"...but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin."

[Depleted]

I've been reading the 146 Psalm for the last few days. If I get caught on something, I think about that for a while. Next day, I read it again, and if I get caught on something else, I think about that for a while. Then keep doing that until it feels like I've gotten what I can out of it. It's been working with the Psalms for a year now, except I keep getting stuck on certain phrases.

"...but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin."

I do get that. The very next sentence explains it -- Psa 146:10 "The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!" But I've been watching history unfold in front of me for 60 years now.

Did the world see Fidel Castro go down in ruin? The Kims -- Kim II-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un? Ho Chi-Minh? Stalin? Chiang Kai-shek? Franco? Putin -- the richest man in the world? I don't think I'll see him go down in ruin either. As scary as these men were, it just strikes me they ought to go down in flames, not old age. And that they die of old age, seems to give other evil people the courage to be that evil too.

I know ultimately, they pay the price, but it feels like they're historical heroes for other evil men to repeat what they did and are doing. When I was a kid, I'd watch my older brothers do things that I knew weren't right, and then waited to see what their punishment was. If there was no visible punishment, and I wanted to do it too, they inspired me to go for it. My parents weren't perfect, so they missed a few things we all did. God is perfect, so he's not missing anything. It seems like if he punished the evil quicker, it wouldn't help the evil men at all, (I'm sure Castro died thinking he did alright for himself in his life), but it would give pause for the younger people watching.

What am I missing, because I know I'm missing something. God is perfect. I'm not. And whatever he does is for his glory and our good. But that works for all the believers who lived under the rules of all those men too.

 

[Zen]

Putin -- the richest man in the world? I don't think I'll see him go down in ruin either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World's_Billionaires

How do you know if Putin is wicked? How is he the richest man in the world? The inbred so-called Jewish banking families are way richer. Bill Gates is twice as rich.

 

[dcontroversal]

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but would have all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth...

The old proverbial saying I guess....giving them enough rope.....

 

[Zen]

 

[EarsToHear]

[FONT=&quot]Psalms 146:10 The Lord shall reign for ever, Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye The Lord.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Every generation that has ever lived and our generation is the last, our Lord will reign in Zion over all generations.

We all shall praise the Lord for His greatness, for He shall reign for ever.

Think future, not past.[/FONT]

 

[notuptome]

You can see what these have given in exchange for their souls. How pitiful that they go down into the pit of everlasting destruction with no hope only eternal anguish and despair. The rich man had much but in death he was most pitiable.

Mt 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?


For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[notmyown]

hey, we did this one when studying the Psalter!

if you want to take our pastor's word for it, he said 'brings to ruin' literally means more like turns upside down, or better, bends aside. away from His people, the strangers, the widows and the orphans.
i know, it doesn't always appear that way to us. but God says it, so it must be so.

Providence. i think the general idea is God's Providence.

 

[Blain]

!!!!!! He is scary looking good god he needs to stop this nonsense

 

[Corbinscam]

Have you ever really seen a person or witness an event that was purely evil? There is no happiness. There might be a façade of happiness but true happiness is far from them. The evil person may seem ok and people on a whole may never know any different...they may never "go down in ruins" on earth...but what happens to them in eternity? I didn't even read the entire psalm so I may be way off and crazy but that was my first thought.

 

[Depleted]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World%27s_Billionaires

How do you know if Putin is wicked? How is he the richest man in the world? The inbred so-called Jewish banking families are way richer. Bill Gates is twice as rich.

 

[Depleted]

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, but would have all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth...

The old proverbial saying I guess....giving them enough rope.....

If he's not willing for any to perish then why would he give them enough rope? Sounds like you're saying God doesn't want any to die, but he's going to hang some.

 

[Depleted]

Psalms 146:10 The Lord shall reign for ever, Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye The Lord.


Every generation that has ever lived and our generation is the last, our Lord will reign in Zion over all generations.

We all shall praise the Lord for His greatness, for He shall reign for ever.

Think future, not past.

"over all generations" -- isn't that past, present, and future?

 

[Meggido]

I've been reading the 146 Psalm for the last few days. If I get caught on something, I think about that for a while. Next day, I read it again, and if I get caught on something else, I think about that for a while. Then keep doing that until it feels like I've gotten what I can out of it. It's been working with the Psalms for a year now, except I keep getting stuck on certain phrases.

"...but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin."

I do get that. The very next sentence explains it -- Psa 146:10 "The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!" But I've been watching history unfold in front of me for 60 years now.

Did the world see Fidel Castro go down in ruin? The Kims -- Kim II-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un? Ho Chi-Minh? Stalin? Chiang Kai-shek? Franco? Putin -- the richest man in the world? I don't think I'll see him go down in ruin either. As scary as these men were, it just strikes me they ought to go down in flames, not old age. And that they die of old age, seems to give other evil people the courage to be that evil too.

I know ultimately, they pay the price, but it feels like they're historical heroes for other evil men to repeat what they did and are doing. When I was a kid, I'd watch my older brothers do things that I knew weren't right, and then waited to see what their punishment was. If there was no visible punishment, and I wanted to do it too, they inspired me to go for it. My parents weren't perfect, so they missed a few things we all did. God is perfect, so he's not missing anything. It seems like if he punished the evil quicker, it wouldn't help the evil men at all, (I'm sure Castro died thinking he did alright for himself in his life), but it would give pause for the younger people watching.

What am I missing, because I know I'm missing something. God is perfect. I'm not. And whatever he does is for his glory and our good. But that works for all the believers who lived under the rules of all those men too.

Ecclesiastes 8.11-13

[SUP]11 [/SUP]Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. [SUP]12 [/SUP]Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. [SUP]13 [/SUP]But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

 

[Depleted]

!!!!!! He is scary looking good god he needs to stop this nonsense

Also helps not to count all news as real, and all posts as significant. That's Fake News, and completely unrelated to anything anyone is talking about except Zen, who seems to like to get his opinion known about everything even when inappropriate, unrelated, and fiction.

 

[dcontroversal]

If he's not willing for any to perish then why would he give them enough rope? Sounds like you're saying God doesn't want any to die, but he's going to hang some.

Well now....that seems to be the case hey........God will not at all acquit the wicked.....and the verses I referenced are indeed biblical......

God will not be MOCKED.....MEN will reap what they SOW.....sounds like giving them rope to me.......!

 

[Depleted]

You can see what these have given in exchange for their souls. How pitiful that they go down into the pit of everlasting destruction with no hope only eternal anguish and despair. The rich man had much but in death he was most pitiable.

Mt 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?


For the cause of Christ
Roger

I'm still stuck on seeing how much my older brothers could get into without getting caught. I was a follower, so would try it myself. All the men, but two, from the list I gave in the first post had proteges. And each "next man" was more evil than the proceeding man. The only exception was Franco. (Putin might be another one, but I don't pay attention enough to him to see if he has a protege.) Franco thought Juan Carlo I would be as evil as he was, but he wasn't.

If the evil would be stopped in a way for all to see, I'm thinking there would be more proteges like Juan Carlos I, instead of like Kim Jong-il and then Kim Jong-un. (And Juan Carlos I wasn't a sweety. Just better than Franco.)

 

[Depleted]

hey, we did this one when studying the Psalter!

if you want to take our pastor's word for it, he said 'brings to ruin' literally means more like turns upside down, or better, bends aside. away from His people, the strangers, the widows and the orphans.
i know, it doesn't always appear that way to us. but God says it, so it must be so.

Providence. i think the general idea is God's Providence.

Seeing how evil evil can get, got to say... sometimes it's hard to believe in providence.

 

[Depleted]

Have you ever really seen a person or witness an event that was purely evil? There is no happiness. There might be a façade of happiness but true happiness is far from them. The evil person may seem ok and people on a whole may never know any different...they may never "go down in ruins" on earth...but what happens to them in eternity? I didn't even read the entire psalm so I may be way off and crazy but that was my first thought.

JFK assassination.
MLK and RFK within a couple of months.
Charlie Manson's "family."
The My-Lai Massacre.
The Munich Olympics.
The Khmer Rouge Killing Fields.

All those things happened before I finished high school. And, compared to all the terrorist attacks since the 1990s, that seems the puppy days of evil comparatively.

 

[Zen]

And, compared to all the terrorist attacks since the 1990s, that seems the puppy days of evil comparatively.

Yeah but evil Putin, world's richest man! Russia bad!

 

[notmyown]

Seeing how evil evil can get, got to say... sometimes it's hard to believe in providence.

i know. especially when Amy comes home with some of the stories she does from work.
yesterday it was a case she caught of sex-trafficking in a nearby city.

yet God says He works all things according to the counsel of His will. and He says

Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it. (Is 46:8-11)

are those verses out of context in this situation? perhaps someone will correct me.
till then, it's my job to believe Him. not an easy task at times, is it?

The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord;
be assured, he will not go unpunished. (Prov 16:4-5)