Devotional Portion: Psalm 1:4-5
“The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”
The wicked are not so
As the priority of wicked men is different, they don’t have a growth like that of a Godly man. The ungodly are not rooted like the Godly, they are not productive like the Godly, they are not healthy like the Godly are. They stand in a critical place where they have no foundation. They are like the man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:24-27).
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away
Here, the Psalmist compares the ungodly to chaff. Chaff is the shell or the pod that covers the grain. Consider the wheat crop. Each bundle of the batch grows together. But, there will be individual pieces in the bundle that have no grains inside. They were connected to the same crop, and grew together, but, it was unable to bring forth productivity for the Master like the other bundles. We may not be able to easily identify the unproductive ones, but once it passes through the threshing wheel, the reality is realized. Similarly, the ungodly puff up with nothing, but we see their build up. The chaff has no strength by itself, what’s inside of it is, what makes it strong or rigid. And when wind blows over the chaff, it flies away- having no stability or control over itself. They are unable to stand before the separating wind of the LORD.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment
The word of the LORD puts the productive grains inside us to stand with confidence in HIS presence. The ungodly will have no guts to stand before the LORD as they don’t carry HIS life within them. They become weightless when they stand in HIS presence for the final judgment. A best example for this is King Belshazzar. “‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.” Daniel 5:27. When GOD weighs us, will we be of worth to HIM or will HE throw us away like King Belshazzar?
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
The sinners will find themselves odd in the assembly of the righteous. It can be compared to the person who came for the wedding feast without the wedding garment. Also, just as Adam and Eve found themselves naked when they sinned against GOD, and they found it hard to get to GOD’s presence when HE came to meet them at the cool of the day.
The GODLY man always has a thirst for the presence of the LORD.
Reflection: Grow in CHRIST, have a relationship with HIM to stand with confidence at the time of judgment.
