"Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off"
The context for this truism is that when you are the most despairing of an enjoyable future, when you are the most susceptible to temptation and moving outside of the fear of God, when you are discouraged about the progress that you are making toward your dreams, then you are tempted to be unfaithful to God, to your parents, to your spouse, to your country, to yourself. But this verse is a continuation of the previous verse. If you stay within the fear of the Lord – the box of God (the Ten Commandments boundary structure) – then you will have a future. Even though it seems like those who are sinning and enjoying a high time in the jungles of wickedness will have their hope cut off, there is a future for those who turn away from the passing pleasures of sin and learn to love God with all their heart.
Do not allow yourself to take a snapshot of those who are living in sin rather than a motion picture of their whole life – womanizing, gambling, greedy, drunk, partying, blaspheming God – for a motion picture is the only way to reveal the results of their walk into evil.
Future, hope, and dreams do not lie in the path of those who give into their base instincts. For a short period, yes, with a lot of energy poured in, it can look like they are getting ahead. But they do not have a future; they have only the present moment of sin which will soon be gone. Those who fear the Lord have on-going relationships with real people with real love. It is not based upon mutual selfishness.
"Let the words of the wise... be ready on your lips."
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz