Wisdom 3:1-19: a reflection

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them. 2In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster, 3and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace. 4For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality. 5Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself. 6He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering. 7In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble. 8They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever. 9Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones. 10But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord; 11for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless. 12Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked. 13Their descendants are cursed. For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy, she who has not conceived in transgression. She will have fruit when God examines souls. 14So is the eunuch which has done no lawless deed with his hands, nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; for a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness, and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary. 15For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail. 16But children of adulterers will not come to maturity. The seed of an unlawful union will vanish away. 17For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor. 18If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment. 19For the end of an unrighteous generation is always grievous.

Against the fear that death is the end and the loss of the righteous a disaster, this passage sets a great comfort: the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, at peace, their hope full of immortality. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, it says, and no torment will touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was considered a disaster; but they are in peace. To human eyes, the death of the righteous can look like disaster and loss, an ending; but in truth their souls are in the hand of God, safe, at peace, and their hope is full of immortality. What looked like disaster is peace; what looked like an ending is life in God's hand. This shows that the righteous who have died are in God's hand, at peace, their hope full of immortality. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, at peace. What looks like the disaster of death is, for the righteous, peace and hope. The righteous who have died are safe in God's hand. Their hope is full of immortality, not swallowed by death.

Notice the contrast this passage draws. To human eyes, to the eyes of the foolish, the death of the righteous looks like disaster: they seemed to have died, their departure considered a loss and ruin, an ending, a defeat. But this is not the truth of it. In truth, the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, where no torment can touch them; they are at peace; and their hope is full of immortality. What looked like disaster is, in truth, peace and safety in God's hand; what looked like an ending is life. This is a deep comfort in the face of death. When those who belong to God die, it can look, to our grieving eyes, like disaster, like loss, like an ending. But the truth is otherwise: their souls are in the hand of God, safe, at peace, beyond the reach of torment, their hope full of immortality. Death has not swallowed them; they are held in God's hand. This does not remove our grief, but it changes what we believe about those who have died in the Lord: not lost, not ended, but safe and at peace in God's hand. We do well to hold this comfort in the face of death, our own and others': that the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, at peace, their hope full of immortality. The souls of the righteous are safe in God's hand, at peace. What looks like the disaster of death is, in truth, peace and hope. Those who die in the Lord are not lost or ended, but held by God. Hold this comfort in the face of death: the righteous are in God's hand.

That is worth resting in, for the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, at peace, their hope full of immortality, and we can hold this comfort in the face of death, though it looks like disaster to human eyes. To our grieving eyes, the death of those who belong to God can look like loss and ending; but in truth their souls are in God's hand, safe, at peace, beyond torment. They are held by God. When death looks like disaster and loss, hold the truth that the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, at peace, their hope full of immortality, not lost but safe in his hand. Rest in the comfort that the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, at peace, their hope full of immortality, though to human eyes the death of the righteous can look like disaster and loss, as this passage sets against that fear the truth that the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God and no torment will touch them, that though in the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died and their departure was considered a disaster, they are in peace; for to human eyes the death of the righteous can look like disaster and an ending, but in truth their souls are in the hand of God, safe and at peace, and their hope is full of immortality, so that what looked like disaster is peace and what looked like an ending is life in God's hand, which is a deep comfort in the face of death, since when those who belong to God die it can look to our grieving eyes like disaster, loss, and an ending, but the truth is otherwise, that their souls are in the hand of God, safe, at peace, beyond the reach of torment, their hope full of immortality, so that death has not swallowed them but they are held in God's hand, which does not remove our grief but changes what we believe about those who have died in the Lord, not lost or ended but safe and at peace in God's hand, so that we do well to hold this comfort in the face of death, our own and others'.

Lord, against the fear that death is the end and the loss of the righteous a disaster, this passage sets a great comfort: the souls of the righteous are in your hand, at peace, their hope full of immortality. The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, it says, and no torment will touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was considered a disaster; but they are in peace. To human eyes, the death of the righteous can look like disaster and loss, an ending; but in truth their souls are in your hand, safe, at peace, and their hope is full of immortality. What looked like disaster is peace; what looked like an ending is life in your hand. Show me the contrast this passage draws. To human eyes, to the eyes of the foolish, the death of the righteous looks like disaster: they seemed to have died, their departure considered a loss and an ending. But this is not the truth of it. In truth, the souls of the righteous are in your hand, where no torment can touch them; they are at peace; and their hope is full of immortality. What looked like disaster is, in truth, peace and safety in your hand; what looked like an ending is life. This is a deep comfort in the face of death. When those who belong to you die, it can look, to my grieving eyes, like disaster, like loss, like an ending. But the truth is otherwise: their souls are in your hand, safe, at peace, beyond the reach of torment, their hope full of immortality. Death has not swallowed them; they are held in your hand. This does not remove my grief, but it changes what I believe about those who have died in you: not lost, not ended, but safe and at peace in your hand. Take that to my heart. In the face of death, my own and others', help me hold this comfort, Lord, that the souls of the righteous are in your hand, at peace, their hope full of immortality, not lost or ended but safe and held by you.