Psalms 1 - The Righteous vs The Ungodly

In Psalm 1 I believe it strongly shows a comparison between being righteous and being ungodly. It gives Gods view of what will come for the righteous man and also the ungodly man.
Let's dig in.....

The first thing that comes for the righteous man is blessing from God.

Verse 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.

This shows a progression, first walking with the ungodly, which leads to stopping and standing, then eventually taking a seat. When we decide to take a seat, we intend to stay awhile. This verse shows a progression of what happens when we begin to consider the worlds view reasonable, stop to consider it and eventually let it take root in our life.

We are blessed when we avoid even walking in the counsel of the ungodly. The counsel.... What does that mean? I would say it means we don't look to the ungodly for the advice as to how to live our lives. Most of the advice coming from the world is backward to what the word of God advises. We must live by Gods standards, not the worlds.

The second thing that comes for the righteous man is great joy and pleasure in the ways of God.

Verse 2 - But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

As we drench ourselves in the laws of God, (His word) we see the character of God and we begin to fall in love with Him. As this happens we want to do what He calls us to do. His desires become our desires. It becomes more than a duty; it becomes a great joy to meditate on His ways day and night. It becomes one of those things that you can't get enough of, like a song that you can't get out of your head. Because we love Him we also love His law.

The third thing that comes for the righteous man is prosperity.

Verse 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.

This does not mean if you do everything right you will have plenty of money and everything will be smooth sailing. It does mean that we will have what God considers prosperity. Let me explain.

A tree planted by the river grows to be a great and mighty tree because it has plenty of the things it needs to grow. It gives off fruit, "in season" and it stays strong, it does not wither and die. When we walk in Gods counsel and stay rooted in His word we will be like that tree planted by the river. We will grow to be great and mighty for God because we are staying where we can be feed with what we need to grow. There will be great times (seasons) where we produce much fruit. We will stay strong and not wither and die spiritually because we are connected to what we need to live. When we are strongly connected to God and rooted in his word we prosper. We prosper not in the framework of the world but in the eternal sense. What we do will prosper because what we do has become the same as what God desires.

So what does it say about the ungodly?

First, the ungodly are unusable in the Kingdom of God and they will blow away like the wind.

Verse 4 - The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

The chaff is the unusable portion of wheat that falls to the threshing floor. The wind then comes along and blows it away. In the Kingdom of God the ungodly are like the chaff, they are unusable to God. They will eventually fall to the ground before God but it will be too late. They will be thrown away like the chaff with the wind.

Second, the ungodly will not stand in the judgment

Verse 5 - Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

The ungodly will not stand up to the judgment that will come. Their excuses will not hold water when they stand before a righteous and holy God. He is love yes but He is also holy and just. Justice will eventually come and the excuses will not hold up in the court of God. There will not be sinners that get to stand together with those that God calls righteous. Only those forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ will stand as righteous. The ungodly will not be a part of what waits in heaven for the believer.

Third, in the end, the ways of the ungodly will perish

Verse 6 - For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The choice made to reject Jesus Christ as their savior will ultimately damn them to hell. Their ways of wickedness will not stand forever. God will eventually make all wrongs right and evil will be put away for eternity. They will perish with the evil they have chosen. God will not allow evil to continue forever. He will, in His chosen time, destroy those who choose to be ungodly.