At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
The memory of the just is blessed: But the name of the wicked shall rot.
Proverbs 10:7
The management of lies requires ongoing maintenance. This means that as long as a hypocrite is active, and overseeing his own reputation, he can usually keep things together, at least for a time. But time is a great conveyor belt, and like it or not, everybody gets ushered into the presence of God at the same basic rate of speed.
When we are gone, our memory remains. This proverb says that the memory of the just is like wine, it ages and improves over time. The name of the wicked, however, rots, and a bad smell attends it.
It is not recognized often enough that men who are greatly revered by Christians today were men who were often roundly vilified during their lifetimes. The kind of men who have statues and memorials built in their memory, after they are safely dead and gone, are the kind of men who were a perfect nuisance to the complacent in Zion while they were here. The list of such men, were we to assemble one, would be very long indeed.
Jesus notes how this works. The memory of the just is blessed, and even those who would have conspired in their murder are forced to honor them now (Matt. 23:29).
The hypocrite tries to curate his reputation now, and loses it in the long haul. The righteous care only what God thinks, meaning that they don’t care about their reputation short term—and this is why God blesses their reputation long term.
