At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
“The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: But the desire of the righteous shall be granted”
Proverbs 10:24
The ungodly have an innate sense that their ungodly run cannot last forever. In various ways, they are always hearing footsteps behind them. A tap on the shoulder makes them jump. In the words of the poet Francis Thompson, the hound of heaven is ever behind them.
The wicked flee when no man pursues (Prov. 28:1). When the devil knows that his time is short, this is not something that he uses to spur himself on to the repentance. No, rather, he flies into a great rage because he knows that he only has a short time (Rev. 12:12). One would think that awareness of the diminishing time until judgment would lead men (and devils) to repentance. But that is not actually what happens.
So this proverb says that what the wicked fear will eventually come upon them will in fact eventually come upon them.
In contrast, the righteous are leaning forward, yearning for the time when their desire is fulfilled. The wicked are filled with trepidation and foreboding. The righteous are filled with hope and with true longing. Delight yourself in the Lord, and it says that He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4). Jesus Himself tells us that if we put the kingdom first in our lives, then all the other necessaries of our lives will be added to us (Matt. 6:33). He also tells us that if we forsake all for His sake, then we will receive a hundred-fold more in this life (Mark 10:30).
God knows how to be good to His children.
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
