Scripture Reference: Proverbs 24:20
“For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.”
A Candle in the Wind!
Question…what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the phrase, ‘A Candle In The Wind’? For most of us, we immediately think of the amazing, emotional tribute to Princess Diana, written and recorded by her dear friend, Elton John. The song was put out as a single dvd and sold millions all over the world.
The only question that comes to my mind, the same as when any famous person dies, is where will they be spending eternity. After all, is there anything else that counts? God’s word tells us that “it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment.’
The average person would look at someone like Princess Diana, focusing on all of her charities and acts of kindness around the world, and would proclaim with certainty, “She now lives with the angels.” Setting aside our emotions, the question still remains, was she part of the body of Christ? Let’s look a little deeper.
Princess Diana, whose funeral showed the Church of England at its solemnest and most elegant, was an unorthodox believer who sought comfort from psychics, astrologers and new-age thinkers. Just a few weeks before her death, she made a highly publicized helicopter trip with her companion, Dodi Fayed, to visit clairvoyant Rita Rogers at her northern England home in Chesterfield.
Although she was raised in the official Anglican church, in keeping with her position as the daughter of an earl, Diana appeared to dislike its formality.
Diana’s former husband, Prince Charles, was also a religious adventurer, showing a keen interest in eastern religions and suggesting that as king he would want to be a "defender of faith" rather than "defender of THE faith."
No matter our personal feelings, I know that God judged her fairly, based on the light that He gave her. I set myself up as a judge over no one’s soul. Scripture calls the ungodly, unrighteous person as one of the wicked, regardless of many good and kind acts they may have done throughout their life. The wicked are estranged from God and will be judged accordingly.
Instead of a candle flickering in the wind and about to be snuffed out; instead we’d like to think of Princess Diana as a flaming torch, brightly shining and producing a light that led the way to our Savior.
I immediately think of someone like the Rev. Billy Graham, my former pastor, or my dad – as champions of the faith, all resting in Heaven and awaiting the day of our Savior’s return. But our devotional today is about those who lived a pagan’s life, whose life was lived like a flickering candle in the wind. We refer to these people as the wicked.
Evil men will be rewarded, one way or the other. But they will not get a good reward – they will not be blessed or favored by heaven. God will reward wicked men with grief, pain, and death. He will cut their lives off and send their souls down to eternal torment.
Proverbs 24:20 is the second half of a proverb. Proverbs 24:19 is the first half:
“Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked.”
It's saying this: You should not worry or be jealous watching evil men prosper; God will not allow them to have a good ending.
Back to Proverbs 24:20. When Solomon wrote here that an evil man will have no reward, he meant a good reward; he meant blessing and favor from heaven. God will not reward evil men with such good things – He will reward them with punishment to painfully destroy them, as stated in the last clause. God will put out their candle: He will end their wicked lives.
A great rule of wisdom is to know the certain future of wicked men. The LORD Jehovah made all things for Himself, even wicked men for when He brings evil upon them (Proverbs 16:4). Israel’s sweet psalmist wrote, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalms 9:17). It does not matter if they play in the NBA, win Oscars in Hollywood, bring you the nightly news at NBC, or sit at a desk in an oval office.
The opposite of this is the future for the righteous. In our ‘Remember the Word” memory program for inmates, a favorite Psalm speaks directly to the subject at hand. David, along with his son Solomon, spoke several times about how God’s people should not be envious or jealous of the prosperity of the wicked.
All too often we tend to forget that God is in control, and although ungodly people may heap unto themselves treasure in this life, their future has a dreadful end.
In the closing part of Psalm 37, David sums up the fate of the wicked in one simple line. We will examine this, but first I want to take a look at what David had to say prior to this.
David’s Wisdom in Psalm 37 – Four Simple Lessons:
David begins Psalm 37 by stating the following in verses one and two.
“Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” He later said "do not fret, it only causes harm."
Psalm 37 is one of those psalms that I have read repeatedly over the years. Within this timeless psalm, a few pointers stood out for me. Today’s short devotion will highlight four of them. Enjoy the read! After these four points, I will close by focusing on our Scripture reference in Proverbs 24:29
1. Trust in the Lord. Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. “(NLT) To trust in someone is to believe in his or her reliability, ability or strength. When you believe in God, you are acknowledging that he can do everything that he promises to. His power is incomparable, and he is completely reliable. Why trust in man when you can trust in God?
2. Delight in the Lord. Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (NIV) What does it mean to delight in the Lord? To delight in God is to find satisfaction, fulfillment, and peace from your communion with him. You can therefore only delight in God if you spend time in his presence. As you fellowship with him and get to know him better, you will enjoy spending time with him. God desires to have an intimate relationship with every one of his children.
3. Commit everything to the Lord. Psalm 37:5 “Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.” (NIV) Committing everything to the Lord means rolling everything over to him, and handing all your heavy burdens to him to carry. God takes our burdens gladly because he has the strength to handle them. Are you unsure about your plans? Is fear of the future weighing you down? Commit your plans to the Lord, and leave their success in his hands.
4. Be still in his presence. Psalm 37:7a “Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act.” (NLT)
Stillness in the presence of God refers to silence, calmness, and quietness. When you sit still and quiet in his presence, you do not fight against him. Instead, you are ready to hear from him, and more importantly, obey him. If you are going through a period of turmoil, take some time away to be still in his presence, and listen to what he has to say to you.
There are two kinds of rewards – good things for good behavior, and bad things for bad behavior. Evil men do not get good rewards, but they will be rewarded – they will be rewarded with death and hell. The righteous will be rewarded with God’s blessing and favor both now and after death. What a contrast! How will YOU choose to live today?
Godly men do not fret about evil men nor envy their temporary successes. They look forward to God’s vengeance: “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth” (Ps 58:10-11).
A man’s candle is his life, as the Holy Spirit shows in other places (Job 18:5-6; 21:17; Pr 13:9; 20:20). The light of life flickers in a living man, but there is not even a spark in a dead man’s body. Think about the wicked and this proverb this way: it is far easier for the God of heaven to snuff out the lives of the wicked than it is for you to put out a candle!
It is a normal temptation to fret or worry about the wicked getting away with evil; it is common to envy their apparent happiness and prosperity. But the instruction of wisdom is to learn that such a shortsighted view of them is brutish. Stop fretting and envying and rejoice about their soon destruction (Ps 37:1-3; 73:1-22; Pr 3:31-35; 23:17-18; 24:1-2).
You choose every day what kind of reward you will get. Your future and that of your family depend on your choice today. In Deuteronomy 30:19, Moses told Israel before he died...
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore CHOOSE LIFE that both thou and thy seed may live.”
Final Thought:
Everything we need to know about the fate of the wicked has been made clear. Our lead verse, Proverbs 24:20, lets us know that the candle of the wicked may shine bright for a while, but in the end it will be SNUFFED OUT.
So here’s the verse I’ve been building up to - a verse that should give the greatest comfort to every child of God.
David states in Psalm 37:37 – "Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the end of that man is PEACE.” The wicked remind me of a frightful verse that describes their future... "You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of SLAUGHTER" (James 5:5) As God’s elect children, we have nothing to be envious of.
Here’s what I want you to imagine. As someone who is in Christ – imagine that God has placed a mark on you; say a big mark on your forehead. This mark indicates that you are HIS - a part of the family of God. The mark makes you like Old Testament Job, someone who was “upright” as the verse says. But the key is the last line. We are told that the “end” - the future - of that man is PEACE.
The "end" of someone is referring to their death. The future for every believer is what David called “peace.” We know that this is the peace that passes all understanding, the peace which is only bestowed on those who have repented and surrendered their heart and mind to Christ Jesus. For that man, their end is peace.
So dear believer, next time you find yourself a little envious of an ungodly person's prosperity, take pity on them, for this life and all its pleasures is all they have – and it shall soon be over. Compare their future to yours….”Peace For All Eternity.”
Glory be to God for His goodness to men!
From: Fight the Good Fight of Faith & Life Journal: by Gregg Harris
Comments