TWO PATHS – TWO FRUITS - TWO ENDS

“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”

—Psalm 1:5 (KJV)

Overall, Psalm 1 is a Psalm of contrast. It presents a path that ultimately leads to destruction (Psalm 1:1) and a path that ultimately leads to a life where the “leaf also shall not wither” (Psalm 1: 2-3). In life, these two paths leads to two different types of fruits. The first (and righteous path) leads to fruit that is acceptable to God that derives from the abundant “rivers of water” springing forth from Christ at Calvary (Psalm 1:3). The destructive path yields a fruit of chaff “which the wind driveth away” (Psalm 1:4).

The ones who yielded the righteous fruit will have a joyous life everlasting where they belong to God and God belongs to them. In the final outcome, God will take the ones who yielded Chaff and cast them into the fire. 

In Psalm 1:5, once again you have a contrast presented. You have two types of people: the ungodly/sinners and the “congregation of the righteous”. Moreover, the verse gives an eerie prophecy of what will happen to the ungodly on judgment day—they will not stand. Dishearteningly, the verse implies sinners will not have a place among God’s people.

Revelation 21:8 (KJV) goes into more detail about what will happen on the day of Judgment to the sinner and the ungodly who bears unacceptable fruit. They are discarded like Chaff into the Lake of Fire:

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Revelation Chapter 21:1-6 (KJV) also contains great hope for the Congregation of the the Righteous, those who accepted the free offer of salvation from the Lord Jesus and yielded righteous fruit:

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 

And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

This Psalm causes me to do some soul searching and I come to realize that I am not worthy of everlasting fellowship with God on my own merit. I don’t deserve to be part of his people or take ownership of God as mine. Romans 3:10-11 (KJV)  says that we are sinners: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

What hope does the human race have? The answer is Jesus Christ who came and died for our sins. In Acts 16: 27-31 (KJV), the Philippian Jailor wanted to know what he must do to be saved and Paul and Silas said believe on the Lord Jesus: 

“And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 

Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved. You then become God’s child and he becomes your God. Through him you become a member of the the Congregation of the Righteous. Praise his Holy Name.

For further reading:

King James Bible