Disturbing Things are Temporary

 

There are three huge gates that lead into the Cathedral of Milan. Over one gate there is an inscription in marble under a beautiful flower bouquet that says, “The things that please are temporary.” Over the second gate there is a cross with this inscription: “The things that disturb us are temporary.” However, over the central gate, there is a big inscription saying, “Eternal are the important ones.” (Source unknown).

One of the greatest issues that continually trouble the hearts of all people who believe in a sovereign God is this, “what about the prosperity of the wicked?” Why does it seem that the wicked always win? The corrupt in business overwhelm their honest competitors and drive them out of business. Why do communist governments succeed for decades in crushing Christian house churches?

The subject of Psalm 37 is the way and end of the righteous and the wicked. David wrote “wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found (Ps. 37:34-37).

In psalm 13 :1-2 David cries out to God “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? In these two verses the question “how long?” is repeated four times. Every child of God has asked this question at one time or another,

The pain in David’s heart came from a sense that God had forgotten him and that God was distancing Himself from him. David had faced worse circumstances but had faced them more bravely when he had sensed the presence of God with him. In Psalm 27:14 David says, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living”. We can endure almost anything if we knew it would come to a happy ending.

 Proverbs 11 tells us this, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free. The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.

When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish and the hope of the unjust perishes. The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.”

All these promises and many more are true. God will bring what is written in his word to pass. Jesus promised “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished”(Matt 5:18). The righteous should be fully confident that the Lord has something far better for them in the future. For in this hope we were saved... we wait for it patiently (Rom.8:24-25).

In Psalm 37 David says “wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt you to inherit the land”.  Once more in the Psalm David promises the people of God that they would inherit the land. The Promised Land plays an important role in the Bible. It’s a major biblical theme introduced in the book of Genesis and developed all throughout the Bible, even into the Bible’s final book, Revelation.

The pattern of God giving humans land begins with the Garden of Eden and does not end with Abraham’s descendants settlement in Canaan. Heb 11 tells us that “by faith Abraham...made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob... for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. They were longing for a better country—a heavenly one (Heb. 11:9-16). The righteous have a home in heaven.

Before they get to the Promised Land, the righteous must wait on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord requires patience, trust and faith. It means acknowledging that God’s timing may not be our own and that His ways are higher than our ways. We need to acknowledge that God is sovereign. Ecclesiastes 7:13–14 says “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other.”

There is a relationship between waiting on God and finding strength in God. The psalmists say” wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Wait for the Lord!” (Ps. 27:14). From the wealth of his experience David can encourage us to wait on the LORD and to be of good courage. He repeats the phrase “wait for the Lord” in this single verse for emphasis. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” (Ps. 31:24).

David says “wait on the Lord and keep his way”. While we are waiting we should not go even a step out of God's way.  We should remain on the ancient paths, if we walk in the good way, we will find rest for our souls (Jer. 6:16). God's highway is paved with holiness. Isaiah 35:8 says “a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it”.

The Psalmist says “blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart, they do no wrong but follow his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! (Ps 119:1-5). We should live circumspectly with the certain knowledge that this life is not the final chapter and thus walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

David says that “When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found (Ps.37:35-36). Once again David promises that the wicked would be cut off. Their coming doom was just as certain as the coming blessing and security of the righteous. In Psalm 1 we are told that the wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away...the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Mark the perfect man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.  But the transgressors shall be destroyed together. The future of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them, because they trust in Him (Ps. 37:37-40).

No learning from books can match observation of great men. When a certain golfer was young, he set a mark to break all golfing records. He covered his bedroom with pictures of great golfers. Imagine what would happen if we surrounded ourselves with great Christian. David advice to us is “do you want a peaceful ending in life? Mark the perfect man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace.

Having a continual reminder of what our goal is and what it takes to achieve that goal will keep us inspired and focused as we go on. The Bible is filled with role models. For example "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation." (Gen. 6:9). When the whole land was filled with corruption he remained blameless. Similarly Job was “perfect and upright, he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1,8).

In Isaiah 48, this is what the Lord says to his children “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand...their name would never be blotted out nor destroyed from before me... There is no peace...for the wicked”(vv.17-19,22).

Paul looked forward to his departure from this life, he said “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain... I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Phil. 1:22-23). When his time to go finally arrived he said “I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid, up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day”.

The righteous long for the appearing of the righteous judge (2Tim.4:8). They are at peace because they have made peace with God. The wicked dread the righteous judge. They are dismayed when they think about their departure from this life. What worse thing can men say of themselves than this “the harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved” (Jer. 8:20). We shall be shut out in outer darkness, for “we are not saved!”

Peace in death depends on the use which we make of life. The righteous is characteriZed by uprightness and crowned with peace. His way is holiness; his motion is towards perfection; at his journey's end his rest is peace without end. His way may be rough, but it leads home. As death approaches, he looks back at what he has done on earth with comfort and satisfaction. He looks forward to the future with steadfast hope