Study Through the Gospels: Luke 1:1-4

Psalm 1:5 - One Way or the Other

It has been some time since I last wrote here. We were meditating on Psalm 1 one verse at a time. And we come to the penultimate verse today.

“Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

That is not seeker friendly, is it? It is blunt. It is a hard truth. It is something that we shy away from talking about. But it is true. And we must be bold to meditate and proclaim those things that are difficult. We love to preach the glories of heaven (and we should!). But we cannot neglect to speak of the horrors of hell.

One day, God will judge the world through Jesus Christ. And all those who have believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ—that He died to take the punishment of sin and that He was raised again on the third day, indicating that God accepted and was pleased with the atonement of Christ—will enter into His rest. But those who have not believed in Jesus will be thrown into the lake of fire.

The psalmist puts it this way: “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,” because the wicked do not stand on every word of God, but proclaim themselves wise (when they are really fools) and exchange God’s glory for whatever pleases their heart (cf. Rom 1). Because they have not honored God or believed His Word, they are chaff which will be scattered at the judgment. “He will be summoned to the great white throne there to find that the heaven and the earth have fled away. Everything familiar will be gone. Everything he has sought to build, everything in which he has invested his time and his talents—gone! He has nowhere to stand. He has built his house upon the sand and the judgment has swept it all away.” (Phillips, 21).

Sinners will not stand in the judgment nor in the assembly of the righteous. There is no fooling God. You are either with Him or against Him. You are either of Christ or you are of the Devil. There is no other option. Will you be chaff that is scattered? Will you be weighed in the scales on that day and be found wanting? If you do not stand in Christ, you will not stand at all.

If you are in Christ, you will indeed stand on that day. You will be part of the righteous assembly worshipping the Lamb forever and ever. Let this verse make us hunger for the conversion of souls. Let us go out daily fishing for those who will turn to Jesus and be saved. Let us proclaim our great Savior among those who are wicked sinners who scoff at righteousness. Let us call those who are dead in sins to life in Christ.

Psalm 15 Scripture Reading and Prayer

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