Psalm 1: The Blessedness of the Way of the Righteous
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 but his delight is in the law of Yahweh and in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
"He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrew 11:6b) Yet still: “The greater part of mankind being accustomed to deride the conduct of the saints as mere simplicity, and to regard their labor [in the Word, as well as their good deeds] as entirely thrown away, it was of importance that the righteous should be confirmed in the way of holiness, by the consideration of the miserable condition of all men without the blessing of God, and the conviction that God is favorable to none but those who zealously devote themselves to the study of divine truth.” (Calvin) We are under the curse of the Torah of Yahweh, according to Genesis. After the Fall, mankind then approached Him by good works alone… or through the work of God, even the Atonement of the burnt offering [which got our deservings] and the subsequent meal offering of His works in us.
“Blessed is the man”— “man, אישׁ Ish, a prince, a ruler, a patriarchal-- (Sutcliffe) that is, a man or prince like Jacob who wrestled with God and prevailed. "This is a running word in the psalms, while ‘Adam’, the word of contrast with ‘Ish’, is used for men of low degree; for common men, for worms of the dust.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)— “‘that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,’ etc.— The word ‘walk’ is often used in the Scriptures to denote a way of life or conduct - since life is represented as a journey, and man as a traveler.” (Albert Barnes) This blessed man “doth not lead his life according to their counsel, or course, or manner of living.” (Matthew Poole) — “‘nor stands in the path of sinners.’ — The idea is that of to persist, to abide, to persevere in, as Ecclesiastes 8:3; 2 Kings 23:3...— ‘nor sits in the seat of the scornful.’ A phrase indicating a finished work of unbelief… The word ‘seat’ is translated assembly in Psalms 107:32…” (Whedon Bible Commentary)
Thus they gather into church congregation, unto good works without regard for the Teachings. “With their corresponding verbs, mark gradations of evil, as acting on the principles, cultivating the society, and permanently conforming to the conduct of the wicked, who are described by three terms, of which the last is indicative of the boldest impiety (compare Psalm 26:4, 5; Jeremiah 15:17).” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)
“’But his delight is in the Torah of Yahweh’ — in the holy Scriptures (Geneva Study Bible), “in the study and practice thereof, as appears from the context.” (Joseph Benson) “He looketh into the perfect law of liberty; and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word; and is therefore blessed in his deed. He not only reads to gain knowledge from the Divine oracles, but he meditates on what he has read, feeds on it; and thus receiving the sincere milk of the word, he grows thereby unto eternal life.” (Adam Clarke) This is the way of blessedness. — “‘And in His law he meditates day and night.’ But the world is full of distractions for the carnal man. “And satan is making so much noise with all of his devices deployed in all directions, shouting and screaming for our attention, that it becomes increasingly difficult to focus our minds upon the Creator and our obligation to love and serve Him.” (Burton Coffman)
“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water— in moist places, where most trees thrive best; understand it of those waters of the [true] sanctuary, Ezekiel 47:12, together with those unfailing influences of grace and consolation that are in him, as a well of water bubbling up to eternal life, John 4:14.” (John Trapp)— “’that brings forth its fruit in its season,” etc. Who but Jesus is such a tree!—> Who flourishes but You, oh Lord!
“Yes, blessed Redeemer, thy people planted in thee, are made branches in thee, will thrive in thee, and bring forth fruit in thee, for thou hast said, because 'I live ye shall live also.' But though in thee, and by thee, and from thee, thy people live and derive all life, and nourishment, and moisture, and fruitfulness, in due season, yet it is because thou art the self-existing, life-imparting tree, in the midst of the garden of Jehovah; and being the same yesterday, to day, and forever, thou art liable to no fading, nor falling, but art always blooming, both in blossom and fruit, towards thy people.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
Psalm 1: The Curse of the Ungodly
4 The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
“If Christ is the ‘blessed Man’ of Psalm 1, so is the antichrist the ‘ungodly man.’ It is because of this conflict between Christ and the antichrist that we have placed as the head of our first thought... If God has His churches; Satan will have his churches. If Christ and His preachers proclaim righteousness by faith, Satan and his preachers will proclaim righteousness by self-effort both, however, proclaim righteousness. If God has His Christ; Satan will have his antichrist. If God is light, Satan will transform himself as an angel of light.”(Wells of Living Water)
“‘The ungodly are not so,' they are like the trees planted by the water ”’but’ without root below, without fruit above, without spiritual vitality; therefore, on account of their inner worthlessness and instability, they will not stand.” (Delitzsch)— and thus “'are like the chaff which the wind drives away.' 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.”(Matthew Henry)
"'Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment’— They will not be justified or “acquitted before the tribunal of God, will not be able to stand up and hold their own in the last Great Investigation.” (Paul E. Kretzman) “The psalmist does not date it. There is a continually operative law of retribution, and there are crises of individual or national life, when the accumulated consequences of evil deeds fall on the doers. But the definite article prefixed to ‘judgment’ seems to suggest some special ‘day’ of separation. It is noteworthy and perhaps illuminative that John the Baptist uses the same figures of the tree and the chaff in his picture of the Messianic judgments, and that epoch may have been in the psalmist’s mind. Whatever the date, this he is sure of-that the wind will rise some time, and that, when it does, the wicked will be blown out of sight. When the judgment comes, the ‘congregation of the righteous’-that is, the true Israel within Israel, or, to speak in Christian language, the true invisible Church-will be freed from admixture of outward adherents, whose lives give the lie to their profession.” (Expositor's Bible)
“‘Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.’— They shall never set foot within heaven’s threshold, within that general assembly, that sacred panegyris, ample amphitheatre, the congregation house of crowned saints and glorious angels… ‘There shall in nowise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie,’ Revelation 21:27. The Irish air will sooner brook a toad, or a snake, than heaven a sinner…. Chaff may be with God’s good grain on the floor, but in the garner it shall not (Augustine). For Christ ‘will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,’ Matthew 3:12.” (John Trapp)- prepared for the devil and his messengers. (Matthew 25:41)- heavenly and/or earthly.
“‘For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,’ He knows them and is known of them, He is united with them by the closest band of union, in the most intimate fellowship, Joh_10:14-15, and therefore their path through life is sure to lead to God, certain to reach the goal of everlasting bliss in Him. (Paul E Kretzmann)— “‘but the way of the ungodly shall perish.’ — All their designs and courses shall come to nothing, and they shall perish with them.” (John Wesley) “Their practices and persons shall perish together, be done away, be lost for ever….Hence their souls are flung out, as out of the middle of a sling, when the souls of the saints are bound up in the bundle of life, with the Lord their God, 1 Samuel 25:29.” (John Trapp) “And as you go on through the book of Psalms, as also in Proverbs, you will find these two ways contrasted throughout. In Psalm after Psalm the way of the righteous, the way that pleases God, the way that glorifies Him is contrasted with the way of the ungodly, the way of those who forget God, who turn away from Him, refuse subjection to His holy will” (Ironside's Notes) “The sinner begins with ungodliness, goes on to scorning, and ends as chaff, Matthew 13:30.” (F. B. Meyer)
They shall surely die, as a just penalty for transgression of the Commandments, according to the Divine Oracle (Genesis 2:17)- they being under the curse of the Torah, knowing good and evil. They are thus pitted for endtime destruction, that is the second death.