The fear of the Lord prolongs life but the years of the wicked are cut short. ~Proverbs 10:27
You may not be old enough to remember this, but many years ago, local television station managers got a good night’s sleep. Right after the evening news and a late show, a pretaped institutional thought was delivered by a nervous local minister. Other stations would play the national anthem behind the image of a billowing American flag.
And then the television station would put one of those test patterns on your screen and play a single note—E-flat, I think—for the rest of the night. Then the station manager locked the door to the studio and went home to bed. He, along with the other two station managers in your town, was asleep in fairly good time.
Boy, have things changed. Not only are there a lot more than three station managers, but those people must drink a lot of black coffee. I haven’t seen a television test pattern or heard that E-flat tone for decades. Anyway, one of the great challenges for these guys is finding something—anything—to put on your screen in the middle of the night. Thank goodness for infomercials!
From vitamin supplements, pills for a good night’s sleep or erectile disfunction, and impenetrable car wax to machines that promise perfectly chiseled abs to dating websites guaranteed to fix every lonely heart, these all-night advertisements fill the airwaves. One of the universal features with these high-pressure sales pitches is the bonus. You’ve heard about all the benefits of the product, and the salesperson has told you that there isn’t a single store in the solar system that carries this thing and that you’d better “call now.” And then, if you weren’t completely convinced, he or she offers the clinching line: “And that’s not all.” The announcer offers you an extra reward—sometimes a completely unrelated thing like a great set of Japanese knives to go with your “Hits of the ‘60s” compact discs (because only people who are interested in the “Hits of the ‘60s” buy compact discs anymore!).
Unless you’ve got the internal constitution of George Patton, you find yourself unconsciously tapping the toll-free number on your phone and giving a total stranger your credit card number, your Social Security number, and the name of your firstborn child.
The proverbs, with all due respect to Solomon, are like those infomercials. You and I are presented with a profound promise, followed with a second statement—a kind of “and that’s not all” kicker. Usually these little couplets make a lot of sense. When you and I read them, we often find ourselves sighing with resolve over their truth. But today’s proverb seems confusing.
The last time I checked, there were lots of agnostics having birthdays. This second promise seems as unrelated to reality as stainless cutlery is when it’s shipped with my Beatles collection.
But wait, there’s more. The text says that the “years of the wicked are cut short.” It doesn’t say that the unrighteous are the ones who die first. But it could imply that the later years of unrepentant people will be filled with trouble and discouragement—cut short as in cut short in quality.
This promise of adding length to your life because you honor the Lord sounds like something you and I could use. And the additional reminder that those who choose to shake their fists in God’s merciful face pay a devastating personal price is a reminder more valuable than the sharpest carving knife ever.
Honor God. Live obediently, wholly free from guilt and hopelessness. And that’s not all. If you don’t honor Him, you may still have birthday parties, but they probably won’t be a lot of fun.