Proverbs 14:32

Proverbs 14:32 "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death."

What a relevant proverb for recent events in our troubled nation!  Because he was wise, Solomon didn't shy away from talking about death.  He wrote about it often throughout his proverbs but he especially addressed it in his book of Ecclesiastes, even concluding that the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth (7:1).  In the same book, he talked about the certainty of death, the lack of control we have over death, the ramifications of death, the transfer of estates in death and more.  He seemed to think about death often, at least in terms of legacy and impact.  This would make sense given his wealthy and productive reign.  Solomon was ambitious and it appeared that this even applied to his death.

As he pondered death, he surely observed the lives and legacies of men.  At some point, he came to the conclusion that the wicked man is “driven away” in his wickedness.  By "driven away," he meant that they are eventually rendered useless and meaningless.  Given the second half of the proverb dealing with death, we can safely conclude that he meant more specifically, that the wicked are rendered useless and meaningless in death.  Scripture uses that phrase, "driven away" on a number of occasions and when it does, it paints a clear picture of something vanishing.  In Psalm 68:2, it is used within the context of smoke fading and vanishing away into thin air.  In Isaiah 19:7, it is used to describe vegetation being washed away by the water brook and being "no more."  Men or women who live wicked lives leave no meaningful legacy behind.  People who lead unrighteous lives leave nothing for anyone to admire and emulate.  Immoral lives leave no material worth sharing in a eulogy.  In many tragic cases, evil lives strip those souls of a proper burial and of any mourners at their death.  Wicked parents are often intentionally forgotten in death.  The death of adulterous spouses or abusive ex-spouses are often ignored altogether.  Wickedness not only accelerates death but it strips death of any meaning.  Wickedness not only accompanies death but it renders death meaningless.

The more wicked a life, the less meaningful their death.  What criminal on death row will have nearly 200,000 people show up for their funeral and have another 20 million view it online or on television as just happened for Charlie Kirk?  Fame can be achieved by wickedness but a lasting meaningful legacy cannot be achieved by wickedness.  Fame can be found by pulling a trigger but only righteousness brings any hope of making a positive mark in death.  Only righteous lives bring hope of remaining positively relevant after death.  Charlie Kirk was insanely relevant in life but he will remain relevant long after his young life was cut short because of his righteous life.  His life as a faithful husband, loving father and Christian apologist is what has given his death meaning.  Despite being killed, Mr. Kirk seems more relevant today than any of us who are still living.  Despite being dead, Mr. Kirk's life and legacy haven't vanished like smoke.  Righteousness preserves our relevance after death and this is why the righteous have hope in their death.

Adult children don't want to remember bad fathers but they intentionally remember good fathers.  Adult children don't want anyone to stir up the memories of evil mothers but they welcome reminiscing about righteous mothers.  Widows don't want to talk about abusive husbands but they definitely want to talk about gentle husbands.  Widowed men don't want to discuss adulterous wives but they do want to share stories of faithful wives.  Wicked lives make us want to forget those people after their deaths whereas righteous lives make us want to remember people in their absence.  Righteousness leaves a greater legacy than wealth or accomplishment because it comes without bitterness, resentment or hurt.  Righteous parents leave their children an admirable example to follow.  Righteous spouses leave their spouses reasons to remain grateful.  Righteous friends leave their friends all kinds of godly inspiration.

Death is discouraging as it marks the end of a life; the end of influence and contribution to people we love.  In reading the book of Ecclesiastes, I get the impression that death perplexed Solomon for those reasons.  Death rattles the ambitious.  Death steals the opportunity to accomplish more.  For the mighty ancient king of Israel, there could be no more projects, no more wives, no more children, no more grandchildren, no more buildings, no more adventures, no more discoveries, no more books and no more proverbs after death.  At some point however, he realized that he could be relevant long after his death, as his father was, by righteousness.  His father's righteous psalms have remained relevant for thousands of years.  His father's righteous legacy has remained relevant for just as long.  Today, people inspire to have a heart after God's heart, as David did.  For the righteous, there is hope in death!  For the righteous, there is hope that even in death, people can be inspired, encouraged and impacted.  For the righteous, there is hope that they can be a help to their children and their children's children for generations to come.  For the righteous, there is hope that their death will move an unsaved friend to accept Christ as their Savior.
 
Righteousness in life makes the end of that life more meaningful.  By choosing righteousness on a daily basis, we give more meaning to our death.  By treating people right today, we hope that more people will be impacted by the Gospel in our death.  By treating our family members right today, we hope that our death will cause them to appreciate being treated right and in so doing, lead to their own righteousness.  What we do in life determines how much influence we’ll have in death.  If we choose righteousness on a consistent basis, we can have hope that our death will impact people and that our life will have relevance long after our death.  When you look at it that way, death isn't that discouraging - it's actually a little exciting.