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As for Psa. 1: 5 "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment", the Hebrew
qum (stand) is of frequent occurrence in the O.T. "Arise", "rise", "rise up" translates
354 of its occurrences. Its basic meaning is "to stand" or "stand firm", and there is no
need to render it in any other way in Psa. 1: Moffatt's version is "When judgments
come, the ungodly shall not stand, nor shall the sinful last in the community of the just".
No indeed, they are likened to the chaff which is swept away by the wind (verse 4) which
clearly shows what the phrase "the ungodly shall not stand" means. Psa. 1: 5 surely
gives no secure basis for teaching that the unregenerate have no resurrection from the
dead.
We might further consider the implication of the challenging question put by the
Apostle Paul in Rom. 3: 5, 6, "For then how shall God judge the world?" or of
Heb. 9: 27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment",
but we feel there is no need to pursue this matter any further. If only one verse of the
Scriptures clearly teaches the raising to life of the unsaved, then we cannot assert with
truth that they will be left in the grave for ever.
Does it really matter whether we believe this or not? Eph. 6: brings before us the
armour that God has provided so that the child of God can be safe from the malignity of
his great enemies, Satan and the world-rulers of this present darkness (6: 12). Truth is
part of this protective shield (verse 14). We dare not let error of any kind come in,
otherwise there is a hole in the shield through which the fiery darts of the evil one
will surely penetrate. Any departure from Truth simply gives place to the Devil, the
arch-deceiver.
The N.T. clearly shows that resurrection is so basic and important that we cannot
afford to be wrong about it in any detail. Hymenaeus and Philetus did not deny the truth
of resurrection; they merely mis-dated it, yet this brought upon them the severe
condemnation of the Apostle Paul, who asserted that such teaching had an evil effect on
others and overthrew their faith, and in doing so militated against the progress of the
Truth of God (II Tim. 1: 17, 18). Men are not helpless machines. They are moral
creatures with a responsibility to their Creator. To what degree this is so, only He knows
and we do not pretend to judge. To those who have never had the witness of the Person
and redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is conscience, the law in miniature,
speaking to their minds (Rom. 2: 14-16). God is not only the righteous Judge of all His
people, but the Judge of all the earth, the moral Governor of the Universe. "Shall not the
Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18: 25). We leave the future of the unbeliever in
His hands at the Day of Judgment.