“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” (Psalm 1:4-6).

After telling us what the blessed and happy person is like, the psalmist closes out the psalm by describing what the wicked are like.

The wicked:

• The wicked are like chaff which the wind blows away
• The wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous
• The LORD watches the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction

The wicked are like chaff which the wind blows away. The psalmist pictures a farmer who is gleaning wheat. The farmer gathers the wheat which is covered by a exterior skin that cannot be eaten. So the farmer throws the wheat grains into the air where the chaff is separated from the grain of wheat. The chaff is so light it floats in the air. The chaff is blown about by the wind.

Unlike the blessed and happy person who lay their roots deep into God’s word to withstand the storms and rapids, the wicked are like the chaff which is blown about by the winds and whims of the culture. Deeply rooted vs blown about by the whims of the culture.

Because the wicked are not rooted in God’s word and God’s truth, they will not stand in judgment nor in the assembly of the righteous. They will be judged and there will be no place for them in the presence of God.

God will watch over the way of the righteous but the wicked will be separated and sent away from the presence of God into Sheol or hell.

Many wonder what hell is. One of the best descriptions of hell is that hell is the place where God’s grace and mercy are absent. In hell, the only thing the wicked will receive from God is his judgment and wrath because grace and mercy will be absent.

Blessed. Wicked.

God has shown us clearly what he wants is for us to be blessed. Because he wants us to be blessed he has shown us how to live the blessed and happy life. Get rooted in the word of God.

“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:3).

What does the blessed and happy person look like? God gives us a word picture. God tells us that the blessed and happy person is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”

Wow! Look at that last phrase – “whatever they do prospers!!!”

I want that.

God tells us how. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water. If you’re thinking of a gentle stream in a meadow, you’re not alone. If you’re thinking that, you’re kinda right. But the water that the psalmist envisions are the streams of the Jordan or the dessert. During the dry season, the Jordan River is a placid stream. But during the rainy season, the Jordan turns into a roaring rapid. The tree that the psalmist is talking about is trees planted near those waters.

Trees planted near those streams in Israel have their roots deeply planted in the ground. Because when the gentle stream turns into a rapid, any tree that is not deeply rooted gets carried down the river into the Dead Sea. They have discovered that the trees along the Jordan River are as deep in their roots, as they are tall.

The blessed and happy person is one who deeply roots and plants themselves in the word of God.

When they are planted and deeply rooted in the word of God, they yield their fruits in their season and their leaf does not wither. In fact, those who are deeply rooted in God’s word – whatever they do prospers.

The key is the word of God.

So, are you deeply rooted in God’s word? These verses of the day are a fantastic start!

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but who delights in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).

Psalm 1 is an introduction to the theology of the Old Testament. It tells us the purpose for the Psalms and the Old Testament is to show us how to live the blessed and happy life.

Yesterday we saw the three things that happy and blessed people do not do – they do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of mockers.

Today, we look at what happy and blessed people do – they “delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on it day and night.

• Blessed and happy people delight in the law of the LORD
  • Honestly, when is the last time you saw the Ten Commandments and thought, “Sweet! The laws of the LORD! Yippee!!!”
  • But the orthodox Jews celebrate the laws because God makes it crystal clear how we can love God and live a blessed life. No other nation has this. Everyone else has to guess and feel their way into discovering ways to please God. It’s exhausting. It’s frustrating. It’s discouraging.
  • In the laws of the LORD, God lays out the foundations for living the blessed and happy life. What a genuine blessing!
• Secondly, blessed and happy people not only delight in the law of the LORD, but they meditate on it day and night
  • Ok. What’s the first thing you think of when you hear “meditate?” I think about a guy sitting in the Buddah position floating in the air saying, “Hommmmmmm.”
  • So the thing is this picture doesn’t help me. I don’t see how I can “hommmmmm” all day and night. I have stuff to do. Besides, I don’t know how to float on air.
  • So, what does it mean to meditate? The Hebrew word comes from the picture of a cow chewing on the cud. The cow eats the grass and then throughout the day, brings the un-fully-digested grass back up and chews on the cud to get more nutrients. A cow will do that seven times to get the full nutrients out of the grass.
  • Meditating on the law of the LORD means to start the day with God’s word, then recall the word of God throughout the day. The nutrients we get from God’s word will be different as we go through the day

Blessed and happy are you as you recall and chew on God’s word and truth throughout the day. God’s word is a constant companion throughout the day. Every time you recall God’s word you will get something else out of it.

Meditate on that!