In Psalms, chapter seventy-three, verse seventeen, God shows the psalmist the destiny of the wicked. This revelation puts his problem in the perspective both of eternity, as in verses seventeen through twenty, and of the believer’s highest blessing, as in verses twenty-five through twenty-eight. At life’s journey ends, all the righteous will succeed and triumph with God while the wicked will perish. Given the brief span of our lives, if we evaluate things simply from our limited, earth-bound, human perspective, we will almost certainly become discouraged and filled with despair. We must have God’s revealed Word and His Holy Spirit to complete our life’s journey in faith and confidence in God’s goodness and justice.
The theme under God delivers the righteous section concerning the outcome of those who do not serve God but the world and other deities. The difference between the righteous, religious, and the ungodly is simple: the heart. The righteous will have a heart towards God, which begins with love. God is love. Those who serve Him will walk in love. However, the public response will not always be receptive. Some people will accept it, and others may reject it. Jesus went through criticism from those who did not receive Him. The priests, the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees all followed the Son of God to see what he was doing but were not followers of Christ. Religious people obey the law but do not follow the examples of Jesus. The ungodly neither follow the law nor Jesus.
Believers walk by faith and depend upon the Lord to lead, guide, and protect. However, religious people follow the law and rules and fail to acknowledge the Word of God. The ungodly, neither follow God nor the law. However, the last two groups get along but not with the righteous.