The wicked shall not stand in the Judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Psalm 1:5
Moved by the Spirit of God, David declared that in the Final Judgment, not one ungodly person will escape the wrath of God; not one ungodly soul will be able to stand before God. It will not be possible. David said again, “You alone are to be feared, for who can stand before you, once you are angered?” (Ps. 76:7). Other prophets asked the same rhetorical question. Nahum: “Who can stand before His indignation? Who can withstand the fury of His anger?” (Nah. 1:6). And Malachi: “Who can endure the day of his coming, and who will stand when he appears?” (Mal. 3:2). The obvious answer is, only the righteous. To be judged worthy to stand in God’s presence will be a very great blessing, and Jesus exhorted his disciples to pray for it: “Stay alert and always pray, so that you might be counted worthy to escape all the things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man” (Lk. 21:36).
But David did not limit his declaration to the Final Judgment; he said also that the ungodly will not stand in a righteous congregation. God’s children who drift away from righteousness can no more stand in a congregation of godly people now than they will be able to stand in the Final Judgment. For just as God will be the Judge in the end, so “God presides in the Assembly of God, and He judges among the gods [His people]” (Ps. 82:1).
If any group of saints will keep themselves pure, God will not allow an ungodly person to stand for long among them. And if any member of that congregation becomes ungodly, and sets his mind to it, he will not be able to stand among them, either. God will give him a “good” reason to leave. That judgment of God has always been, is now, and will always be the same. That is why “the wicked shall not stand in the Judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
In Psalm 15, David asked God to reveal to him who would be allowed to stand in His presence. Take good heed to God’s response:
Psalm 15
1. O Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle? Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
2. He who lives blamelessly, and does righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart,
3. he who does not gossip with his tongue, nor does evil to his fellow, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
4. in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord; he who swears to his own hurt, yet does not change;
5. he who does not lend his money at interest; and a bribe against the innocent, he does not take. He who does these things shall never be moved.
