Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Proverbs chapter 10, verse 27.

The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

Oh, that's a really good proverb.

Let that soak in. Let me say it one more time. The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short. Now, this is where we have to remember

that proverbs are not guarantees. They're not intended to be interpreted that way. In other words,

this doesn't mean that if you

fear God, you're going to live the longest life possible. And if you're wicked, you're going to

live a short life. I mean, we know from experience. We know from the Bible. That's not true. There are

faithful, God-fearing people who die young. And there are wicked, God-hating people who live long.

So this is not like a guarantee for all of life. But this is where I find, well, two things

so helpful about this verse. One, we know this is true in the long term. The fear of the Lord

leads to eternal life. Those who fear God,

who trust in Jesus, the Savior and Lord of their lives will experience life forever and ever.

And those who do not, those who don't trust in Jesus who die and their sin will experience

eternal death.

So we know that's true in the long term,

but even here in this world,

this is where I love D.A. Carson's comments on Proverbs 1027.

He said the fear of the Lord really does add years to one's life. On the whole, a life lived in this way will adopt fewer bad habits,

will learn to trust and therefore reduce stress, will honor work offered up to the Lord,

will cherish family and friends, and so forth. And in God's universe, all of these things

...