Psalm 1

Psalm 1 is the first of the Psalms in the Hebrew Bible. Like many of the psalms, it contrasts the "righteous" person (tzadik צדיק) to the "wicked" or "ungodly" (rasha` רשע) or the "sinner" (chatta' חטא). The righteous person is one who takes care to know the laws of God and so has good judgment and avoids bad company. The result is the ability to withstand difficult times in life supported by God's protection. On the other hand, the wicked person's behavior makes them vulnerable to disaster, like chaff blowing away in the wind. The point that the wicked and the righteous will not mingle at the judgment is clearly stated by the writer. The path the wicked have chosen leads to destruction, and at the judgment they receive the natural consequences of that choice.

Full Text

Psalm 1
¹ Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.
³ And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf doth not wither; and in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper.
⁴ Not so the wicked; but they are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous
⁶ For the LORD regardeth the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked shall perish