to streams of water. A tree that is near a water source lives long and has strong roots and wood. It produces fruit in its season, and its leaves don’t wither because of a lack of water or nutrition. When we plant our roots in God’s scriptures’, we are like this tree.

The person who meditates on God’s laws is like the tree; they grow from the knowledge of what God had established. He understands the creation because he has direct instruction from the creator. Putting the creator’s authorship ahead of his own creative abilities.

This entire passage now takes a quick turn, a turn towards the contrast, the wicked. In scripture, the wicked are also referred to as fools. The wicked are people who don’t acknowledge God’s authority; more over, they don’t seek any higher authority. I’m afraid the world is full of wicked people. I was wicked before God captured my heart for His Kingdom.

The wicked are like chaff, which is the outer part of the wheat kernel. When milling wheat with a stone, it was common after the kernel’s initial crushing to take all the parts of the wheat and throw them in the air. The chaff or outer skin is hard but very light and floats in the wind. The remainder of the kernel falls to the ground. The chaff floats in the breeze as it ebbs and flows, but the wheat returns to the earth, to the ground, to the rock.

Philosophies of man come and go, we can study them until the pigs start to fly, but unless we are grounded in the creator, there is nothing to them. If all you are is floating on the current philosophical trend, you will go where it takes you, or until another trend grabs you. There is anchoring.

Then David throws the result of this word picture, “Therefore,” tells us this is the result. The wicked will not stand in the judgment. What does this mean? The wicked will not stand before the wise counsel of brothers and sisters who are in Christ. They have no respect for the authority of God’s law or even man’s law. They tend to want to pervert it to their benefits. The righteous man, he seeks God’s authority in every aspect of His life. Judgment is a good thing; it makes a man righteous.

The wicked won’t congregate with the righteous. Actually, the wicked seem to hate the righteous man or woman. This is a sure sign of someone who is not seeking God; they refuse to spend time with God’s people.

This Psalm end’s with God’s providence; the LORD knows the way of the righteous because he’s planned it out for them. We can trust God’s will because we are living God’s will if we are seeking the righteous path. The righteous are grounded in God’s Law; they seek God’s word and live it out. God uses them as vessels of honor in this fallen and sinful world.

The wicked will perish. As Mr. T so bluntly would tell us, “Pity the fool.” The world is full of fools, we can’t change their hearts, but we are called to reach out to them, pray for them, pray for the Holy Spirit to regenerate them. We are called to bring the gospel to every person. Christ has paid the penalty for the sins of those who trust in Him, and they are now righteous, and they can live like this Blessed Man.