Chaff in the Wind

The Psalms, Part 1

I want to try something new, starting today. On the first Tuesday of each month, we’ll look at a different Psalm. Now, if you’re doing the math in your head, you’ve figured out that covering all 150 psalms will take us, oh, about 12.5 years. Fun! I doubt we’ll be doing this that long, but we’ll see.

Psalm 1 seems like a good place to start:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Psalm 1:1-4 ESV

It’s common to observe the sequence of movement in the first verse. The righteous man does not “walk” or “stand” or “sit” with the ungodly. If I were writing this, I would probably be inclined to have the next verse build out a contrast. Where does the man of God sit, stand, and walk? But this isn’t what the Psalmist does. Rather, the image he gives us is that of “a tree planted by streams of water.” Such a man is immovable.

The wicked, on the other hand, are “like chaff that the wind drives away.” This is the heart of the comparison. Because the godly are rooted where they should be (in the Law of God) they prosper in everything. But the wicked have no control over anything — they are completely at the mercy of whatever happens around them. It doesn't matter whether they are walking, standing, or sitting because at any moment they could be completely blown away.

About a year ago, I wrote about how I’d started roasting my own coffee. My roaster has a lid designed to capture the coffee husks, so I can dump them out afterwards. It’s not perfect and a lot of husks are still in the beans when I pour them into a container to cool. I learned right away that separating those leftover husks from the beans is incredibly easy. All I have to do is gently toss the beans into the air, and the husks will all fly up and out of the container. I usually roast in my garage and even there, where there is virtually no wind at all, the husks will be carried up and away.

Coffee husks being separate from roasted beans. From mtpak.coffee

This is the image the psalmist has of the wicked. They have no control, no agency. They are completely at the mercy of literally anything or anyone. They are also good for nothing. Does that seem harsh? Ok, that’s fair. I looked it up and apparently chaff is good for a couple of things: Compost, and animal bedding. Isn’t it interesting that one of the only things chaff is good for is as mulch for other plants? The image of the righteous is a healthy, life-producing tree. The wicked are portrayed as lifeless husks who create nothing at all.

Of course, those who care nothing for God have always loudly declared the exact opposite. It is the religious who are boring, who hate fun, who hate freedom, who are oppressive. They say that believers use religion as a “crutch” which they, presumably, do not need. Yet I think they mistake the crutch for roots, which provide strength, stability, and life.

I’d like for these posts to be more interactive, so I want to hear from you. What do you see in Psalm 1 that stands out to you? Where does it speak to our particular moment? Is there anything you notice that you hadn’t seen before?