“The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” (Psalm 34:17-22)

The ultimate contrast is comparison between the redemption of the righteous and the “slaying” and the “desolation” of the wicked. One day this world and all that is in it will be burned up (2 Peter 3:10). The Lord of the universe will build a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). The One who saved us will dwell with us and be with us, ruling from a new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2-3) in which no thing or being will enter that “defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie” (Revelation 21:27).

All that is evil and all who are evil will be purged from this new world, and all that hurts and destroys will be removed from the very memory of those who are part of the redeemed (Isaiah 11:9). We who own Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, as our Savior and Lord now will rest in the “peace [that] passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

In that “real world” of eternity prepared by our Lord Jesus, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Even so, come, Lord Jesus. HMM III

Adapted from Treasures in the Psalms, Henry M. Morris III, 352.