Psalm 73:19-20

Psalm 73:19-20

The fate of the wicked

Have you noticed the complete change in emphasis in the Psalm since the writer visited the Sanctuary of God? (v17) Prior to that visit he was overwhelmed by self-pity and envy of the wicked and the wealthy. Now he understands their end, he sees the pointlessness of their greed and abuses, he realises that pitfalls and traps lie before them all and their destiny is the judgement of the Lord God. Their downfall is usually sudden and awful – “swept away by terrors!” The psalmist likens their end to a nightmare, when you awake the horrors very quickly pass and you realise that it was just a dream. So it is with the wicked, they are the characters in the nightmare who will soon be forgotten. Memory of them and their ways will so easily be left behind.

The Lord never sleeps but should He do so, when He awakes the memory of the wicked will be dismissed as if they were just a fanciful hallucination! The Lord despises the wicked and we should be under no illusion that they are objects of His sympathy or His compassion. Their eternal damnation is guaranteed, and it is earned. They are condemned and will be punished.

You would think that these sombre warnings might be heeded, wouldn’t you? But they are not, men and women still live to please themselves at the expense of others. If they do not have the Lord, what do they have but to enjoy this world as much as possible and to store up treasures as their insurance policy against ill health, trouble and old age? The powerfully rich still plot and scheme to grasp the world’s wealth, and they still arrogantly scoff at the idea that they will have to account to Almighty God one day. The Bible warns that It is better to be a pauper in God’s kingdom than to be a rich man outside of it. Let us never forget that. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more