Resurrection for the Just and the Unjust
(No. 3346)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1913.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 4,
1868.
"There shall be a resurrection both for the just and the unjust." Acts
24:15.
THE heathen had, somehow or other, spelled out the Truth of God that
the soul of man is immortal. Almost all their religions implied this
and some of their sages plainly taught it. But never had they imagined
that this immortality might belong also to the body!
The Doctrine of the Resurrection from the Dead was peculiar to
Christianity. It was so novel and it seemed, at first, to be so absurd
that when men heard the Apostles speak of such a resurrection they
mocked and laughed them to scorn as fools. They called Paul, "a
babbler," because of this. They believed he must be mad. Had they not
seen the body sicken and die? Had they not marked it in various stages
of decay? Did they not know that it was frequently dissolved into small
dust, scattered to the manifold winds of Heaven, or that its fragments
mingled with the waves of the sea, or that its various members were
torn by wild beasts and could they, therefore, imagine it to be
credible that any sane person could believe that the human body would
rise again from the dead? Yet Paul believed this and this he
preached–that there would be a resurrection of the dead, both of the
just and the unjust, not that the just and the unjust would merely live
as to their souls, but that their bodieswould be restored from the
grave and that a resurrection, as well as an immortality, would be the
future of every man of woman born, whatever his character might be!
Now, this is the great Doctrine of the Christian faith which we do not
doubt, but joyously accept! Our Lord's Body, that same Body in real
identity which was nailed to the tree and laid in the tomb for three
days–that same Body came to life again, with the nail prints
visible–into which Thomas was invited to put his finger–with the mark
of the spear into which the same doubting Apostle was asked to thrust
his hand! Christ proved Himself to be not merely a spirit, but a solid,
tangible, corporeal existence, for He said, "Handle Me, and see; a
spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have." And although He
appeared in the room, the doors being shut, and thus proved that His
body had lost some of the properties of coarse matter, yet, at the same
time, He took a piece of flesh and of honeycomb and did eat before
them–and let them see that it was His very Self who had hung upon the
Cross and died there at Calvary! And so shall it be with us! Though by
death our bodies shall lose some of their qualities which we shall all
be only too glad to lose, though their corruptions and weaknesses shall
all be laid aside, yet my body and yours in definite identity, each for
itself, shall rise up from its bed of dust and silent clay, and enter
into the rest that remains where Jesus dwells before the Throne of God!
Behold at this present, "the whole creation groans and travails in pain
together, until now, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of the body."
My great purpose tonight, Beloved, is to speak on the majestic fact
that the just and the unjust are to live on in a resurrection state. I
am not going to debate, discuss, argue as to the fact of it, but,
assuming your belief in God's Inspired Word, declare a few thoughts
which that sublime Truth seems to raise in one's mind. I shall treat
the Truth as though it were a lantern–and shall look at some of the
rays of Divine Light that stream from it on all sides. And, first of
all–
I. WHAT AN ENNOBLING EFFECT THIS TRUTH HAS UPON US!
Observe the effect it has, first of all, given our bodies. Paul
elsewhere calls the body, "this vile body," and so it is in comparison
with what it is to be, by-and-by! But yet if this body has been
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, and if the Holy Spirit
dwells in our bodies, as we are taught in Scripture–and if these
bodies are to be partakers of a pure and sinless immortality–then what
noble things these otherwise vile bodies become! So noble, my Brothers
and
Sisters, that it becomes us to guard them sacredly, as sacred things!
Now, our bodies may be defiled, but shall they be defiled after being
washed in pure water and after being given up to Christ? You know how
they may be defiled. The Apostle speaks very plainly concerning certain
carnal lusts whereby members of Christ may be made members of all
manner of iniquity. From these things we fly–they should not be so
much as named among you, as becomes saints. Our bodies may be defiled
by eating and drinking, unless in the eating and the drinking we
glorify God. We may by excess in either way bring ourselves into
conditions in which the mind will not act and I believe, mark you, that
gluttony is as much a sin in the sight of God as drunkenness, and that,
in fact, any eating or drinking which makes us unfit for communion with
God becomes sinful at once! Any passing beyond that boundary, whatever
it may be, whether in eating or in drinking, becomes sinful! The body
is clogged and defiled and who would have it so when it has been
purchased by Christ's precious blood and is to dwell with Him forever?
The body, too, may be defiled by outward adornments, for the Holy
Spirit has expressly warned Christian men and women against these.
There is a holy adornment that we speak of–that of a meek and a quiet
spirit–but when men and women hang upon themselves their jewels and
their ornaments of an ungodly profession, they sin against the plain
precepts of the Word of God and they really defile the bodies that
belong to Christ! So every bowing of the knee to that to which I ought
not to bow, every yielding of this body of mine to write what is not
true, every motion of my tongue to speak that which is not upright and
according to the fear of God, every movement of these feet to take me
where it is not good for me to be–defiles the body! So there are ten
thousand ways in which the Temple of God may be defiled, but I say
again that with the thought that this body is to live forever and ever,
we ought to guard with sacred care these members of Christ! The body
that has been bought with His blood–that is to sleep on His bosom,
that is to be awakened in His likeness, that is to dwell with Him
forever, molded after His own Image–take care of that body and keep it
consecrated unto the Lord!
And while this ennobles the body, let me say that it also ennobles the
entire man. If man is a creature. If he is only first among animals,
though the most highly organized of all the vertebrate creatures. And
if, when he dies, that is the end of him, as that might be of a sheep
or a dog, then, looking up to the stars and thinking of man as a mere
beast, you need not say with David, "Lord, what is man?" You know what
he is! You have got your answer–and a gloomy and a melancholy answer
it is. But if man is to live forever and ever, what a noble creature he
becomes! And, mark you, men are ready enough to admit this of some of
their fellow creatures–kings, queens, princes, senators and men who
have heaped up their gold–but when it comes to this, that the beggar,
being immortal, is to be honored, they do not like it! I would that men
would remember that the same Bible that says, "Honor the king," also
says, "Honor all men"–that is, be they what they may! But men must
honor people's coats–not the men! Or they honor their carriages, or
they honor their sovereigns, but they do not honor the men! And yet, in
truth, seeing that man is to live forever, that his existence in the
future is coeval with the life of God, every man becomes a strange and
wondrous thing! If you could pile up a mountain of gold, a huge pyramid
of it, and then by the side of it a pyramid of precious stones, yet all
these put together could not be valued with the soul of the pauper's
child that has been in the workhouse from its very birth! Despise not,
then, despise not a man made in the image of God–a man redeemed with
the blood of Christ, a man immortal, a man a mystery if he is
immortal–a mystery of mysteries!
As I begin to look at him in the light of my text, which is far above
all the fictitious surroundings to which men attach so much weight, he
appears to me now to be a greater being than stars or suns, for these
may die out and their brightness become extinct–but here is a star
that shall shine on forever! A sun that shall flash its beams
throughout eternity! We must not, therefore, if we are poor, broken,
despised–at once go into sin as though we were too mean to be capable
of excellence! We must not begin to say, "I cannot be saved–I am so
illiterate, I am so obscure." Why not? If you are not saved, you will
have to live forever in misery! Can you understand that? You are
endowed with an immortality from which it is impossible for you to
escape! In that respect, by that wondrous gift, God has put you on an
elevated position and I pray that you may look at it as such–may, by
His Grace, not fling yourselves away, nor trifle with yourselves, nor
do the devil's bidding–but seek Him who has promised in His Word that
they that seek Him shall find Him!
Thus much on that one thought. And now a second one. If there is
another state, as you know there is, for body and soul–
II. WHAT A LIGHT THAT CASTS UPON THIS PRESENT LIFE!
How little it makes it! How great it makes it! How little! Well, if I
suffer, today. If my life should be made weary through weakness of
body, or if it should be bitter through heart-toil, or if it should be
severe through stern poverty, yet you know how we sing–
"The way may be rough, but it cannot be long."
And again, we sometimes sing–
"An hour with my God will make up for it all."
These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are not worthy to
be compared with the weight of glory which shall be revealed in us!
Looking at the trials of this present life and comparing and
contrasting them with the splendor, glory, and eternity of the life to
come, they are not worth a thought! They disappear and we sing as we
wade through the midst of them, knowing that it is so written that
through much tribulation we must inherit the Kingdom of God. When we
look back from the hilltops of Heaven, I suppose life itself will seem
to be infinitesimal. Those great troubles of ours will look like pin's
pricks and we shall almost laugh to think that we should have weighed
those burdens and thought them so heavy when they were, after all,
light as feathers. I think we shall, as Watts says–
"With transporting joys recount
The labors of our feet."
We shall say, one to another, "How could we have been so unbelieving?"
What was there, after all, in our trials to depress us so much? Our
sufferings were not worth a thought when once compared with those of
our Master. "His way was much rougher and darker than mine. Did Christ
my Lord suffer, and did I repine?" Why was it that with such blessed
help, such rich promises, such Covenant blessings and with the
everlasting arms underneath us, yet nevertheless we were faint and
ready to die? Oh, Brothers and Sisters, this world seems so little when
we think of the world to come! Now, you who have been envious of the
rich, you little think how soon they will be as poor as you! You who
have sometimes thought how richly you were favored–think how fame is
nothing but a breath–and how soon it is gone! Princes will sleep side
by side with the slave. The great conqueror will not be distinguished
from the victims of his ambition. The greatest millionaire will be no
richer than you! Both alike, you came naked into this world–and naked
you return to the dust. So must it be. Oh, it is all little! "Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity." The big round world becomes a bubble and it
vanishes–and as a puff of smoke, the glory of the world departs!
And yet in this respect, I say, how great this present life becomes!
You know how our poet puts its–
"Great God! On what a slender thread
Hang everlasting things!
The eternal state of all the dead
Upon life's feeble strings."
This life is the mother of the life to come. There is a resurrection
for the just, and all the glory which the just shall inherit will be
but the outcome of that immortal life which they received here! There
is a resurrection for the unjust, and the worm undying and the fire
that shall never be quenched! And all these will be just the
development and open revealing of the character which they acquired
here on earth. Living in sin is the germ of living forever in Hell!
Believing in Jesus is the root of rejoicing forever in glorious
immortality! Now, Sirs, see you not that life is not a thing to be
played with, not a heap of counters that a child may toss to and fro,
not the mere spray on the great sea of eternity? You must not joke and
talk about it as though it were a thing to be despised–but come up and
look at it with all its solemn possibilities and results–and live the
life of sober men, live the life of men who have peered beyond the veil
and seen some of the momentous issues of this fleeting existence!
Henceforth, live while you live, earnestly, as in the sight of God, the
Judge of the quick and the dead! Yes, let the light of the Resurrection
stream over the whole of your present life to make its great things for
the present to become little–to make those things which otherwise
might be little, which have a reference to eternity–become great in
your esteem. But I will not tarry on this and, therefore, pass on to
the thought–
III. WHAT ENCOURAGEMENT THIS OFFERS TO US!
To think that there is a resurrection and another life! What? Were it
worth our while to toil here in the service of Christ, often unrewarded
and very frequently misrepresented and persecuted for what we do, if
there were not a place where the reward of Divine Grace would be given
and where the mistakes of earth would all be set right? "Therefore,"
says the Apostle, "beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch
as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." It might be in
vain here, but forasmuch as there is a resurrection, your labor is not
in vain in the Lord! If we win souls for Christ, it often happens that
some of those whom we thought were saved, go back into perdition–many
of those who are really saved walk disorderly–others are ungrateful to
their spiritual parents and turn aside to crooked ways. But if our
record is on high and we do not look to our success for our reward, but
to our Master–then we may be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
work! You who are doing something for Jesus Christ in the school, or in
any other department of labor, if you look upon your rewards as the
result, you may, perhaps, have very few conversions and you may go
toiling on very heavily. But if you will look beyond all present
results to the great Taskmaster's blessed smile and think you hear Him
say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"– when you see Him reward
you not according to your success, but according to the measure of
Grace which you use faithfully in His service–when you see that, you
will pluck up courage, you will not be of heavy heart, you will be
instant in season, out of season!
The same thing is an encouragement under suffering. For this the
martyrs cheerfully gave themselves up to their tormentors, not
accepting deliverance because they looked for a better resurrection.
This it was that made them brave to meet the lions in the amphitheater,
or to lie and silently rot in the dismal dungeons of the Roman
Emperors. This it was that made Smithfield glorious, as the saints in
their chariots of fire clapped their hands and ascended to the skies!
They were, of all men, most miserable if, in this life only, they had
hope. They were, of all men, most insane to fling away their lives if
this world were all! But because there is another and a better land, to
die for Jesus became a glorious thing and they did it, being not
amazed, not trembling, but dying with greater grandeur about them than
that with which most men have learned to surround their living! And
now, you that today are poor, or today are scoffed at. You who, though
trying to follow Christ, find it a hard path. You who at home have
little to encourage you and comfort you–remember this worldis not your
rest! If you were to have 50 years of your present trouble, well, it
will be as nothing compared with the eternal weight of Glory! Have
patience. Ask your Master to give you His patience. Pray of the Holy
Spirit to work in you holy virtue, that after you have endured awhile,
you may inherit the promise. Remember that there must first be the
service before there can be the reward–and even under the economy of
Grace–in which we are not saved by works, but saved by the merit of
Jesus, yet the Lord will have His servants, first of all, be made
perfect through suffering before He admits them to their everlasting
rest. Be of good courage, then! He will strengthen your heart. This is
not your rest, but it remains for you, and you shall inherit it,
by-and-by. Passing on again, for I only dwell for a moment upon each
thought–this fact of our rising again and living forever suggests to
us–
IV. WHAT OUGHT TO BE THE ONE CONCERN OF LIFE.
What shall this be for the saint–what for the sinner? If I am to live
again as a child of God. If my salvation is accomplished. If my sin is
blotted out and I am really saved, then let me serve my God with all my
might, seeing what a blessed immortality He has prepared for me! Slaves
work when they hear the whip crack, but the children of God are not
slaves–they are not under bondage–they work from a very different
motive. They have no fear of Hell, no fear of losing Heaven. When their
faith is constantly fixed upon the merits of their Savior, they know
that their warfare is accomplished, that their iniquity is pardoned,
that their salvation is secure beyond all risks through the Everlasting
Covenant, the inimitable purpose and the Divine promise of the Father
in Christ Jesus! Because their salvation is secure and because it leads
to such a blessed immortality, they burn with fervent love and
passionate gratitude towards Him who has done so much for them!
Gratitude in the heart ought to be, and I believe it is, the most
powerful force in human motive. Love– what shall equal it? Its wheels
move until the axles grow hot with speed. Love has an impetuous force
about it. Many waters cannot quench it, neither can the floods drown
it. What love we owe to Him who died, that when we die we may live
again, who rose that we might rise and made a pathway to the skies that
we might follow Him, even to His Throne!
"He lives, the great Redeemer lives," and beckons us to come and live
with Him! When our bodies must, for awhile, see corruption, His voice,
which shall be the trumpet sound, shall call us from the beds wherein
we slumber to abide with Him forever! Let us love Him, then! Let us be
up and doing to find the lost ones that are His sheep, to find His
pieces of money that are now in the dust, to discover our prodigal
brethren that are still going astray! Shall we ask for rest when rest
remains? Shall we escape from toil when toil is the only exposition of
our love? Shall we bemoan our sufferings when sufferings give us
opportunities of proving our affection to Him? If the saint in Heaven
could wish himself back again, he almost might–if he could win a soul
by tarrying here a little longer! If any one of yonder white-robed
hosts could wish
to be on earth, surely it might be to occupy the place of an earnest
Evangelist, or of a fervent Sunday school teacher, or of any other who
is a soul-winner for Jesus! I must confess I do not envy Gabriel his
crown when God gives me souls! I have then thought that I would rather
be here to talk with you and point you to my Master's Cross, than be up
there and cast my crown at His feet–for surely there can be no joy in
Heaven greater than the joy of doing the Master's will in winning souls
for Him! Do not let us throw away our opportunities for doing this.
Some of you do not, perhaps, think of using them. In your business, in
the acquaintances that Providence puts in your way–you have
opportunities in all these things of bearing your witness for your
Master. I pray you to see them and seize them! They will soon pass, and
in the silent chamber, when you are about to enter into another world,
if regret shall mingle with the holy peace that then shall gild your
brow, it will be this regret, "I wish I had served Him better, whom I
am so soon to see. I wish I had more to take to Him who gave Himself up
for me." Surely you will bid "good-bye" to friends with reluctance, if
you have never warned them to escape from the wrath to come! And those
dear children–it will bring hotter tears into your eyes to leave
them–if you leave them unsaved because you did not plead and wrestle
with them for their salvation. So live, dear Friends, that when you
come to die, there shall be nothing left undone and you may go and feel
that through Grace you have been what you are, and unto God be the
praise–that you have not neglected the lifework which your Master gave
you!
Now, I said that this text should make the unforgiven sinner think–and
so it should, and very earnestly, too, because there will be a
resurrection of the unjust as well as of the just. If you who are now
living in sin were really to die and perish like horses, there might be
some sort of excuse found for choosing the pleasures of this life as
being all-in-all. After all, if there is no other world, I do not know
but what the Epicurean philosophy is the right one–"Let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we die." If we are only to live in this world, it
is the part of wisdom to enjoy one's self as much as possible. I do not
know but that even then a man would be justified in running into
vice–because that does not bring enjoyment–it is sure to guarantee,
even in this life, the most serious results. But still, at the bottom,
that old Greek philosopher had hit upon the true philosophy of life if
this life were all–"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." But if
there is a life to come, as there is, then what a fool Epicurus was!
And what nonsense his philosophy becomes! Let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we do not die, or if we do, yet we live again–and in the
light of living again, why, eating and drinking seems such dreadful
trumpery, such driveling idiocy that a man cannot tolerate it either
from philosopher or from a fool! Oh, if you are to live forever, you
who are living without thinking of your God, what sort of life must the
next one be for you? You to whom, even now, to think of God is an
irksome burden, what will the next world be for you? You believe that
Book, you dare not doubt it! And that Book tells you that "except you
repent of your sin, you shall all likewise perish." Moreover, it tells
you that there is no salvation out of Christ, but "He that believes in
Him shall be saved; but He that believes not is condemned already,
because he has not believed on the Son of God." According to this Book
of God's perfectly revealed mind, there is reserved for you, if you
remain impenitent, a "fearful-looking-for of judgment and fiery
indignation." Fear not him who can destroy the body–only fear Him who
can cast both soul and body into Hell!
Why do you give so much attention to this world that is so soon to be
left–and the eternal things are quite forgotten or despised by you? I
do not feel as if I could plead this with you with any sort of force or
eager earnestness because it is really so plain that you, in your sins,
must see it for yourselves! You surely, surely, as sober-minded men and
women– and I know there are some here who are accustomed to think–you
must feel that the living throughout millions of ages ought to be of
greater concern than living from week to week, or even year to year! We
think a man is very foolish that lives from hand to mouth, and never
cares to make any provision for a rainy day. But what a fool that man
must be who makes no provision for that rainy day when the tempest of
Heaven's retribution shall beat upon his naked soul–and he shall have
no shelter and no way of escape! And if a man has grown old and yet
neglects eternity, if his constitution is being gradually undermined
and yet the everlasting things are despised. If he has had solemn
warnings that he must soon depart. If he has seen old companions, one
by one, taken to the grave–and he still trifles away his time,
lingering upon the brink of fate–what folly is this and in what words
can I describe it?
Blessed Spirit, take away this folly and make men wise that they may be
saved! Let this be our one great concern– with holy care to make our
calling and election sure, that when the Master comes we may not be
found castaways–but may be gathered with His people! And now for the
last point. I do not know whether you will set much store by this last
thought, but it is this–considering that our friends whom we talk with
everyday, with whom we go up and down to the market, and to the place
of worship–considering that they are to live forever–
V. SHOULD WE NOT ALTER A GREAT DEAL OF OUR PRESENT BEHAVIOR UNDER THE
POWER OF THIS TRUTH?
What kind of behavior does this majestic fact inculcate towards our
fellow men and women? Well, I think that Christian people ought always
to act to one another as immortal beings. Now I know some who belong to
one denomination who will scarcely speak to those of another section of
Christ's one Church. Well, well, well–if you both ever get to Heaven,
you will have to dwell together! Yet it seems as though you cannot live
together on earth without bickering! Why can't you make up your minds
to differ from each other, but always in a Christian spirit? I think,
if I knew I had to live with a man, forever, one thing I would like to
do would be to tell him perfectly honestly, with sincere love, all the
Truths of God I knew–and I ought to be willing to hear from him all
the Truth he thought he knew. I would not like him to say to me, "Now,
you must not hold your views strongly–you must not speak of them, or
try to propagate them." That would be as bad as telling me I must sin
against God by restraining the light which He had given me! Neither
ought I to say to him, "You shall not be free to hold and disseminate
your views," for that would be to take upon myself a responsibility
which does not belong to me!
But each holding our separate views and contending earnestly for what
we believe to be "the faith once for all delivered to the saints,"
might we not thus exercise an honesty which we shall look back upon in
Heaven with joy–and at the same time, a brotherly kindness which will
be a sweet reflection even beyond the stars? If any two of you have
fallen out, even about the faith, go your way and agree tonight! You
have got to live together forever–do not quarrel! You who are
relatives, especially, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, but as
you are birds in the same nest, children of one family, and one with
God, do not fall out! And if you have, make it up at once and let holy
Christian forgiveness reign and rule! You see, God will not put a
partition between you in Heaven. I do not believe they will practice
any kind of strict communion up there. I do not believe there will be
any separate bench for any who would like to have that kind of thing,
but that the whole company of saints will have communion with each
other and with their common Lord, their glorious risen Head! And that
it will be their delight, all washed from all their imperfections and
infirmities, to eat bread together in the Kingdom of God, world without
end! Well, let us have large hearts and brotherly kindness–not keeping
back our views, for that would be to sin–but holding with a firm hand
everything which we have received from the Holy Spirit, and yet loving
the whole household of faith. If we were to die, and there were no life
to come, then we might be foolish and unchristian enough to be forever
squabbling and bickering! But if, after death, we are to live forever
in the same place of Glory, let us so behave to one another that we
shall not be ashamed or embarrassed to meet each other there.
And so with regard to the unconverted. Oh, Christian people, try to
think of all the unconverted people with whom you have to meet as
immortal souls. Your servant girl that nurses and loves your child–you
may, perhaps, never have thought of but as a servant girl–but she is
an immortal soul as much as the Queen on the throne! Or it may be the
man who comes to do odd jobs about the house and who blacks your
shoes–you never thought of him, probably–but as a worker, yet
he–even he–shall outlast the stars! And all those working men and
women, and girls who come streaming into your yard or factory, who
weave at your looms, toil in your workrooms, stand at your printing
press or at the bookbinding, or in your builder's shop–all these and
the myriads engaged in commercial and professional life you may
hitherto, perhaps, have only thought of them as two-legged machines to
earn so many shillings for you and draw so many less from you every
week! Yes, but now just think again. They are living for immortality as
well as yourselves! Will you try to act with them that if their funeral
knell were heard and they were gone, the voice of conscience might not
have to torment you with this suggestion, "You neglected their souls!
You did not do to them what you ought to have done to them! You kept
back from their immortal part that which, alone, could make them
blessed in this life and in the life to come." 'Tis but a simple
thought, and yet if I leave it with you, and God the Holy Spirit
blesses it, it may be a very blessed thought to some whom you know not
of today! Remember that all you see in the streets, and all you see in
the house, and all you see here tonight are all immortal and shall live
again! And so treat them as such, looking forward to the time when you
will have to give an account whether you have abused or used graciously
the opportunities which your Master placed in your way.
And now may the good Lord keep our thoughts Heavenward and bless us in
them, for His name's sake. Amen.
7
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM 73.
Here you have the Psalmist in a fainting fit. He has allowed the flesh
to conquer the spirit. The observant eye of reason has, for awhile
rendered dim the clear vision of faith.
Verse 1. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean
heart That must be true. Whatever we have seen or felt, it cannot be
doubted but what God must become a good God to His own people, "Such as
are of a clean heart."
2, 3. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had wellnear
slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. I began to envy those whom God hates and to think that it
would be better for me to have been one of them!
4. For there are no pangs in their death: but their strength is firm.
Their unbelief helps them to die in peace, mocking God even to the
last.
5, 8. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued
like other men. Therefore pride compasses them about as a chain;
violence covers them as a garment Their eyes stand out with fatness:
they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak
wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They justify
themselves in treading others down. They laud it over others. They
bully them. They rob them. They crush them, yet speak as if they had a
perfect right to do so!
9. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks
through the earth. Leaving nobody alone, sparing no character, however
pure.
10, 11. Therefore his people return here: and waters of a full cup are
wrung out to them. And they say, How does God know? And is there
knowledge in the Most High?They get to doubt the Personality of God. If
they will not precisely say that there is no God, yet they go as near
to it as they can! They come to what is about the same thing. They have
a god who does not know and who does not perceive.
12. Behold, these are the ungodly whoprosperin the world; theyincrease
in riches. And this is what the good man said–
13, 14. Verily Ihave cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocence. For all daylong have I beenpla-gued, and chastened every
morning. "Is this all I am to get by my righteousness? Is this the
reward of following after God–to be whipped as soon as I wake, and to
be sent to bed sore with grief?"
15. If I say, I will speak thus, behold I should offend against the
generation of Your children. So he did not say what he thought. Some
have said, "If you think so, you may as well say so." But not so! You
might as well say if you have a match you may as well burn your house
down! Bad thought is bad to yourself, but it ends there–turn it into
words and tell it to others and it may do infinite mischief.
16, 17. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Until I
went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end.He went and
hid himself in his God! He got near his God. It does not mean that he
went to some place of worship, but that he went to the God whom he
worshipped–hid himself in his God.
18. Surely you did set them in slippery places; You cast them down into
destruction–
"On hills of ice I see them stand, While flaming billows roll below,"
melting down their foundation.
19, 22. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are
utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes; so, O Lord,
when You awake, You shall despise their image. Thus my heart was
grieved, and I was pricked in my veins. So foolish was I, and ignorant:
I was as a beast before You. It is a man of God that talks thus about
himself. He feels that he had got to act and think as a beast might do,
for a beast only calculates things according to time present–it crops
the grass, is satisfied and lies down. But an immortal man ought to
take a wider sweep and range in his thoughts and not merely think of
today and of this present life, but of the end of time and of the
eternity that lies beyond this present mortal state! And because he had
failed to do so, he calls himself foolish and ignorant, and says–
23, 28. Nevertheless I am continually with You: You have held me by my
right hand. You shall guide me with Your counsel, and afterwards
receive me to Glory. Whom have I in Heaven but You? And there is none
upon earth that I desire beside You. My flesh and my heart fails: but
God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. For, lo, they
who are far from You shall perish: You have destroyed all them that
desert You for harlotry But it is good for me to draw near to God: I
have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Your works.
He finds all his comfort in his God. He comes to the conclusion that
whatever the portion of the ungodly may be, his is infinitely better
than theirs because they have not God and he has God, who is
All-in-All!