"The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be shortened"
The phrase fear of the Lord has been explained in this devotional commentary as both reverence and actual fear. We serve a huge, immense, and transcendent God who is capable of all kinds of actions. He is more powerful than any power of nature that we fear. And we cannot control Him as we seek to control nature.
Many times we lose sight of the Awesomeness of God.
Following God’s way pays off. We can live longer if we do not harm our bodies through sin and rebellion. When we stay within God's boundary structures, it does prolong life. I was reading a statistic the other day that the vast majority of cervical cancers come from a sexually transmitted disease. Therefore if you fear the Lord enough to not commit adultery in any form, you will most likely not get that kind of cancer.
but the years of the wicked will be shortened
We tend to forget in our day of antibiotics and advanced medical care that when you disregard God’s boundaries, you do significant damage to your body. Being wicked means that you live outside of God’s prescription for life. You lie consistently; you live in adultery; you hate and are angry regularly; you swear, curse, and blaspheme constantly. All of these activities inevitably expose a person to diseases, weaker immune function, and dangerous relationships. The idea in this verse is that the wicked introduce into their own life what causes their bodies to break down.
Remember that it doesn't seem that wickedness is anything but pleasure. But it will do harm to you and to those around you.
It is worth it to live the good life with the Lord.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz