Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.
Parallel Translations
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Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.
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Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
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Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the LORD regardeth the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked shall perish.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (27)
- 2 Timothy 2:19 (v6) However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the…
- John 10:14 (v6) I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
- Proverbs 15:9 (v6) The way of the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh, but he loves him who follows after righteousness.
- Nahum 1:7 (v6) Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.
- Psalms 5:5 (v5) The arrogant will not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.
Show all 27 cross-references
- Psalms 37:18-24 (v6) Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days…
- John 10:27 (v6) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
- Matthew 25:46 (v5) These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Psalms 146:9 (v6) Yahweh preserves the foreigners. He upholds the fatherless and widow, but he turns the way of the wicked upside down.
- Proverbs 14:12 (v6) There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
- Malachi 3:18 (v5) Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.
- Psalms 139:1-2 (v6) Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
- Matthew 7:13 (v6) “Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it.
- Matthew 25:41 (v5) Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his…
- Job 23:10 (v6) But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold.
- Psalms 142:3 (v6) When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.
- Luke 21:36 (v5) Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before…
- Matthew 25:32 (v5) Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- 2 Peter 2:12 (v6) But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are…
- Psalms 9:6 (v6) The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.
- Psalms 112:10 (v6) The wicked will see it, and be grieved. He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. The desire of the wicked will perish.
- Matthew 13:49 (v5) So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous,
- Psalms 9:7-8 (v5) But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment…
- Jude 1:15 (v5) to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of…
- Psalms 26:9 (v5) Don’t gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men;
- Psalms 9:16 (v5) Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.
- Psalms 24:3 (v5) Who may ascend to Yahweh’s hill? Who may stand in his holy place?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv5–6 In the fifth verse, the prophet teaches that a…
In the fifth verse, the prophet teaches that a happy life depends on a good conscience, and that, therefore, it is not wonderful, if the ungodly suddenly fall from the happiness of which they fancied themselves in possession. And there is implied in the words a kind of concession; the prophet tacitly acknowledges that the ungodly please and enjoy themselves, and triumph during the reign of moral disorder in the world; just as robbers revel in the woods and caves, when beyond the reach of justice. But he assures us, that things will not always remain in their present state of confusion, and that when they shall have been reduced to proper order, these ungodly persons shall be entirely deprived of their pleasures, and feel that they were infatuated when they thought themselves happy. We now see how the Psalmist pronounces the ungodly to be miserable, because happiness is the inward blessing of a good conscience. He does not deny, that before they are driven to judgment, all things succeed well with them; but he denies that they are happy unless they have substantial and steadfast integrity of character to sustain them: for the true integrity of the righteous manifests itself when it comes at length to be tried. It is indeed true, that the Lord daily executes judgment, by making a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, but because this is done only partially in this life, we must look higher if we desire to behold the assembly of the righteous, of which mention is here made.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv5–6 But tremble when they feel God’s wrath.
But tremble when they feel God’s wrath.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Psa 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in…
Psa 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Ver. 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment] i.e. Causa cadent et damnabuntur, at the great assizes they shall be cast and condemned. Vix steteris (Terent.). Rev 6:17, "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" 1Pe 4:18. Surely nowhere, but in hell, their own place, Act 1:25 : not before God, for he is a consuming fire, Heb 12:29, and they chaff or stubble, fully dried, see Isa 33:14; not before Christ, for he shall come in flaming fire, rendering vengeance, &c., 2Th 1:7; not in heaven, for it is an undefiled inheritance, neither may any dirty dog trample on that golden pavement, Rev 22:15; not any longer on earth, defiled by their iniquities, and, therefore, to be purged by the fire of the last day; for the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up, 2Pe 3:10. R. David Kimchi by judgment here understandeth the day of the wicked man’s death; and indeed his death’s day is his doom’s day, when he must take a fearful farewell, and breathe out his soul and hope together with the breath of the same dying groan, Job 27:8; Job 11:20. Hinc illae lachrymae, hence that lothing to depart, though some set a good face upon it when to die, as Sir Thomas Moore, who died for the pope’s supremacy with a light jest in his mouth. Vespasian likewise died with a jest, and Augustus in a compliment. This was but the hypocrisy of mirth; for death is the king of terror to a natural man. See Heb 2:15 1Sa 15:32; 1Sa 28:20. Saul, at the message of death, swooned quite away, and fell all along, Quantus quantus erat, as Peter Martyr phraseth it; yea, good Hezekiah wept when sentenced to death, and the approach of it was to him Mar mar, bitter bitterness, Isa 38:3; Isa 38:17. He must have his faith at his fingers’ ends, as one saith, that will die actively. But all men have not faith, 2Th 3:2, and those few that have are not always assured that their hearts shall live for ever, as Psa 22:26, and that death, the devil’s sergeant, to drag wicked men to hell, shall be to them the Lord’s gentle usher, to conduct them to heaven, as Mr Brightman expresseth it.
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Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous] They shall never set foot within heaven’s threshold, within that general assembly, that sacred panegyris {a}, ample amphitheatre, the congregation house of crowned saints and glorious angels. Tertullian saith of Pompey’s theatre (which was the greatest ornament of old Rome) that it was Arx omnium turpitudinum, a receptacle of all kind of ribaldry and roguery. Not so heaven: "There shall ill nowise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie," Rev 21:27. The Irish air will sooner brook a toad, or a snake, than heaven a sinner. Mali in area nobiscum esse possunt, in horreo non possunt, Chaff may be with God’s good grain on the floor, but in the garner it shall not (Augustin). For Christ "will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire," Mat 3:12.
{a} Gr. Antiq. A general assembly; esp. a festal assembly in honour of a god.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Therefore, to wit, because they are ungodly; or because,…
Therefore, to wit, because they are ungodly; or because, as this particle is sometimes used, as Gen 38:26; Num 10:31; 14:43; Psa 42:6; for this verse is added to enforce or prove what he said in the former.
Shall not stand, i.e. not subsist or endure the trial; or not be justified, or carry his cause, as this word is oft used; being opposed to falling, as Psa 18:38; 20:8; Mal 3:2; Luk 21:36; Rom 14:4; Eph 6:13.
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In the judgment; either,
1. In the time of temporal calamities, when God shall arise to judge and punish them; for then the hearts of the wicked fail, and their consciences are filled with horror. Or,
2. In that great and general judgment of the whole world, called here
the judgment emphatically; in that solemn and general congregation of all mankind, as the next words express it. In the congregation of the righteous, i.e. In that society which shall consist of none but righteous persons, or amongst the righteous ones on Christ’s right hand, Mat 25:32.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,....…
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,.... Neither in temporal judgment, when God comes forth in a way of wrath and sore displeasure; for who can stand before him when he is angry? what are chaff and stubble, thorns and briers, to consuming fire? nor in the last and great day of judgment, so the Targum and Kimchi interpret the words; for that day will burn like an oven the wicked, who will be as stubble, and leave neither root nor branch, Mal 4:1, when the great day of the Lamb's wrath is come, who will be able to stand? Rom 6:16; there will be no standing for the wicked when he appears; they will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to take their trial and hear their sentence, Co2 5:10; but they shall not stand in the same place with the righteous, not at Christ's right hand, but at his left; they shall not stand with an holy confidence, with intrepidity, and without shame, as the blessed man will; they will not stand, but fall in judgment; they will not be acquitted and discharged, but be condemned to everlasting punishment, Mat 25:30; and this sense the Targum on the place expresses, "the ungodly shall not be justified in the great day"; the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions render the words, "the ungodly shall not rise again in judgment"; from whence some have concluded there will be no resurrection of the wicked: which seems, to be the sense of Kimchi and other Jewish writers; who assert that the souls of the wicked perish with their bodies at death, and that the latter rise not, contrary to Ecc 12:7; but that the wicked will, rise may be concluded from the justice of God, which requires that the bodies which have sinned should be punished; and from the general judgment of good and bad, and from the account of the punishment of hell, which will be inflicted on the body as well as on the soul: besides, the contrary doctrine is a licentious one, and is calculated to harden wicked men in their sins, and is directly repugnant to the assertions of Christ, and the Apostle Paul, Joh 5:28; nor has it any foundation in this text, even admitting such a version; which does not absolutely affirm that the wicked shall not rise again, but that they shall not rise again in, judgment, in the first resurrection, the resurrection of the just, and so as to be acquitted and discharged, but they shall rise to the resurrection of damnation;
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; who are made righteous by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and have a work of grace and holiness wrought in them; and who, under the influence of grace, live soberly, righteously, and godly; these are the same with the blessed man, Psa 1:1; and who at the day of judgment will be perfectly holy, and free from all sin; and they will be all gathered together by the holy angels; the dead saints will be raised, the living ones will be changed, and both will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and will make up one general assembly and church of the firstborn; and among these, and in this assembly, there will not be a single sinner; there are now sinners in Zion, foolish virgins with the wise, chaff and tares among Christ's wheat, and wolves and goats among his sheep; but then there will be an eternal separation, and no mixing together any more.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Not stand - Not endure the trial. Judgment -…
Not stand - Not endure the trial. Judgment - In the great and general judgment of the world.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Verse 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand] This…
Verse 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand] This refers to the winnowing mentioned in the preceding verse. Some of the versions have, The ungodly shall not arise in the judgment - they shall have no resurrection, except to shame and everlasting contempt. But probably the meaning is, When they come to be judged, they shall be condemned. They shall have nothing to plead in their behalf. That the impious were never to have any resurrection, but be annihilated, was the opinion of several among the Jews, and of some among Christians. The former believe that only the true Israelites shall be raised again; and that the souls of all others, the Christians not excepted, die with their bodies. Such unfounded opinions are unworthy of refutation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Psa 1:5. The ungodly shall not stand in the…
Psa 1:5. The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment — Shall not endure the time of trial, which will assuredly come. It may be that God will arise, and judge, and punish them by temporal calamities, and that these will fill their consciences with horror, and cause their hearts to fail. But if not, if they escape these, it is certain they shall not stand, nor escape condemnation and wrath in the great and general judgment of the whole world. Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous — That is, in that society which shall consist of none but righteous persons. “At present,” as Dr. Horne observes, “wheat and chaff lie in one floor; wheat and tares grow in one field; good and bad fishes are comprehended in one net; good and bad men are contained in the visible church;” but let us wait with patience God’s time of separation. The husbandman will appear, with his fan in his hand, and will thoroughly purge his floor; the harvest will come, and the tares shall be gathered up, and bound in bundles to be burned; the net shall be drawn to shore, and, while the good fishes are gathered into vessels, the bad shall be cast away. In other words, at His command who is the governor of his church, and to whom the Father hath committed all judgment, the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and then not one sinner shall be found in the congregation of the righteous.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Therefore - Because they are thus worthless.
Therefore - Because they are thus worthless.
The ungodly - See the notes at Psa 1:1. The wicked in general; the wicked of any kind or degree.
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Shall not stand - Compare the notes at Psa 1:1. The idea is, that they will not be found among those who are acquitted by the Judge, and approved by him. The idea seems to be derived from the act of standing up to be tried, or to receive a sentence.
In the judgment - The Aramaic Paraphrase renders this, “in the great day” - understanding it of the day of judgment. The Septuagint and Vulgate render it, “the wicked shall not rise - ἀναστήσονται anastēsontai - resurgent - in judgment.” Most of the Jewish interpreters, following the Aramaic Paraphrase, understand this as referring to the last judgment. Rosenmuller, in loc. The truth stated, however, seems to be more general than that, though that is probably included. The meaning is, that they would not share the lot of the righteous: in all places, and at all times, where character is determined, and where the divine estimate of human character is manifested, it would be found that they could not stand the trial, or abide the result, so as to have a place with the righteous. Their true character would in all such cases be shown, and they would be treated like the chaff that is driven away. This would be true alike in those situations of trial in the present life when character is determined, and at the last judgment, when the sentence will be pronounced which will determine the final doom of mankind.
Nor sinners - See the notes at Psa 1:1.
In the congregation of the righteous - Be reckoned or regarded as belonging to the righteous. That is, in all the places where the righteous, as such, are assembled, they will have no place: where they assemble to worship God; where they meet as his friends; where they unitedly participate in his favor; when, in the last day, they shall be gathered together to receive their reward, and when they shall be assembled together in heaven. The sinner has no place in the congregations of the people of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv5–6 stand in the judgment--be acquitted. They shall be driven…
stand in the judgment--be acquitted. They shall be driven from among the good (Mat 25:45-46).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5–6 5. Not stand in the judgment— “Judgment” is strictly…
5. Not stand in the judgment— “Judgment” is strictly a forensic term: “God will bring every work into judgment.” Ecc_12:14. The declaration that “the ungodly shall not stand,” is equal to they shall be overthrown; as in Nah_1:6, “Who can abide [Hebrew, stand up] in the fierceness of his anger?” and Exo_15:7, “Thou hast overthrown them that rose up [or, stood up] against thee.” See also Deu_28:7, and 2 Samuel 20:40, 49. The wicked have “risen up,” or “stood up,” against God and his Church. They shall be judged, and shall not stand, and their overthrow shall be as opposite to the blessings of the godly man as their character is opposite.
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous—This forms a parallelism with the previous hemistich, and so means essentially the same. “Congregation of the righteous” must be understood in the true Hebraistic sense, as including not simply the upright, but those only whose names were on the genealogical records of the covenant people. See Eze_13:10; Neh_7:5; Neh_7:61; Ezr_2:62. From this figure arose the New Testament description, “general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.” Heb_12:23. See also Luk_10:20; Rev_21:27. The words in the text refer us to the final trial, by which sinners, who now mix with the righteous like tares among the wheat, shall be sifted out and separated from the assembly whose names are written in the book of life.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–6 5. Therefore] The real character of the wicked will…
5. Therefore] The real character of the wicked will be manifested in the judgement. Since they are thus worthless and unstable, destitute of root and fruit, the wicked will not hold their ground in the judgement, in which Jehovah separates the chaff from the wheat (Mat_3:12).
stand] So Lat. causa stare, and the opposite causa cadere. Cp. Psa_5:5; Psa_130:3; Nah_1:6; Mal_3:2; Wis_5:1.
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in the judgment] Not, before a human tribunal: nor merely in the last judgement, (as the Targum and many interpreters understand it): but in every act of judgement by which Jehovah separates between the righteous and the wicked, and vindicates His righteous government of the world. Cp. as an illustration Numbers 16. Each such ‘day of the Lord’ is a type and pledge of the great day of judgement. Cp. Isa_1:24 ff; Isa_2:12 ff.; Mal_3:5; Ecc_12:14.
in the congregation of the righteous] The ‘congregation of Israel,’ which is the congregation of Jehovah,’ is in its true idea and ultimate destination, the ‘congregation of the righteous’ (Psa_111:1). It is the aim of each successive judgement to purify it, until at last the complete and final separation shall be effected (Mat_13:41-43).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–6 (5) Therefore.—Notice contrast with Psa_1:1. Those who had deliberately…
(5) Therefore.—Notice contrast with Psa_1:1. Those who had deliberately chosen the assembly of the scornful will have no place in that of the good.
Shall not stand.—Properly, shall not rise. Probably like our phrase, “shall not hold up his head.” Will be self-convicted, and shrink away before God’s unerring scrutiny, like the man without a wedding garment in our Lord’s parable (Mat_22:12). The LXX. and Vulg. have “rise again,” as if with thought of an after state.
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The congregation of the righteous.—A phrase repeating itself in different forms in the Psalms. It implies either Israel as opposed to the heathen, or faithful Israel as opposed to those who had proved disloyal to the covenant. In theory all the congregation was holy (Num_16:3), but we meet in the Psalms with the feeling expressed in the Apostle’s words, “They are not all Israel that are of Israel.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Therefore the ungodly (or, the wicked) shall not stand…
Therefore the ungodly (or, the wicked) shall not stand in the judgment. "Therefore," as being chaff, i.e. "destitute of spiritual vitality" (Kay), "the wicked shall not stand," or shall not rise up , in the judgment," i.e. in the judgment of the last day. So the Targum, Rashi, Dr. Kay, Canon Cook, and others. It is certainly not conceivable that any human judgment is intended by "the judgment" (fpvMih), and though possibly "all manifestations of God"s punitive righteousness are comprehended" (Hengstenberg), yet the main idea must be that the wicked shall not be able to "stand," or" rise up," i.e. "hold up their heads" (Aglen), in the last day. Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Here the human judgment comes in. Sinners will be cast out, not only from heaven, hut also from the Church, or "congregation of the righteous," if not before, at any rate when the "congregation" is finally made up.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv5–6 Verse 5. They shall stand there to be judged,…
Verse 5. They shall stand there to be judged, but not to be acquitted. Fear shall lay hold upon them there; they shall not stand their ground; they shall flee away; they shall not stand in their own defence; for they shall blush and be covered with eternal contempt. Well may the saints long for heaven, for no evil men shall dwell there, "nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." All our congregations upon earth are mixed. Every Church hath one devil in it. The tares grow in the same furrows as the wheat. There is no floor which is as yet thoroughly purged from chaff. Sinners mix with saints, as dross mingles with gold. God's precious diamonds still lie in the same field with pebbles. Righteous Lots are this side heaven continually vexed by the men of Sodom. Let us rejoice then, that in "the general assembly and church of the firstborn" above, there shall by no means be admitted a single unrenewed soul. Sinners cannot live in heaven. They would be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in Paradise. Heaven would be an intolerable hell to an impenitent man, even if he could be allowed to enter; but such a privilege shall never be granted to the man who perseveres in his iniquities. May God grant that we may have a name and a place in his courts above!
Verse 5. "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment," etc. And may not a reason also be conceived thus, why the ungodly can never come to be of the congregation of the righteous: the righteous go a way that God knows, and the wicked go a way that God destroys; and seeing that these ways can never meet, how should the men meet that go these ways? And to make sure work that they shall never meet indeed, the prophet expresseth the way of the righteous by the first link of the chain of God's goodness, which is his knowledge; but expresseth the way of the wicked by the last link of God's justice, which is his destroying; and though God's justice and his mercy do often meet, and are contiguous one to another, yet the first link of his mercy and the last link of his justice can never meet, for it never comes to destroying till God be heard to say Nescio vos, "I know you not," and nescio vos in God, and God's knowledge, can certainly never possibly meet together. Sir Richard Baker.
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Verse 5. The Irish air will sooner brook a toad, or a snake, than heaven a sinner. John Trapp.
Verse 5. The sinner's double doom.
1. Condemned at the judgment-bar.
2. Separated from the saints.
Reasonableness of these penalties, "therefore," and the way to escape them. "The congregation of the righteous" viewed as the church of the first-born above. This may furnish a noble topic.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv5–6 The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.
Psa_1:5
The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.
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The day of judgment
1. None will deny that the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, explicitly condemns the sinner, and consigns him to the second death. By the law can no man be justified. It contains no provision for pardon.
2. He will not be able to stand in the last trial, because all the witnesses will be against him. His companions in sin will testify against him. The example of the righteous will testify against the impenitent. The sinners own awakened conscience and memory will testify against him. So will the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The eternal Judge will be inflexibly strict in interpreting and upholding the law. And
4. The impenitent sinner at Gods bar will have no advocate. (A. Dickinson,.)
The ungodly rising to judgment
They shall not rise in the judgment, this is more than St. Paul would have said himself if he had been in the prophets place, for who ever thought the ungodly should rise in the judgment, who are sure to fall in the judgment, seeing their judgment shall be to condemnation and not to deliverance? To rise to the judgment is to be brought to public trial, and this is the general resurrection that we believe; but to rise in the judgment is upon trial to come off with credit, and, by the sentence of the Judge, not only to be justified, but advanced. And who ever believed this rising to belong to the wicked? (Sir Richard Baker.)
A congregation in which sinners cannot stand
And as there shall be a general judgment, in which the ungodly shall not rise, so, after the judgment, there shall be a particular congregation of the righteous, in which sinners shall not stand. And, indeed, what society can there be between a tree and chaff? or who can think it fit that trees and chaff should be made companions? And as there is no reason that the ungodly, having made others by their counsel to fall here, should rise themselves in judgment hereafter, so there is no reason, seeing the righteous could not be suffered to stand here in the way of sinners, that sinners should be suffered to stand hereafter in the congregation of the righteous. And here now a multitude of reasons seem assembled, as it were, to make it good, that sinners neither can nor ought to stand in this assembly. It is a congregation which none can make but the righteous; for sinners are all rebels, and would make it a rout. It is a court where all must be neat and clean; and so are none but the righteous; for sinners are all lepers, and would make it a spital. It is a company that makes a communion, and that can none do but saints, for sinners seek everyone their own, and are all for themselves. They must be all Gods friends; at least, such as He knows; and such are only the righteous, for sinners are all mere strangers and aliens from God. (Sir Richard Baker.)
Failure in judgment
And now let the great men of the world please themselves, and think it a happiness that they can rise in honours, can rise in riches and estimation in the world; yet, alas! what is all this, if they fail of rising in the judgment to come? (Sir Richard Baker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 For Yahweh approves of the way of the righteous,…
For Yahweh approves of the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish
These two clauses contrast what happens to righteous people with what happens to wicked people. (See: Parallelism)
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the way of the righteous
How people live is spoken of as if it were a "way" or "road" that they are walking on. AT: "how the righteous live" (See: Metaphor)
the way of the wicked will perish
How people live and what they do is spoken of as if it were a "way" or "road" that they walk on. Possible meanings are 1) the way perishing represents the wicked perishing because of how they live. AT: "The wicked will die because of how they live" or 2) the way perishing is a metaphor for no longer being able to live the way they do. AT: "the wicked will no longer be able to live the way they live" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
righteous
evil
perish
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5–6 1:5 The wicked cannot abide the scrutiny of the…
1:5 The wicked cannot abide the scrutiny of the Lord’s judgment; they are already condemned (see 5:5; 7:6; 101:7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.