For the LORD knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
All Commentaries on Psalms 1:6 Go To Psalms 1
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
Then when he says, And all, he shows how the similarity applies: because the blessed prosper in all things, and this is when they achieve the intended end with respect to all that they desire, because the just attain blessedness. Psalm 117:25 "O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success" etc. The outcome of evil men is the contrary, and this is described where he says: Not so etc. He does two things with regard to this. First he sets forth a similarity, then he shows its fittingness, where he says: The (wicked) shall not rise again. But note that here he repeats the words "not so" twice, for the sake of greater certainty. Genesis 41:32 "That thou didst see the second time...is a token of the certainty." Or not so do they act in their way, and so not so do they receive in their outcome. Luke 16:25 "Thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted; and thou art tormented." They are compared properly to dust, because dust has three things that are said of the just man; that dust does not stick to the earth, but it is on the surface, but a planted tree has roots. Again a tree is held together in itself, and it is moist; but dust is divided, dry and arid; through this we have a sign that good men are united like a tree by charity. Psalm 117:27 "Appoint a solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar": but evil men are divided: Proverbs 13:10 "Among the proud there are always contentions." Again, good men cling as with roots in spiritual things and divine goods, but evil men are sustained in exterior goods. Again, they are without the water of grace, Genesis 3:19 "For dust thou art" etc.And so all their malice flows away. Luke 21:18 "A hair of your head shall not perish." But of these evil men it is said that they are totally driven from the face, that is, from superficial goods; the wind, that is tribulation, driveth them from the face of the earth. Job 4:8 "I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them, perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath." Then he makes the similarity fit, where he says, The wicked shall not rise again, because they are dust. But, on the other hand, 2 Corinthians 5:10 "For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ." Again, 1 Corinthians 15:51 "We shall all indeed rise again." In this regard, we should say that this can be read in two ways. A man is properly said to rise in judgment, when his cause is supported by the sentence of a judge. Those men, then, do not rise, because in judgment the sentence is not in their favor, but rather against them: hence another reading says: They will not be made to stand. With good men it is thus: although they are afflicted by the sin of the first parent, yet they have a sentence in their favor. Nor (do) sinners congregate in the council of the just: because good men are gathered together for eternal life, to which evil men are not admitted. Or it may be said, that this is understood of the reparation of justice, to which they make reparation in their own judgment. 1 Corinthians 11:31 "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged." And in this respect he says: The wicked will not rise again in judgment, that is in the proper judgment, of which it is said in Ephesians 5:14 "Rise thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead: and Christ shall enlighten you." Some men are restored by the advice of the good, and in this respect evil men still do not rise from sin. But the wicked, that is unfaithful men, shall not rise again in judgment, that of discussion, and examination, because according to Gregory some are condemned without being judged, such as the unfaithful. Some will not be judged, nor will they be condemned, namely the Apostles and perfect men. Some are judged and condemned, namely evil men who have faith. In this way, then, men with faith do not rise in the judgment of discussion to be examined. John 3:18 "He that doth not believe, is already judged." Sinners, however, will not rise in the council of the just, that is, to be judged and yet not condemned. Then he gives the reason why such do not rise in judgment: For the Lord knoweth etc. In proper terms he is saying: because when someone knows that something is lost, he has it replaced; when he does not know, he does not have it replaced. The just are dissolved by death, but still God knows them; 2 Timothy 2:19 "God knoweth who are his." He knows them with a knowledge of approval, and so they are restored. But because he does not know the way of the wicked by a knowledge of approval, therefore the way of the wicked shall perish. Psalm 118:176 "I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost: seek thy servant, because I have not forgotten thy commandments". Psalm 34:6 "Let their way become dark and slippery" etc.
