The Psalmist uses the picture of harvesting grain to describe what the ultimate end of the wicked is.

The video link is here:

Psalm 1:4-6… The Wicked

The audio links are to the right (Spotify and iTunes).

Below is the transcript used for  today’s podcast:

Psalm 1:4-6 The Wicked

4  Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

When harvesting grain, there is a process called threshing. There have been various methods used throughout the centuries, but the end result is the same – the separation of the grain from its husk. It takes an act of violence to extricate the grain from the “Chaff”  – which is what the outer husk is called. Sometimes the farmer will use a heavy stick to beat the grain, and then throw the beaten grain into the air where the breeze will blow the chaff away and the heavier, more substantial grain will fall back to the ground. Sometimes a threshing “sledge” is used – where the grain is scattered on the ground or floor, and a heavy wooden sledge with rocks imbedded on the underside is dragged across the harvested grain, with the chaff and grain being separated afterwards in the same manner as mentioned before i.e. tossed into the air letting a breeze separate the chaff from the grain kernel. I have seen the use of large paddles for this process, where the worker picks up stalks of grain between the paddles, tosses the harvested grain into the air and then smacks it hard between the paddles, with the chaff being blown away and the kernels falling to the ground. The simplest method is where the worker takes a handful of stalks of grain and beats it on the ground, separating the chaff from the grain, and then tossing the mixture into the air for the chaff to be blown away by the breeze.

The goal is the separation of the chaff from the grain. The two parts cannot be separated short of an act of violence.

In this word-picture, the Psalmist equates the chaff with the unbeliever – here called the “wicked”. Like chaff, the wicked will experience an act of violence that will eternally separate them from this life they now share with us. The “act of violence” is, I believe, physical death, and this being “blown away” is the final judgement, which the Psalmist talks about in the next verse.

5  Therefore (because the wicked are like chaff) the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

Because the wicked are like chaff, they will not, and CANNOT stand in the day of judgement. The righteous, like the kernel of grain, stays, and the wicked are blown away by the wind of God’s breath.

The expulsion of the wicked from “assembly of the righteous” is the final act of removing sin from the believers. No longer will we be connected in life with those who oppose God. No longer will we be in the company of those who are imbedded all around us – much like the husk is so tightly attached to the grain.

I remember when I was getting my Masters degree in Music Composition (MFA). One of the things that struck me was how glorious it was to be in a room full of people who loved music at LEAST as much as I did. Growing up, I was usually the odd duck out, with most folks not understanding my passion for music – my studying music, my incessant push to perform music. One day at breakfast at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, I remember making an obscure reference/joke to Bach and hearing someone across the room chuckle. It dawned on me that I was in a room of “kindred spirits”, as Anne of Avonlea would say. EVERYBODY in that room was a lover of composing music, and for the first time in my life, I had found my musical “tribe”. It was, as I previously mentioned, glorious.

On that final day of judgement, the wicked will be removed, like the chaff, and we, the true grain will be left. From that point on, it will be simply us… and Jesus. No more sin, no more temptation, no more grief. Joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8 KJV) is ours.

6  For (because) the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Why does the Lord do this? Why does He separate us from the wicked? The answer is in verse 6. He watches over us.

For a time, the husk and the kernel are so closely attached that they are inseparable. At the right time, in the right season to harvest, the threshing and winnowing takes place, with the Lord separating the chaff (the wicked) from the grain (the believer). Until the time of the harvest, the kernel and the chaff have to be living with each other. From the time of the harvest onward, the grain will no longer have to deal with the chaff.

Now let’s read the Psalm from beginning to end:

Psalm 1

1 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,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 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.

4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Be Blessed!

Paige