The Righteous and the Wicked
Proverbs 10:27-32
Many places in Scripture contrast the righteous with the wicked.
We have many Psalms, including Psalm 1.
We have Galatians 5 (works of the flesh vs. fruit of the Spirit).
We have James 3:13-18 comparing heavenly wisdom with earthly wisdom.
Today we are going to looking at Proverbs 10:27-32.
Here we see the outcomes of righteousness and wickedness.
Righteous – days prolonged, gladness, strength, immovable, wise words, acceptable knowledge.
Wicked – shortened years, death, destruction, not living on earth, tongue cut out, perverse knowledge.
Days prolonged vs. shortened years.
I know that in our experience, this doesn’t always seem true.
We even have a saying: only the good die young.
Very often the life of a Christian can be quite miserable, even to the point of death.
Well, there is one inescapable truth—we all will die.
This is the way of all life on earth, and to be honest, sometimes even great people die young, proving that saying.
But we know the spiritual blessings are far greater than earthly ones.
While we may not have long years on this earth, we will have an eternity in heaven.
A hope of gladness vs. an expectation of death.
When we hope, it is in something that we do not currently possess.
We might not have gladness now, but we have a hope of it.
What greater hope can we have than the hope of being in heaven with our Lord?
What a glad day that will most certainly be.
We can have gladness here on earth, for we are to “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16).
And even with all its heartache and pain, the life of a Christian is far superior to that of anyone else on earth.
While this may be true, our true happiness comes from above and when we enter into His glory!
All the wicked can expect is death.
Strength in the way vs. destruction to the iniquitous.
We may feel weak, and perhaps by earthly standards we are.
But it is in weakness that that our Lord’s strength is made perfect (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
“When I am weak, then I am strong.”
This is quite the paradox, but Christ gives us that strength to carry on, and His greatest work is done when we are at our weakest!
All the workers of iniquity can muster is destruction despite their apparent strength.
Immovable vs. uninhabited.
Because of His strength in us, let us not be moved.
We ought to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that [our] labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).
We ought to “be like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psa. 1:3).
We need to focus on Christ and be zealous for Him!
On the other hand, we may then no longer inhabit the earth.
But it seems this world is full of wickedness on display day in and day out. Why are they still here?
I don’t know. Maybe God is giving them time to repent. Maybe He wants them to do all their wickedness so they could be punished fully for their evil. Maybe we still have some things to learn.
But in the end, they will not inherit the earth—that belongs to the meek (Matt. 5:5).
Wise words vs. a cut out tongue.
Our words are important; what we say is important!
If we are righteous, our words will be wise, and we will share that wisdom with others.
If not, we will speak perverse and wicked things.
In the end, the wicked will finally acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, but then it will be too late (Phil. 2:9-11).
Acceptable vs. perverse knowledge.
There is a time for everything—Solomon teaches us this in Eccl. 3.
But we don’t use something properly or abuse its use in some way, then we are perverting its use.
This goes for knowledge, too.
Some things are acceptable to know and to speak.
Others are not, and we end up perverting God’s truth.
What does God’s truth say about salvation?
What is that acceptable knowledge of the gospel that we speak?
Only when we obey that gospel can we even hope to be righteous, and have our days prolonged, have a hope of gladness, receive the strength of the Lord, be immovable, and speak wise and acceptable words.
If we don’t, well, without Christ none of us is righteous, no not one (Rom. 3:10).
Then our days will be shortened, our only expectation is death and destruction, and we will speak perverse things contrary to God.
Obey the gospel today!