The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.   Proverbs 10:28

The word "hope," as used in the Scriptures, means to have a confident expectation of something.  The way the concept of hope is used in the rest of the world has nothing to do with Biblical hope.  Worldly hope has to do with wishing for something and hoping that you get it.  Biblical hope is not vain wishing - it is a confidence in something or someone that lets you know that you WILL be receiving something.  With this definition in mind let us look at today's proverb.

The hope of the righteous is gladness.  What is the "hope of the righteous?"  That hope is that God, Who has spoken and revealed Himself and His ways in the Scriptures, will be true to His Word.  The first and foremost area where this is true is in our salvation and the confident expectation that we have of being able to stand before God in the judgment.  God has done what is necessary to pay for our sins.  In the time of the Old Testament this was through the covenant promise that God made to Abraham.  Abraham was made righteous before God by faith - as He believed God.  This is what Paul presents to us in both Galatians and Romans.  Those promises were further defined as the sacrificial system was put into place under Moses.  The blood of those bulls, goats, and lambs were a sign of a more perfect sacrifice to come.  Jesus Christ fulfilled that sacrifice when He died on the cross and paid the price for sin - forever!  As a result of what God has done - the confident expectation of the righteous (those made rightreous by faith) is gladness!  We are overjoyed at God's grace given to us in Jesus Christ.  We are delighted at the salvation God has given to us in Him. 

The second half of this proverb reminds us of the wicked - and their ignoble end.  The expectation of the wicked perishes.  Two things we should see here.  First the wicked does not hope, the expect things.  Their expectation is based on what they think they have earned.  The wicked rely on their works or their religious system - which will be based on a false understanding of God.  They feel that they have worked hard for their salvation - and therefore they deserve something for it.  But their expectation will fade and die.  There is nothing to it - and nothing they will gain from it.  This is the second thing we need to see here.  Their expectation perishes.  That is because their expectation is in themselves.  They will perish - becasue what they have done will never stand before a holy God.  It is a sad reality - but it is a sure one.

What are you relying on for your eternity?  Are you looking to yourself and your own religious works?  If you are - both your works and you will perish.  There is no hope for such a person, because they remain in their wickedness.  All they will see in the day when they stand before God's judgment is His wrath.  The wise man finds his righteousness not in himself - but by faith in Jesus Christ.  That person will know a gladness that will never end.  Hope in Jesus Christ - for that is a hope that will never disappoint.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.  Proverbs 26:12

There is a great deal of difference between a positive self-image and an arrogant one.  Today's world places too much emphasis on this - to the point where we have men and women who do not have an adequate amount of self-deprecation in their personalities.  We've raised a generation that feels better about itself more than any other - but this has not led to good things.  Instead it has led to one of the most arrogant and foolish generations in American history.

When a man is "wise in his own eyes," he is conceited and arrogant.  A man wise in his own eyes thinks he is a genius when he is not.  He considers himself far too brilliant in his own estimation, which leads him to think far too highly of his own thoughts, ideas, and opinions.  A wise man is one who learns to see things from God's perspective - not from his own fallen one.  Since the fall of man into sin - and the ongoing choice in every generation to seemingly plumb new depths of that fall - wisdom is something that comes only as we learn to question our own fallen assumptions and turn to God and His Word for true wisdom.  The more we do this, the wiser we become.  But the opposite it true as well.  The less we turn to God and choose instead to trust our own natural, fallen assumptions, the more foolish we become.

The man wise in his own eyes is fixed on himself and his own views and opinions.  To turn him from them is not an easy task - some consider it almost impossible.  He sees himself as the end-all, be-all of wisdom and understanding - and will argue with others about it until he is blue in the face.  Considering all that God has to say about the fool - it is pretty amazing that God holds out more hope for the fool than for this man. 

The admonition of Scripture on this is clear.  Do not be wise in your own eyes.  Fear the Lord and turn from evil.  That is the counsel that God offers to us when it comes to the how we view ourselves and our own wisdom in life.  To do otherwise is to mire ourselves in a pit of self-centered, foolish, and self-indulgent thought.  The end of which is to so bury us under the weight of our own stupidity and selfishness that we cannot dig ourselves out.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

Today's proverb is placing before us a truth - that when we hope for something and that hope is indefinitely put off - we can become heart-sick for that thing.  When we want something very badly, we begin to set our sights upon it and long for it.  If that thing does not come to us - the longing increases to the point where we cannot get it out of our minds.  From that point there is an increasing burden upon our hearts for the thing we long for in life.  But if what we long for is not within our grasp - and we cannot bring it within our grasp - our hearts will grow sick over it.  Soon, we find ourselves in a morose and depressed state over this thing - where it dominates our lives.  If there is not a relieiving of that situation - we will lose hope altogether - which is a sad state to be in as we walk through life.  I'm sure we've all met someone who has utterly lost hope - embittered against someone, something, even against God - they live a life defined not by what they have - but by the one thing they did not get.  They are a bitter, resentful, horrid lot - and very difficult to be around.

The opposite of this is also true - that a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.  There is something about a desire that is met that thrills and envigorates the soul.  We find ourselves overjoyed at the realization of that which we desired - and it only encourages us to desire and work toward other things.  Please see and grasp that word, "work" here.  Jacob had a desire to marry Rachel - and was willing to work 7 years for that desire to be realized.  The Word tells us that the 7 years seemed but days because of his great love for her.  Even after his father in law deceived him and gave him Leah first, Jacob still worked another seven years for Rachel.  There is something about a desire that can be realized, that will make us work hard for it.  There is something about the accomplishment of a task - one that helps us realize a goal - that will help us to work joyfully toward it.  That is why it is so wise to live by understanding that comes from knowing and pursuing God's will rather than our own. 

Romans 12:1-2 urges us to present our very bodies to God as a living sacrifice.  We are exhorted to be conformed to God, and not to this world.  And in this divine pursuit we are promised that we will find the will of God to be good, acceptable, and perfect.  There is wisdom indeed!  The desire fulfilled here is a reference to God's will being the source and the center of our desires.  We do not allow the world to lead us by the nose through its lusts.  That, too often, will lead to heart sickness over a hope deferred again and again.  What is astounding is the heart sickness is over that which is outside God's will for us.  When we make the mistake of being conformed to this world, our desires are conformed to its lusts as well.  Then we find ourselves in opposition to God's will and longing for things God does not desire to give to us.  Just like with the Israelites, He may give them to us - but send a leanness to our souls in the process.  This means that God will usually say, "No!" to those desires.  If we continue to want them, we will find that our "ungodly hope" will be deferred again and again. 

God's deferral is for our own good - but that is not the way that we will see it.  We will continue to writhe in anguish in the grasp of God's controlling and sovereign hand - finding ourselves miserable in the will of God.  Our heart sickness will eventually turn us against Him - making us think He is withholding from us that which is good or best.  This, dear saints, is the same lie that was told to Eve in the garden.  God knows that in the day you eat of this forbidden fruit your eyes will be opened.  He is trying to keep you from being just like Him.  Just like Eve, we will too often believe the lie - and allow our heart sickness to lead to a soul sickness - and death. 

We do not want the false fruit of the tree of our own and this world's evil desires.  What we should want is the fruit of the tree of life.  Interesting isn't it how this passage points us to that fateful decision that was made in the garden.  That decision deferred the hope of life for generations - and unleashed on the earth sin, suffering, and death that would reign over men until the second Adam, Jesus Christ, made His appearance and destroyed the lie.  Oh, saints of God, do not give your life to worldly and fleshly hopes that will only take you toward heart sickness.  Embrace God's ways and paths.  Surrender to His will and His Spirit's guiding.  In that you will find a tree of life that will yield not just an earthly satisfaction now - but an eternal one that will last forevermore.