Posted on 11/10/2020 5:53:22 AM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish” (Proverbs 10:27-28 KJV).
“The fear of the LORD prolongeth days,” this is just an Old Testament promise to keep you out of trouble. You fear God, you’ll stay out of trouble, do right and it will prolong your days.
“. . . but the years of the wicked shall be shortened,” is a general truth. Every once in a while you’ll see something in the paper or on the news about some guy that is 110-years-old and attributes his longevity to the fact that he smokes every day and drinks a bottle of whiskey. They tell you about this guy but they ignore the 10,000 that die at 50 of a heart attack or lung cancer from smoking or cirrhosis of the liver from drinking. One guy does it like that and the Devil sets him up as an example. Well, it is not the example, it is the exception. Unfortunately, the simpleton will see that and think, “Well, if he can do it, so can I!” He’ll be dead in his prime.
“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness,” now, for you and I our hope is found in Colossians: “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27 KJV).
“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness,” we may not be “glad” in this world, but we will be more than glad in the next life. This world is referred to in Scripture as a “vale of Baca” (or “tears,” “Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee” (Psalms 84:6-12 KJV).
“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness,” what we are hoping for, what we are expecting. Now notice how the King James Bible defines the word “hope” in the passage: “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish,” hope is not something that you think might come to pass—maybe it will come or maybe it won’t—hope is what you “expect” to come. The church has a “blessed hope,” which is a solid expectation of some future event. The Christ has a “hope of eternal life” which is a solid expectation, not some wishy-washy maybe, maybe not thing.
“. . . but the expectation of the wicked shall perish,” do you know what he is expecting? He is thinking that his crooked ways will profit him down the road—but they will all perish. He is not going to beat the system, judgment will come. What will come is the thing that he fears, and not what he bargained for. He might be hoping for purgatory, but what he is going to get is hell. He is hoping for some temporary punishment, but it is going to be eternal.
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