Psalm 1

1:5 - Therefore the wicked will not stand
in the judgment

In line with its affirmation that the fate of the wicked is futility, the psalm does not dwell long on the wicked but simply asserts categorically that they are a people without hope. "Therefore" simply spells out the logical and final fate of the wicked: "they shall not stand in the judgment . . . the assembly of the righteous." The verb "stand" has already been used in v1, but the verb used here is a different one. Here the verb is qum, which means "to stand up," while the one used in v1 is 'amad, which means "to maintain an upright position." A picture is given here of a mishpat, "judgement," and a 'eda tsaddiqim, "the congregation of the righteous." Both speaks of a situation where a case is heard and decided, where justice is established, where the one in the right is then called to arise and be vindicated. Imagine then the judge turning and saying to the rogue who still tries to protest, "Shut up and sit down! You have shown yourself to be a liar, you have no credibility, you do not have what it takes to stand up with dignity in the presence of this community." Such is the fate of the wicked and sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

There is also a pervasive picture in the Old Testament (though more pronounced in the later literature) of a time when Israel would be gathered in judgment before God for the righteous to be vindicated. This line of thought pictures such an assembly where the righteous will have their names called out and they would stand to be counted as privileged to abide in the presence of God. In this "assembly of the righteous" the wicked and sinners will not arise. Where and when it matters most, they do not count.

The word "righteous," as it is used in the Bible, does not refer primarily to a person of ethical and moral integrity. The terms of reference are not moral-ethical but relational; a righteous person is one who conforms to the demands made upon him by the relationship in which he stands. Hence, when Judah discovered that her daughter-in-law Tamar was pregnant with his child, his response was "she is more righteous than I since I wouldn't give her my son Shelah" (Gen 38:26). He failed her by withholding his son from her; she fulfilled her responsibility to her dead husband by bearing him a son by her father-in-law. However morally questionable the "incest" may be, she did right by her husband by fulfilling her responsibility to him. But above all other relationships, the righteous person in Israel is the one who does right by fulfilling his/her responsibilities in his/her relationship with God and can, thus, expect God to do likewise for him/her.