Proverbs 10:24-25

 Proverbs 10:24-25 (NKJV)  24 The fear of the wicked will come upon him,

And the desire of the righteous will be granted.
25 When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

Proverbs 10:24-25 (NIV)  24 What the wicked dread will overtake them;
what the righteous desire will be granted.
25 When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,
but the righteous stand firm forever.

Proverbs 10:24-25 (MES)  24 The nightmares of the wicked come true;
    what the good people desire, they get.
25 When the storm is over, there’s nothing left of the wicked;
    good people, firm on their rock foundation, aren’t even fazed.

The difference between the righteous and the wicked lies not in the existence of these emotions of fear and hope now, but in their issue at last. In each character there are the same two emotions now; in each, at the final reckoning, one of these emotions will be realized and the other disappointed. It is not difficult to ascertain what are the chief fears and desires of a wicked man. Cleaving to his sins, he is in enmity against God. The terrors of the Lord glance from time to time like lightning in his conscience. He fears the wrath of God, and the punishment of sin. What does he desire or hope? His desire for time is the indulgence of his appetites; his desire for eternity is that there should be no God, or at least, that He should not be just to mark iniquity. What becomes of the fears of the righteous? What becomes of the darkness when the daylight shines? When Christ comes, His coming shall be morning. The saints are subject to fears. The promise to believers is not that they shall never fear; it is that the thing feared will never come upon them. Their desire is that they may be pardoned through the blood of Christ, and renewed after His image. When these are the desires of our souls, how safe we are! - The Biblical Illustrator, W. Arnot, D.D.

The unsaved fear God and the righteous judgment which is the consequence of their sins. They may renounce God and declare Him dead. They may scream to the tops of their lungs that there is no God. They try to make themselves into their own tin gods. They worship themselves and they try to have control over everything. They think they are the captains of their fates. But deep down they fear that there is a God and He is the one in control and they are going to face Him in judgment. The wicked are afraid of being seen for who they really are. They are afraid of being exposed and others seeing their evil and shameful deeds. They are afraid of the consequences of their sins. They are afraid of dying and facing judgment. They are afraid of being caught and losing everything, especially control.

You can find plenty of living examples of those who have been caught and have lost all control over their lives. Prisons are full of criminals who thought they were in control and somehow they wouldn't be caught. Addicts who thought they were in control and somehow they wouldn't become addicts who have lost all control over their lives. Adulterers who thought they were in control and somehow they would get away with it but have lost their loving spouses and trusting children in costly divorces. And if they don't repent, they face everlasting judgment for rejecting Jesus Christ and His forgiveness.

Just when you think you've got it all covered and you can do what you want is the moment you should be very afraid.

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
The story centers on Sherman McCoy, a successful New York City bond trader. His $3 million Park Avenue apartment, combined with his aristocratic wife and their expenses, required to keep up appearances, are depleting his income. He is a Yale graduate and a very successful bond seller. In the early part of the book, McCoy sees himself as a self-described "Master of the Universe"! I.e. he sees himself as God. From his lofty, and wealthy, perch, he looks down on everyone else. In his smug superiority, he looks down on his wife, his child, his dog, his mistress, his co-workers, the man on the street. Only he is worthy of praise. Everyone else is only worthy of his disdain. They are the leavings on the bottom of his shoe. He is in control and he does whatever he wants because he thinks it's owed to him. The universe should bless him because he deserves it.

For example, he looks at his wife, who is goodlooking for a woman of 40. She keeps herself in good physical shape. But he has no admiration for her, only disdain. She's "skinny" and "40". He thinks he deserves better and has an adulterous affair with a younger woman, Maria, the socialite wife of another Park Avenue millionaire. Although what they do to their respective spouses and children is shameful, deceitful and low down, he doesn't see it that way. He's doing what he wants to do and he thinks he deserves to sin with no consequences. Whatever he wants, he deserves, because he's the "Master of the Universe".

But one night, in one second, his life is ruined. He and Maria get lost in a bad NY neighborhood. They try to exit onto a highway but the exit is blocked. He gets out to move stuff out of the way. Two black men approach him and he and Maria get scared. She jumps into the driver's seat and picks up McCoy and fishtails out of there. But as the car skids, it evidently hits one of the black men, killing him. A drunk of a reporter and a pathetic civil attorney figure out the black man was hit by a car owned by a wealthy, white man. They turn it into a hate crime and it's picked up by an African American group led by the notorious Reverend Bacon as a racial injustice. It all comes tumbling down.

In the Old Testament we find the story of Noah. The story begins with:

Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:8-9  8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

He was righteous because he believed in God. God directed him to build an ark and Noah obeyed because he believed in God. It took 120 years for Noah to build the ark and he preached righteousness to those who came around to mock him. When it was finished and it was time to load up, God told Moses. Once all the animals were loaded up, Moses and his family went in and God shut the door on the ark. Then came The Great Flood. Moses and his family were rescued by God and God made sure the ark made it safely back onto dry land. When they were allowed back out of the ark, God opened the door. Noah immediately made an altar and sacrificed in worship of God.

Genesis 8:20-21  20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

What a difference between Sherman McCoy, who thought he was Master of the Universe, and Noah, the one who depended on the true Master of the Universe, God! What McCoy was afraid of, happened. But Noah had an everlasting foundation in God.

• What would be the worst nightmare of someone who has rejected Jesus Christ as Savior?
• Write out your comparison of Sherman McCoy and Noah. What are the contrasts?
• Can you think of your own example of someone who thought they had it all but lost it all in a moment?
• Read Psalm 145:18-20 and ponder on it in your journal.

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