Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 1:4
The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
4. In sharp contrast to the firmly-rooted, flourishing, fruitful tree is the chaff on the threshing-floor, worthless in itself, and liable to be swept away by every passing breeze.
The scattering of chaff by the wind is a common figure in the O.T. for the sudden destruction of the wicked. Cp. Psa 35:5; Job 21:18; Isa 29:5; Hos 13:3. Here it describes their character as well as their fate. It would be vividly suggestive to those who were familiar with the sight of the threshing-floors, usually placed on high ground to take advantage of every breeze, on which the corn was threshed out and winnowed by throwing it up against the wind with shovels, the grain falling on the floor to be carefully gathered up, the chaff left to be carried away by the wind and vanish.
The P.B.V. following the LXX and Vulg. adds from the face of the earth. Cp. Amo 9:8; Zep 1:2-3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4 6. The character and destiny of the wicked.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The ungodly are not so – literally, Not thus the wicked. For the word ungodly, see the notes at Psa 1:1. The statement that the wicked are not so, is a general statement applicable alike to their character and destiny, though the mind of the author of the psalm is fixed immediately and particularly on the difference in their destiny, without specifying anything particularly respecting their character. It is as true, however, that the ungodly do walk in the counsel of the wicked, and stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of the scornful, as it is that the righteous do not; as true that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, as it is that the righteous do; as true that the wicked are not like a tree planted by the channels of water, as it is that the righteous are. This passage, therefore, may be employed to show what is the character of the ungodly, and in so applying it, what was before negative in regard to the righteous, becomes positive in regard to the wicked; what was positive, becomes negative. Thus it is true:
(a) that the wicked do walk in the counsel of the ungodly; do stand in the way of sinners; do sit in the seat of the scornful;
(b) that they do not delight in the law of the Lord, or meditate on his word; and
(c) that they are not like a tree planted by the waters, that is green and beautiful and fruitful.
Both in character and in destiny the ungodly differ from the righteous. The subsequent part of the verse shows that, while the general truth was in the mind of the writer, the particular thing on which his attention was fixed was, his condition in life – his destiny – as that which could not be compared with a green and fruitful tree, but which suggested quite another image.
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away – When the wheat was winnowed. This, in Oriental countries, was commonly performed in the open field, and usually on an eminence, and where there was a strong wind. The operation was performed, as it is now in our country, when a fan or fanning-mill cannot he procured, by throwing up the grain as it is threshed with a shovel, and the wind scatters the chaff, while the grain falls to the ground. See the notes at Mat 3:12.
This very naturally and appropriately furnished an illustration of the destiny of the wicked. Compared with the righteous, they were like the worthless chaff driven away by the wind. The image is often found in the Scriptures. See Job 21:18, note; Isa 17:13, note. Compare also Psa 35:5; Isa 29:5; Isa 41:15; Dan 2:35; Hos 13:3. The idea here is, that the wicked are in no respect like the green and fruitful tree referred to in Psa 1:3. They are not like a tree in any respect. They are not even like a decaying tree, a barren tree, a dead tree, for either of these would suggest some idea of stability or permanency. They are like dry and worthless chaff driven off by the wind, as of no value to the farmer – a substance which he is anxious only to separate wholly from his grain, and to get out of his way. The idea thus suggested, therefore, is that of intrinsic worthlessness. It will be among other things, on this account that the wicked will be driven away – that they are worthless in the universe of God – worthless to all the purposes for which man was made. At the same time, however, there may be an implied contrast between that chaff and the useful grain which it is the object of the farmer to secure.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 1:4
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
The chaff driven away
Who are the ungodly? Are they open and wilful sinners? Certainly these are included, but not mainly intended. Are they the atheists, scoffers, and those who make a ribald jest of all sacred things? Yes, but not they alone. For the godly man is he who has a constant eye to God, recognises Him in all things, trusts Him, loves and serves Him. The ungodly man is he who lives in the world as if there were no God; he may be religious, but that is not enough. He attends to outward forms, but the heart of them he does not perceive. How many there are in all our congregations, therefore, who are ungodly. They do not love the Lord, or delight in communion with Him, or desire to be like Him. They are ungodly. Now concerning all such, the text utters–
I. A fearful negative. The ungodly are not so. For
1. They are not like a tree planted. The Christian is so. The tree planted is visited and in every way cared for by the husbandman. But the wild tree in the forest, the tree self-sown upon the plain, no one owns, no one watches over it.
2. Not like a tree planted by the rivers of waters. The believer is. He is planted not by banks which may soon dry up, far less in a desert; but by the rivers of waters. And is it not so? We know what it is to drink of the rivers of Christs fulness. But not so the ungodly. Days of drought will come for them.
3. Does not bring forth his fruit in his season. The righteous does so. If the ungodly have here and there a shrivelled grape it is brought forth in the wrong season. Many think that so long as they dont do wrong it is as if they did right. But mere negative goodness will not suffice. The curse on Meroz was for not coming to the help of the Lord. They did not oppress, only did not help.
4. His leaf also shall not wither. Not so the ungodly. And
5. Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Yes, though the righteous may suffer much earthly loss. They have an inward prosperity even when the outward one is wanting. No so the ungodly. Is he really happy now? To him there is nothing good in this life. That which looketh fair is but as the paint upon the harlots face.
II. A terrible comparison. Like the chaff–so useless, so light and unstable, so worthless.
III. An awful prophecy. How near the chaff is to the grain. As yon godless parent of a Christian child. As yon helpers in various forms of Christian work; sitting side by side with the godly. Close to the grain, and yet only chaff. And to be driven away–Where, where? Jesus Christ has said, He shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Who here is prepared to make his bed in hell? I beseech you by the living God, tremble and repent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The gate to the threshing floor
Not so! The Psalmist does not dwell upon the details of their ungodliness. As in the case of the righteous, he confines himself to indicating the sources of their life. The great object of this Psalm is to show us the fountain heads of moral character. The character that is not so is set forth by a figure. We leave now the garden gate, and not far off behold a raised platform of earth beaten hard. It is the threshing floor. Here stand the workmen with their earthen vessels, and scooping up the threshed grain, mingled with chaff, throw it up into the air, or let it fall in a stream from the uplifted jar; and the wind, with its whirling gusts, which arise so suddenly on the plains, catches the chaff and drives it away before it. The ungodly are like the chaff–light, shifting, worthless Here three aspects of the ungodly character–its instability; its worthlessness; its insecurity. One of the happiest phases of goodness is its fixedness. A life rooted in God, based on settled conviction, has a single aim, a uniform tendency, and a permanent result. In these particulars the opposite character tails. Take a life away from God, and you take from it unity of impulse. Passion, pride, selfishness drive it hither and thither as the winds drive the dismantled ship. Nowhere but in God does man find a consistent law. The second phase of this character is its worthlessness. The wind drives it away, and the husbandman is glad to have it driven away. Here we find ourselves in the track of gospel thought. An ungodly life is not used under Gods direction and for Gods uses. The present age is very susceptible to this fallacy–the identification of activity with usefulness. But we ask, under whose direction? For what? For whom? We call that man useful who works on Gods lines, in Gods ways, and for Gods ends. It is the unchanging law of God, that the life which gives nothing has no place in His Divine order. The chaff, which only lives by the grain, which feeds no one, which has no power of reproduction, is driven away. The third phase of this character is its insecurity. The contrast is between the fixed tree and the shifting chaff: How safe is the man who abides in God, while he who puts himself outside of the restraints of Divine law forfeits likewise its protection. The weakness and instability of the character which is not founded in Gods law shall finally be made manifest. The whole current of the Psalms moves in the direction of a day of final tests which shall lay bare the foundations of character. It is only in romances that virtue always triumphs and vice always goes under. But our Psalm does not leave us here. It carries us over this time of the growing together of wheat and tares, to the time of separation. There is coming a day of judgment, whose searching tests shall resolve the confusion, and make clearly manifest to the world what is weak and what is strong; what is solid and what is superficial; what is wheat and what is chaff. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)
The chaff in the wind
My heart aches when I begin a sermon on a theme like this. But what makes my heart ache is that a man or a woman born so high should sink so low. That one who had the possibility of being the good grain in Gods field, that might have been useful and happy, should have so resisted the gracious influence of Gods husbandry as at last to have become of no value, and only to be compared to the chaff which the wind driveth away. Importance hinges on the word ungodly. Who are the ungodly? I do not understand that it means, necessarily, that a man is outbreakingly and viciously wicked. The ungodly man or woman is simply a person who does not live in the way that God demands; one whose thoughts and purposes and conduct are not in harmony with Gods laws; who does not please God. What a graphic suggestion is here of the vanity of a sinful life! The man who loves and serves God is building up a character which is abiding like a great tree. He is gathering many treasures of character and personality that can never be taken from him. Truth, and integrity, and love and faith, and hope, and patience, and gentleness, these great spiritual qualities in which God develops the Christian, are qualities that cannot be taken away from us by any disaster that can come. Money, and honour, and friends, and health, and life itself may go, and all these qualities remain in their full measure; but a sinful life, a life that resists Gods grace, has nothing left that is substantial. If a man gives himself up to worldliness he may be ever so successful in his ambitions, but there is nothing about it that will last. A rich man goes out of the world as poor as when he came into it. His wealth fails, and is like the chaff which the wind driveth away Physical strength is fragile in the same way; often a man rejoices in his strength one week and the next he is in his grave. But if he lives to be an old man, with trembling hands and tottering footsteps, his physical strength fails him at last and is like the chaff in the wind. The same is true of physical beauty and all the attractiveness of physical life. Many people who do not obey God are nevertheless very ambitious to make themselves of some account in the world; but ones work must be like the chaff if it is not in harmony with God. God could not be the good God that you dream of if He did not make a difference between chaff and wheat. It is not that God is not good, but that the ungodly man has failed to avail himself of Gods goodness, has sinned against Gods goodness and mercy, and has brought ruin upon himself. You say that the chaff cannot help being chaff; yes, but the man can. You will not be chaff unless you choose to be chaff. God did not make you to be chaff; He made you ill His own likeness and image, and when you had wandered from Him by wicked ways Jesus Christ wrought out your salvation on the Cross. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
The fruitless life
The second half of the Psalm gives the dark contrast of the fruitless, rootless life. The Hebrew flashes the whole dread antithesis on the view at once by its first word, Not so, a universal negative which reverses every part of the preceding picture. The remainder of the Psalm has three thoughts–the real nullity of such lives, their consequent disappearance in the judgment, and the ground of both the blessedness of the one type of character and the vanishing of the other in the diverse attitude of God to each. Nothing could more vividly suggest the essential nothingness of the wicked than the contrast of the leafy beauty of the fruit laden tree, and the chaff, rootless, fruitless, lifeless, light, and therefore the sport of every puff of wind that blows across the elevated and open threshing floor. Such is indeed a true picture of every life not rooted in God and drawing fertility from Him. It is rootless, for what holdfast is there but in Him? or where shall the heart twine its tendrils if not round Gods stable throne? or what basis do fleeting objects supply for him who builds elsewhere than on the enduring Rock? Chaff is fruitless because lifeless. Its disappearance in the winnowing wind is the consequence and manifestation of its essential nullity. Just as the winnower throws up his shovelful into the breeze, and the chaff goes fluttering out of the floor because it is light, while the wheat falls on the heap because it is solid, so the wind of judgment will one day blow, and deal with each man according to his own nature. It will separate them, whirling away the one and not the other. The ground of these diverse fates is the different attitude of God to each life. Each clause of the last verse really involves two ideas, but the pregnant brevity of style states only half of the antithesis in each, suppressing the second member in the first clause, and the first member in the second clause, and so making the contrast the more striking by emphasising the cause of an unspoken consequence in the former, and the opposite consequence of an unspoken cause in the latter. The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous (therefore it shall last). The Lord knoweth not the way of the wicked (therefore it shall perish). The way or course of life which God does not know perishes. A path perishes when, like some dim forest track, it dies out, leaving the traveller bewildered amid impenetrable forests; or when, like some treacherous Alpine track among rotten rocks, it crumbles beneath the tread. Every course of life but that of the man who delights in and keeps the law of the Lord comes to a fatal end, and leads to the brink of a precipice over which the impetus of descent carries the reluctant foot. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The wicked compared to chaff
Natural chaff is light and unprofitable. It is light, containing in it no solid or weighty matter, but a very slight and frothy substance subject to many alterations; even so the wicked are not solid in their purposes and enterprises, and weighty in then carnage and courses, but as chaff, light, easily tossed and blown away. They are light in their words and light in their minds. They are unprofitable ill two ways. In matters temporal, concerning this life, wherein, though they have ability, they want the will to do good with the same. In matters spiritual, wherein, though they have a will, yet they want ability. In that the Spirit of God compares all wicked men to chaff, we learn that the estate and condition of wicked men is exceedingly inconstant, void, uncertain, mutable, and changeable. They have no certain stay, no sure and settled estate in this world. Whether we consider the matters of religion and Gods worship, or the things of the world, we shall see them like unto chaff–vain, vile, uncertain, mutable. (Samuel Smith.)
The ungodly described
Where, first, we may observe that the prophet observes here a different course in handling of this proposition from that he held ill handling the former; for there he only described a godly man, but named him not; here, he only names the wicked, but describes them not; and, indeed, it needed not, for Rectum est index sui et obliqui [Justice defines both the just and the unjust]; by telling what a godly man is he tells, by virtue of the law of contraries, what the wicked are, for it that be affirmed of a wicked man which was denied of a godly, and that denied which was affirmed, the description is made ready to your hand, and you have him deciphered in his fulness. And yet we may take notice of a further reason, for godliness is subject to many falsifications; it may suffer much alloy by mixture of base metals, and there is need of a touchstone to try whether it be right or no. Many colours may be laid upon wickedness, to make it seem godliness, as Satan can transform himself into all angel of light (2Co 11:14); and then there is need of marks to know whether it be a good angel, whether it be true godliness or no; but in the case of wickedness it is not so; there is no need of any such marks, for there cannot a worse vizard be put upon wickedness than its own face, there is no baser metal to be mingled with it; and though a wicked man will be counterfeiting to be godly, yet it was never known that a godly man would counterfeit to be wicked; and therefore the prophet, who is no waster of words in vain, would not give marks where they needed none, but left wickedness to be known by its own ill face, which is seen plainly enough by the law of contraries. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wicked as chaff
But may we not make a stand here, and question the prophet about his similitude? for look upon the wicked, do they look like chaff? One would think them rather, in all appearance, to be clean wheat, and the best wheat too, for they only are flourishing–they only carry the price in all markets. But the prophet speaks not how they look, but what they are; he saith not, They look like chaff, but, They are like chaff; and before he hath done, for all their appearance, he will make it appear they are like chaff, and chaff they are like to have for their similitude. Well, be it so: let the prophet have his will, and let them be like chaff; what hurt take they by this? for doth not the chaff grow up, and is it not brought up with the wheat? and when harvest comes, are they not both reaped together, and both together laid up in the barn? and what more misery in all this to the chaff than to the wheat itself? All this is true; the prophet sees it welt enough, and therefore stays not here neither; he ends not with saying, They are like to chaff, but, They are like to chaff which the wind scatters. For this is that which perfects the similitude; and now let any man except against it if he can. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wicked as chaff
And such is the condition of the wicked; a gale of prosperity hoisted them up, that they neither know themselves, nor where they are; a blast of adversity blows them down, and makes them tear the heavens with murmuring, and themselves with impatience. No state, no time, no place contents them. (Sir Richard Baker.)
The wind within
The chaff hath the wind without it that disquiets it, but a wicked man hath the wind within him (his own passions) that disquiets him. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. The ungodly are not so] The Vulgate and Septuagint, and the versions made from them, such as the AEthiopic and Arabic, double the last negation, and add a clause to the end of the verse, “Not so the ungodly, not so; they shall be like the dust which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth.” There is nothing solid in the men; there is nothing good in their ways. They are not of God’s planting; they are not good grain; they are only chaff, and a chaff that shall be separated from the good grain when the fan or shovel of God’s power throws them up to the wind of his judgments. The manner of winnowing in the eastern countries is nearly the same with that practiced in various parts of these kingdoms before the invention of winnowing machines. They either throw it up in a place out of doors by a large wooden shovel against the wind; or with their weights or winnowing fans shake it down leisurely in the wind. The grain falls down nearly perpendicularly; and the chaff, through its lightness, is blown away to a distance from the grain.
An ungodly man is never steady; his purposes are abortive; his conversation light, trifling, and foolish; his professions, friendships, c., frothy, hollow, and insincere and both he and his works are carried away to destruction by the wind of God’s judgments.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The ungodly are not so; their condition is far differing from the former.
But are like the chaff; in regard either,
1. Of their sinful disposition. They are vain and frothy, unprofitable and hurtful, without any root of true and solid goodness, without any certain end or constant course, tossed to and fro with every wind of their own lusts or temptations. Or rather,
2. Of their wretched condition. They are restless and unquiet in their own minds and consciences; their seeming felicity, in which they please and pride themselves, hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanisheth and fleeth away, as chaff doth before the wind, and their end is to be burned: see Job 21:8; Psa 35:5; Mat 3:12.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. not soeither as to conductor happiness.
like the chaffwhich,by Eastern modes of winnowing against the wind, was utterly blownaway.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The ungodly [are] not so,…. They are not as the good man is; their manner and course of life are different; they walk in the counsel of ungodly men, like themselves, and take counsel against the Lord, his Anointed, and his people: they stand in the way of sinners, and steer their conversation according to the course of the world, and sit in the seat of the scornful; laugh at divine revelation, lampoon the Scriptures, deride good men, make a jest of religion and a future state: they have no delight in the law of the Lord, they cast it away from them, and despise it; and are so far from a constant meditation on it, that they never read it, nor so much as look into it, nor is it ever in their thoughts. They are not like to a tree, as described in Ps 1:3: if they are like to trees, it is to dry trees, and not green ones, to trees without any sap, moisture, and verdure, and which are only fit fuel for the fire; to the trees of the wood, to wild olive trees; to trees on an heath, in a desert, in parched land, and not to trees by rivers of water, but to trees that have no root, and are without fruit, Jude 1:12. And though they may be in a seeming prosperous condition for a time, may be in great power, riches, and honour, and spread themselves like a green bay tree; yet suddenly they are cut down as the grass, and wither as the green herb; and even their outward prosperity destroys them; so that not anything they have or do in the issue prospers: and therefore they are not blessed or happy as the good man is; yea, they are wretched and miserable, nay, cursed; they are cursed now, and will be hereafter; they are cursed in their basket and store, their blessings are curses to them; the law pronounces them cursed; and they will hear, “go ye cursed”, at the day of judgment, see Mt 25:41. The Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Arabic versions, repeat the words “not so”, and read “not so the ungodly, not so:” which seems to be done for the confirmation of the truth of it:
but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away; they are like chaff, which has no root, moisture, greenness, nor fruitfulness; they have nothing in them solid and substantial; they are destitute of all that is good; are vain and empty; without the knowledge of God and Christ; without faith in Christ and love to him; and are sensual, not having the Spirit, his graces and fruits: they are like chaff for lightness, vain in their imaginations, light in their principles, frothy in their words, and unstable in all their ways: they are never long in any position, unsettled, disquieted, and tossed to and fro; and there is no peace unto them: they are like chaff, useless and unprofitable, nothing worth, fit only for everlasting burnings, which will be their case. For when Christ will gather his wheat, the righteous, which are of value, into his garner, the heavenly glory, he will burn the chaff, the wicked, with unquenchable fire. They are now like chaff, driven and carried about with every wind of doctrine, with divers and strange doctrines, and entertain every light and airy notion; and are easily drawn aside and carried away by the force of their own lusts, and with every temptation of Satan, who works effectually in then: and particularly they are like chaff before the wind of terrible judgments and calamities in this life, and of the awful judgment hereafter, when they will be driven away from the presence of the Lord into everlasting destruction. The metaphor is often used in this sense; see Job 21:17; and denotes the secret, sudden, sure, and easy ruin of the ungodly, which comes upon them like a whirlwind, in an instant, which they cannot avoid; and they can no more stand before God and against him, than chaff before the wind. It follows,
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The ungodly ( , with the demonstrative art.) are the opposite of a tree planted by the water-courses: they are , like chaff (from to press out), which the wind drives away, viz., from the loftily situated threshing-floor (Isa 17:13), i.e., 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. With an inference is drawn from this moral characteristic of the ungodly: just on account of their inner worthlessness and instability they do not stand . This is the word for the judgment of just recompense to which God brings each individual man and all without exception with all their words (Ecc 12:14), – His righteous government, which takes cognisance of the whole life of each individual and the history of nations and recompenses according to desert. In this judgment the ungodly cannot stand ( to continue to stand, like Psa 130:3 to keep one’s self erect), nor sinners . The congregation ( ( noi = idah , from , ) of the righteous is the congregation of Jahve ( ), which, according to its nature which is ordained and inwrought by God, is a congregation of the righteous, to which consequently the unrighteous belong only outwardly and visibly: , Rom 9:6. God’s judgment, when and wheresoever he may hold it, shall trace back this appearance to its nothingness. When the time of the divine decision shall come, which also separates outwardly that which is now inwardly separate, viz., righteous and unrighteous, wheat and chaff, then shall the unrighteous be driven away like chaff before the storm, and their temporary prosperity, which had no divine roots, come to a fearful end. For Jahve knoweth the way of the righteous, as in Psa 37:18; Mat 7:23; 2Ti 2:19, and frequently. What is intended is, as the schoolmen say, a nosse con affectu et effectu , a knowledge which is in living, intimate relationship to its subject and at the same time is inclined to it and bound to it by love. The way, i.e., the life’s course, of the righteous has God as its goal; God knows this way, which on this very account also unfailingly reaches its goal. On the contrary, the way of the ungodly , perishes, because left to itself, – goes down to , loses itself, without reaching the goal set before it, in darkest night. The way of the righteous only is , Psa 139:24, a way that ends in eternal life. Psa 112:1-10 which begins with ends with the same fearful .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Description and Doom of the Ungodly. | |
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Here is, I. The description of the ungodly given, v. 4. 1. In general, they are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition: They are not so. The LXX. emphatically repeats this: Not so the ungodly; they are not so; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God, nor ever think of it; they bring forth no fruit but grapes of Sodom; they cumber the ground. 2. In particular, whereas the righteous are like valuable, useful, fruitful trees, they are like the chaff which the wind drives away, the very lightest of the chaff, the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not capable of being put to any use. Would you value them? Would you weigh them? They are like chaff, of no worth at all in God’s account, how highly soever they may value themselves. Would you know the temper of their minds? They are light and vain; they have no substance in them, no solidity; they are easily driven to and fro by every wind and temptation, and have no stedfastness. Would you know their end? The wrath of God will drive them away in their wickedness, as the wind does the chaff, which is never gathered nor looked after more. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat; but he is coming whose fan is in his hand and who will thoroughly purge his floor. Those that by their own sin and folly make themselves as chaff will be found so before the whirlwind and fire of divine wrath (Ps. xxxv. 5), so unable to stand before it or to escape it, Isa. xvii. 13.
II. The doom of the ungodly read, v. 5. 1. They will be cast, upon their trial, as traitors convicted: They shall not stand in the judgment, that is, they shall be found guilty, shall hang down the head with shame and confusion, and all their pleas and excuses will be overruled as frivolous. There is a judgment to come, in which every man’s present character and work, though ever so artfully concealed and disguised, shall be truly and perfectly discovered, and appear in their own colours, and accordingly every man’s future state will be, by an irreversible sentence, determined for eternity. The ungodly must appear in that judgment, to receive according to the things done in the body. They may hope to come off, nay, to come off with honour, but their hope will deceive them: They shall not stand in the judgment, so plain will the evidence be against them and so just and impartial will the judgment be upon it. 2. They will be for ever shut out from the society of the blessed. They shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous, that is, in the judgment (so some), that court wherein the saints, as assessors with Christ, shall judge the world, those holy myriads with which he shall come to execute judgment upon all,Jud 1:14; 1Co 6:2. Or in heaven. There will be seen, shortly, a general assembly of the church of the first-born, a congregation of the righteous, of all the saints, and none but saints, and saints made perfect, such a congregation of them as never was in this world, 2 Thess. ii. 1. The wicked shall not have a place in that congregation. Into the new Jerusalem none unclean nor unsanctified shall enter; they shall see the righteous enter into the kingdom, and themselves, to their everlasting vexation, thrust out, Luke xiii. 27. The wicked and profane, in this world, ridiculed the righteous and their congregation, despised them, and cared not for their company; justly therefore will they be for ever separated from them. Hypocrites in this world, under the disguise of a plausible profession, may thrust themselves into the congregation of the righteous and remain undisturbed and undiscovered there; but Christ cannot be imposed upon, though his ministers may; the day is coming when he will separate between the sheep and the goats, the tares and the wheat; see Mat 13:41; Mat 13:49. That great day (so the Chaldee here calls it) will be a day of discovery, a day of distinction, and a day of final division. Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, which here it is sometimes hard to do, Mal. iii. 18.
III. The reason rendered of this different state of the godly and wicked, v. 6. 1. God must have all the glory of the prosperity and happiness of the righteous. They are blessed because the Lord knows their way; he chose them into it, inclined them to choose it, leads and guides them in it, and orders all their steps. 2. Sinners must bear all the blame of their own destruction. Therefore the ungodly perish, because the very way in which they have chosen and resolved to walk leads directly to destruction; it naturally tends towards ruin and therefore must necessarily end in it. Or we may take it thus, The Lord approves and is well pleased with the way of the righteous, and therefore, under the influence of his gracious smiles, it shall prosper and end well; but he is angry at the way of the wicked, all they do is offensive to him, and therefore it shall perish, and they in it. It is certain that every man’s judgment proceeds from the Lord, and it is well or ill with us, and is likely to be so to all eternity, accordingly as we are or are not accepted of God. Let this support the drooping spirits of the righteous, that the Lord knows their way, knows their hearts (Jer. xii. 3), knows their secret devotions (Matt. vi. 6), knows their character, how much soever it is blackened and blemished by the reproaches of men, and will shortly make them and their way manifest before the world, to their immortal joy and honour. Let this cast a damp upon the security and jollity of sinners, that their way, though pleasant now, will perish at last.
In singing these verses, and praying over them, let us possess ourselves with a holy dread of the wicked man’s portion, and deprecate it with a firm and lively expectation of the judgment to come, and stir up ourselves to prepare for it, and with a holy care to approve ourselves to God in every thing, entreating his favour with our whole hearts.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Psalmist might, with propriety, have compared the ungodly to a tree that speedily withers, as Jeremiah likens them to the heath which grows in the wilderness, (Jer 17:6) But not reckoning this figure sufficiently strong, he debases them by employing another, which represents them in a light still more contemptible: and the reason is, that he does not keep his eye on the prosperous condition of which they boast for a short time, but his mind is seriously pondering on the destruction which awaits them, and will at length overtake them. The meaning, therefore, is, although the ungodly now live prosperously, yet by and by they shall be like chaff; for when the Lord has brought them low, he shall drive them hither and thither with the blast of his wrath. Besides, by this form of speech, the Holy Spirit teaches us to contemplate with the eye of faith, what might otherwise seem incredible; for although the ungodly man rise high, and appear to great advantage, like a stately tree, we may rest assured that he will be even as chaff or refuse, whenever God chooses to cast him down from his high estate, with the breath of his mouth.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) The ungodly.Better, Not so the ungodly.
But are like.They shall be winnowed out of the society of the true Israel by the fan of Gods judgment. The image is a striking one, although so frequent as almost to have become a poetical commonplace (Hab. 3:12; Joe. 3:14; Jer. 51:33; Isa. 21:10). (See Bible Educator, iv. 4.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Not so The contrast in character of the godly and the ungodly is absolute and infinite; their treatment under the government of God is correspondingly diverse.
Chaff The emblem of worthlessness doomed to destruction.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Destruction of the Unrighteous ( Psa 1:4-5 ).
‘Not so the wicked!
They are like the chaff which the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.’
The opposite is true of the wicked. They are not fruitful. They are not firmly grounded and planted. They are not good grain. They are rather chaff, the outer husk, the useless and lifeless part of the grain. They have no substance, they have no value, and instead of being rooted in the ground they are eventually blown away by a puff of wind as useless and worthless. They cannot produce fruit. They are chaff.
So just as the chaff is blown away when the grain is tossed up, separated from the grain by the wind, so are the careless and sinful blown away in their frailty. They are blown away when God’s wind blows on them. This picture of sinners as chaff is a constant one in the Old Testament (Psa 35:5; Job 21:18; Isa 29:5; Hos 13:3), and in the New (compare Mat 3:12; Luk 3:17), and the wind is compared in one place with ‘the Angel of YHWH’ (Psa 35:5), that mysterious figure Who is the representation of God Himself. It is God Who blows them away.
When judgment comes they will not be able to stand (Psa 5:5; Psa 130:3), they will have no place in the gathering of the righteous. The thought is not specifically of some final Judgment Day, but of whenever God’s judgment comes on them (for an extreme example see Numbers 16). It is a principle of Scripture that God continually judges the wicked, even before the day of His final judgment which finally completes that judgment. Because sin must be judged and must be condemned God deals with it continually in all kinds of ways. And in the face of that judgment the wicked will be blown away. They will not be able to prevent it. They will be unable to stand. If you ‘stand in the way of sinners’, you will not be able to stand at the judgment.
‘The assembly of the righteous.’ Israel were known as ‘the congregation, the assembly’ which represented the whole of Israel as they gathered together as God’s people. But here already we see the idea of the remnant within Israel (Isa 6:13), the true Israel (Isa 49:3 with 5), the assembly of the righteous. For not all of Israel were Israel. Not all were faithful to God and the covenant. And that separation will become apparent by judgment, when the righteous are gathered as one, separated from the wicked (Mat 25:31-46; Mat 13:30; Mat 24:31).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 1:4. Like the chaff This comparison is frequently used by the Psalmist, and it receives great illustration and emphasis, when we consider that the people of Judea had their threshing-floors on an eminence; that the method of winnowing their corn was, by throwing it up against the wind with a shovel, and that they chose this lofty situation, that the wind might act with more force, and drive the chaff away more easily. The wicked seem to be here compared to chaff, because, instead of continually meditating, and minding the law of God, they are continually hurried on by their corrupt affections from one wickedness to another, and so rendered unable to abide the judgment of the great day. This seems implied in the words, Therefore they shall not stand in the judgment. See Shaw’s Travels, and Fenwick. It should be considered, that, in general, the Psalms were made at a time when God governed the Jews with an equal providence; and, according to the promises and threatenings of the law, gave good things to those who obeyed him, and as surely punished the wicked, even in this world. But with us the case is otherwise. We have clearer and better promises; and it is apparent enough, that there is an unequal distribution of things in this world; so that we must wait for our reward till we enter into the next life, when the Son of God shall render to every man according to his work. We must not, therefore, expect that this, and many other such promises, dispersed throughout the Psalms, should always be literally fulfilled in this world; for we can apply them to ourselves, as Christians, no otherwise than as certain assurances, that they who are entitled to them are undoubtedly in God’s favour; and, therefore, if we behave so as to deserve them, according to the literal promise to the Jews, we may humbly hope, that either they will be made good to us here, or else, which is far better, we shall, in the world to come, receive a much greater reward. It is observable, that in 2Co 9:9 where St. Paul quotes Psa 112:9 he breaks off in the middle of the verse; which seems the more extraordinary, because there are but a few words left: He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth for ever: here he stops; and the reason seems to be, because the remaining part of the verse, his horn shall be exalted with honour, relates rather to the temporal reward, which the Psalmist assured his countrymen, the Jews, that the charitable man should have. and this the Apostle left out, as an improper consideration for his Christian disciples; for whom, as their views were so much more noble, it was a sufficient encouragement to consider, that their righteousness should remain for ever. I here mention this once for all; and, though there are many passages in the Psalms, where the same observation might be proper, I shall presume that it need not to be repeated.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Here is a sad contrast! All that are not ingrafted in Jesus, the heavenly vine, their blossom shall go up as the dust, and their destruction cometh speedily! Every plant, saith Jesus himself, which my Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Mat 15:13 , This is a strong figure to shew the emptiness of the ungodly, the chaff; for what is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Jer 23:28 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 1:4 The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Ver. 4. The ungodly are not so ] Not like any such tree before described, but rather like the cypress tree, which, the more it is watered, is the less fruitful; or like the cyparit tree, whereof Pliny writeth that it is good for nothing, no, not for show, shadow, or smell. St Jude saith, they are trees indeed, but such as are twice dead, pulled up by the roots, Jdg 1:12 . Twice dead they are said to be, 1. Because a spiritual death is so great a death that it may well go for two. 2. Because those ungodly ones were dead, both in regard of fruit and leaves, truth of grace and any outward actings of grace. Their fruit, if any, is but hedge fruit, their leaves of formal profession wither and come to nothing; if they prosper in the world (as Sigonius observeth of Pope Zechariah that he died rebus non tam pie quam prospere gestis, not overly pious, and yet very prosperous) it is that they may be cut down for ever, Psa 37:2 : such a temporary prosperity plus deceptionis habet quam delectationis, saith Lactantius, is more deceitful than delightful, and is, therefore, well called by Bernard, Misericordia omni indignatione crudelior, a giftless gift, &c.
But are like the chaff
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 1:4-6
4The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
Psa 1:4 like chaff This is a common biblical metaphor for that which is transitory, temporary, or fleeting (cf. Psa 35:5; Psa 83:13; Job 21:18; Isa 17:13; Isa 29:5; Isa 40:24; Isa 41:15-16; Jer 13:24; Hos 13:3).
There are two ways to look at the judgment of the wicked.
1. temporal no joy, no prosperity, early death (cf. Matthew 7)
2. eschatological end-time judgment scene, where one’s eternal destiny is revealed (cf. Matthew 25; Revelation 20)
Psa 1:5 stand This verb (BDB 763, KB 840) has the connotation of a legal setting (cf. Pro 19:21; Isa 14:24; note Rom 8:31-38). Sinners/wicked will have
1. no right to present their case
2. no right to even be present in court
3. no possible excuses
4. no hope for a positive judgment
the judgment This implies that individuals are responsible for their actions and will one day give an account to God (cf. Mat 25:31-46; 1Co 3:10-15; Rev 20:11-15). In the OT this truth is gradually developed (cf. Job 19:25-27; Dan 12:2).
the wicked. . .sinners There are several descriptive titles given to those who do not walk/stand/sit.
1. the wicked, Psa 1:1; Psa 1:5-6 (BDB 957)
2. sinners, Psa 1:1; Psa 1:5 (BDB 308)
3. scoffers, Psa 1:1 (BDB 539)
The NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 1202, lists the different Hebrew terms that describe those who do not know and follow YHWH (i.e., the righteous).
1. workers of iniquity Psa 28:3; Psa 92:7; Psa 101:8; Psa 141:9
2. evildoers Psa 26:5; Psa 37:9; Pro 24:19
3. evil men Psa 10:15; Pro 4:14; Pro 14:19; Pro 24:20
4. ruthless men Job 15:20; Job 27:13; Isa 13:11
5. sinners Psa 1:1; Psa 1:5; Psa 104:35
6. scorners Psa 1:1; Pro 9:7
7. liars Psa 58:3
8. transgressors Pro 2:22; Pro 21:18; Jer 12:1; Hab 1:13
9. the enemy Job 27:7; Psa 3:7; Psa 17:9; Psa 55:3
in the assembly of the righteous Notice the parallelism between this phrase and in the judgment. These phrases must refer to a gathering of true, faithful followers where the wicked are not recognized or able to speak.
The assembly can refer to
1. gathered worship (i.e., Psa 22:25; Psa 35:18; Psa 40:9-10)
2. a title for the people of God (i.e., Exo 12:3; Exo 12:6; Exo 12:19; Exo 12:47; Exo 16:1-2; Exo 16:9-10; Exo 16:22)
SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS
Psa 1:6 the Lord knows The term know means intimate personal relationship (cf. Gen 4:1; Jer 1:5).
SPECIAL TOPIC: KNOW (USING MOSTLY DEUTERONOMY AS A PARADIGM)
the way of the wicked will perish The theological question is what does perish (BDB 1, KB 2) mean?
1. total non-existence (i.e., annihilation)
2. will not last on earth (i.e., death)
The issue has become acute in the modern discussion of an eternal hell. Some evangelical scholars (i.e., John Stott) advocate a period of judgment, then non-existence for sinners instead of an eternal punishment. My problem is that the same word, eternal, used in Mat 25:46, describes both punishment and eschatological life. I cannot see how an inspired writer can use them with differing senses in the same verse.
SPECIAL TOPIC: Where Are the Dead?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. What does the phrase the two ways mean?
2. Describe the difference between the righteous man and the wicked man from this Psalm.
3. Explain the use of the metaphors:
a. walk. . .way
b. tree
c. chaff
4. Does this Psalm teach an eschatological judgment or temporal judgment?
5. How does this Psalm relate to Job, or Psalms 37, 73?
6. Why is this Psalm considered an introduction to the whole Psalter?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
are not so, &c. = not so the ungodly.
like the chaff. The other comparison. See Psa 1:3. Compare Psa 35:5.
wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 1:4-5
Psa 1:4-5
“The wicked are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
The simile of the chaff is found often in the Bible and is drawn from the old method of threshing grain, the chaff being worthless was blown away by the wind or burned. The New Testament use of this same figure begins with John the Baptist’s declaration with regard to Jesus Christ, that, “He will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire” (Mat 3:12).
“The wicked shall not stand.” Not only will the wicked be unable to stand in the judgment of the Last Day, but they will also be unable to maintain themselves as stable members of the believing children of God through Christ. Here is the explanation of why so many fall away from their faith and “drop out” of established congregations of the faithful.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 1:4 Ungodly is defined in the comments at Psa 1:1. Chaff is light and passive in the presence of wind. It is used to compare the wicked men because they are of such little weight or consequence that God’s blast will separate them from the righteous. See the same thought in Mat 3:12.
Psa 1:5. Stand is from a different original from that in Psa 1:1. Here it means to endure or withstand a test. The judgment does not refer especially to that of the last day. It means any time that a test accounting is to be made. Whenever that is done the ungodly will fail to “pass” the test of truth. The last clause is practically the same in thought as the preceding one. An assembly of righteous people would expel an ungodly man from its midst. That agrees with the principles of government regulating the church in the New Testament. (1Co 5:5-8; 2Th 3:6.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
like: Psa 35:5, Job 21:18, Isa 17:13, Isa 29:5, Hos 13:3, Mat 3:12
Reciprocal: Job 30:22 – liftest me Psa 37:38 – General Psa 92:9 – scattered Psa 104:35 – sinners Isa 41:16 – shalt fan Isa 57:13 – but the Isa 64:6 – our iniquities Jer 8:13 – the leaf Jer 13:24 – as Jer 15:7 – I will fan Jer 17:6 – like Dan 2:35 – like Hos 13:15 – an east Zep 2:2 – as Mar 4:6 – no root Luk 3:17 – but 1Pe 4:18 – where
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 1:4. The ungodly are not so Their condition is far different; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away Withered and worthless, restless and unquiet, without form or stability, blown about by every wind, and, at length, finally dispersed from the face of the earth, by the breath of Gods displeasure, and driven into the fire which never shall be quenched. Their seeming felicity hath no firm foundation, but quickly vanishes, and flies away, as chaff before the wind.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:4 {d} The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
(d) Though the wicked seem to prosper in this world, yet the Lord drives them down that they shall not rise nor stand in the company of the righteous.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. The wicked 1:4
The term "wicked" (Heb. rasa’) usually describes people who do not have a covenant relationship with God. They have little regard for God but live to satisfy their passions. They are not necessarily as evil as they could be, but they have no regard for the spiritual dimension of life, so they are superficial. Chaff is the worthless husk around a head of grain that is light in weight and blows away in the winnowing process. It is neither admirable nor beneficial to others.