I

Blessed is the man who does not walk

in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the way of sinners,

nor sit in company with scoffers.

Rather, the law of the LORD is his joy;

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted near streams of water,

that yields its fruit in season;

Its leaves never wither;

whatever he does prospers.

II

But not so are the wicked, not so!

They are like chaff driven by the wind.

Therefore the wicked will not arise at the judgment,

nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.

Because the LORD knows the way of the just,

but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

The second half of the psalm is a tale of opposites from the first half,  speaking on what the man who does is like before describing what he does not get to participate in.   That is because we are already there through original sin and living in a world which is loaded with it.  And since we are already there, there is no work needed to achieve this state, just kick back, relax follow your own desires and be blown away like chaff…

Only know that the day will come when you will have to account for that kicking back…

The day will come when you will not be able to arise with the assembly of the just, weakened by sin and the lack of spiritual exercise, fattened by gluttony and dulled by sloth.

There is a reversal of movement in the structure here as well, pointing to the fate of the sinner who steeps in his sin rather than working against it: the something, the wicked and the chaff that they are like, fading in being through their inability to arise at the judgement and take a place in the assembly of the just and ultimately fading into oblivion, to their ruin.

Something, almost nothing, gone…

Because the LORD knows the way of the just, he placed it in front of us to follow, but the way of the wicked, the selfish, self centered, sinful way he did not create and it can only lead away from God and to move away from God is to move onward to your ruin…

Which leaves me with the passage in the middle of the psalm: the jewel crowning the center of the band…

If you follow His way, God does not bother making things just ok for you spiritually, He provides an overabundance, an overflowing for those who follow His ways; like a tree planted near streams of water; not a single trickle adequate to sustain but more than enough water, a tree planted firmly in the ground of his word, drinking from the streams of his infinite grace and when we continue to follow and give up ourselves to him, to yield our fruit in season, we will continue to flourish and never wither, for He will not leave us once we have committed ourselves to Him…

May we all have the grace to follow His will at all times and in everything we do…