Psalm 92:12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
Which is it then? Will the righteous flourish or perish?
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THE MEANING
To fully understand these passages, one must look at the context of both passages.
In Psalm 92:12-15, the Psalmist proclaims the blessings of the righteous person. He is saying that those who follow God will flourish and blossom, they will be healthy and always bear fruit (see also Psalm 1:1-3).
Isaiah 57:1, on the other hand, is speaking of the death of the righteous people, those who are humble, and who faithfully follow God. It states that they die, but no one notices the significance or pays attention enough to understand why. The people do not understand that the death of the righteous is the Lord’s way of sparing them from the coming judgement because of their faithfulness.
Isaiah 57 looks at the fact that although Israel is chosen as God’s people, they have chosen not to follow God but rather go after their idols (verses 3-13). As such, the Lord proclaims that He will give them over to destruction. However, earlier in Isaiah 57:1 Isaiah reveals a deeper reason: the righteous are being taken away from coming evil. In other words, the Lord in His mercy, allows the righteous to avoid future suffering or the turmoil that will affect those who remain. Even if their deaths may seem unfair or mysterious, good comes from it.
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Seeing from God’s Perspective
This verse reminds us that God’s perspective is often different from ours; He uses things like death – which to Him, is only temporary sleep – to bring peace and protection to those who are faithful to Him.
An example is seen in an unnamed son of Jeroboam, whom God said was the only one in Jeroboam’s family with any good in him. The child died before judgement could come on the entire family (1 Kings 14:12-13). A similar thing happened in some manner to King Josiah who died earlier than usual.(2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35) The Lord at different times would delay judgement until after the death of a righteous person, and then the judgement would come.
When righteous people die, the fact that the society or community does not pause and ponder why, shows its true nature: that it is likely not interested in righteousness neither is it aware of the signs preceding judgement! That is not a promising prospect for that community, society or nation. Righteous people preserve a nation. They are the ones with the right standing before God to intercede for the nation and prevent or postpone judgement. When God takes away those who are to act as salt, stand in the gap or intercede for a people, it is a sign that He intends to bring disaster on them.
Psalm 116:15 says Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. God is always speaking. And He uses even the death of His holy ones to pass a message. His ways are merciful and wise.
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