“For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.” (Psalm 73:3-6)
Don’t automatically equate prosperity with the favor of God. Prosperity can be a signal of judgment upon a wicked life. Full lives of ease, free from trouble, lull the wicked into a false security that “heaven” has kissed their path. Pride encircles them as a chain.
Like the rich man who despised the poor beggar at his gate, those who prosper in this life die only to wake up in terror. “How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.” (Psalm 73:19) Then all their earthly bliss is but a distant dream, and a nightmarish eternity of trouble has only just begun. Then it is their turn to envy the poor of this world, who were rich in faith. May we see beyond the temporary to the eternal.