Fate of the Wicked - Digging Into the Psalms

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We love blessings. They make us happy. The promise to be blessed is a positive force with the power to brighten our day. Yet as we journey we must also deal with the negatives presented in the Scriptures. They should serve as warnings, and should cause us to evaluate our relationship with our Creator.

We've been thrilled by the promise of multiple blessings for the godly, who delight themselves in the Law of the Lord, but there's an opposite. Where there are the godly, there must also be the ungodly. Let's look at Psalm 1:4 (KJV):

"The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away."

Chaff is the debris separated from the grain during threshing. Chaff is a material that is completely worthless. The grain is to be saved. The chaff is to be turned into compost or destroyed. The godly are saved like the grain. The ungodly aren't.

Here's how the prophet Isaiah describes the fate of the ungodly:

"You will go up in flames like straw and hay! You have rejected the teaching of the holy LORD God All-Powerful of Israel. Now your roots will rot and your blossoms will turn to dust (Isaiah 5:24 Contemporary English Version)."

What a contrast this is to the godly who are planted like trees by rivers of water! The ungodly are worthless chaff, and are destined for the fire. The ungodly reject the Law of the Lord. They take no delight in obeying God's commandments. Let's move on...

"Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous (Psalms 1:5 KJV)."

This is the ultimate fate of the ungodly. They are to be eternally separated from God and the godly. The ungodly will not be justified in the final judgment. The ungodly will stand before God without excuse. They don't have a place among the godly. They're out of their element if they try to stand among the congregation of the saints.

These are the words of Jesus Christ:

"The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire (Matthew 13:49-50 KJV)."

Sobering words to say the least. Do they make you think about your relationship with God? They should.

I can't stop here like this. God doesn't want any to perish. He desires for all humanity to come to repentance, changing their hearts and lives (2 Peter 3:9). For God so loved, he gave (John 3:16). What will you do now? God bless...