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We are frequently tempted to lament that the arrogant “get away with it” – prospering, thinking far more highly of themselves than they should, and even speaking against God. This was certainly the case of the Psalmist in Psalm 73
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Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!
But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pains in their death,
And their body is fat.
They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like mankind.Therefore pride is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.
Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot.They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.
They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue ]parades through the earth.Psalm 73:1-9
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But little do they know that when God says “enough”, they will fall from grace with surprising speed.
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When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.Psalm 73:16-20
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We see modern-day examples, but a prominent Biblical example of this sudden “fall from grace” iss Haman (book of Esther), a big-time narcissist. Haman had been given a position of highest prominence in the kingdom a year earlier, but used that position to orchestrate a national attack against God’s people. As a result he went from congratulating himself for Queen Esther’s invitation to a private banquet with the king, to being hung on the gallows in less than a week.
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God knows everything, is always aware, and always working in accordance with His purposes and ways. He is “opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” He always has the last say, in His way and in His timing.
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Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7
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We may think N’s are getting away with it, but God says that in the end they will be humbled.
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