1:5 In the future there will be a winnowing judgment of people in which God will separate the righteous from the wicked (cf. Matt. 13:30). Then He will blow the wicked away (cf. Isa. 2:10-21).
1:6 The basis of the judgment that will determine the ultimate fate of these two basic kinds of people is the knowledge of God (cf. Matt. 7:23). He knows what they have done. The "way"refers to the whole course of life including what motivates it, what it produces, and where it ends. "Knows"(lit.) or "watches over"(NIV) is the antithesis of "perish"(cf. 31:7; Prov. 3:6).
This whole psalm is a solemn warning that the reader should live his or her life in view of ultimate judgment by God. Not only will the godly way prove the only adequate one then, but it also yields a truly beneficial existence now.20
