How does Psalm 1:4 describe the wicked compared to the righteous? The stark contrast introduced Psalm 1:4 opens with an emphatic break: “Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.” That opening phrase—“Not so the wicked!”—signals a complete reversal of the picture painted in verse 3, where the righteous are “like a tree planted by streams of water.” The righteous are fruitful, rooted, nourished, steady. The wicked, by contrast, are likened to chaff. What is chaff? • The light, dry husk that surrounds a grain kernel • Separated from the valuable grain during threshing • Weightless and useless, it blows away easily Key traits of chaff—and therefore of the wicked • No roots: chaff is already detached from the stalk; the wicked have no enduring connection to life-giving truth (cf. John 15:5–6). • No substance: chaff has no nutritional value; the wicked ultimately produce nothing of lasting worth (Matthew 7:19). • No stability: just a light gust moves chaff; the wicked are tossed by every wind (Ephesians 4:14). • No future: once the wind carries it away, chaff is forgotten; the wicked “will not stand in the judgment” (Psalm 1:5). The force of the wind Old Testament writers regularly pair chaff with wind in judgment imagery: • Job 21:18 – “Are they as straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?” • Isaiah 17:13 – “The nations roar… They will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind.” • Hosea 13:3 – “They will be like chaff swirling from the threshing floor, like smoke slipping through a window.” The wind represents God’s active, sovereign judgment. The wicked are powerless before it. Why this matters for the righteous The righteous, by contrast, are planted and prosperous (Psalm 1:3). Whereas the wicked are driven away, “the LORD guards the path of the righteous” (Psalm 1:6). The imagery calls believers to cherish their rootedness in God’s Word, knowing that permanence belongs to those who delight in Him. Takeaway snapshot • Righteous: fruitful tree, nourished, enduring • Wicked: weightless chaff, useless, swept away Psalm 1:4 vividly reminds us that life apart from God may appear free and unrestrained, yet it is ultimately empty and subject to His righteous wind. |
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