For Posterity's Sake

Psalm 37:35-40
"I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.
Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.
Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.
But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him."


What is life all about? Who are we to look up to as an example? Who are to be our heroes? Our culture exalts the ones with the most wealth, the most power, the ones with the most fame... regardless of how it came to them. Yet, if we are patient and stick around long enough, it seems we become witnesses of these very ones falling from grace, being soon forgotten... and simply being 'no more'. What exactly is the legacy that they leave?


My son, Caleb, has one of those red-laser pointer thingys. He likes to hide in another room (or across the worship center!) and point that thing at my chest while I'm talking to someone. They start snickering and giggling... and pretty soon I realize that I need to introduce my son to the wonders of duct tape once again (that was a joke, please don't call DFS). He's obviously using that laser-pointer for something that it was never intended for. It is meant to be a tool used in lectures to direct an audience's attention to the speaker's main points. It was originally found only on certain types of guns and used for the purpose of targeting something. In both cases, it's purpose is to 'mark' something.


We are admonished to keep an eye on the lives of others in this passage, to literally 'mark' them. The writer speaks of how he watched a bad, violent man who was successful in life, but when he died, he was no more - simply forgotten. However, when we watch the blameless, upright and peaceful man we'll find a very different story. He'll have something called "posterity". "Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have posterity" (Psalm 37:37).

• The dictionary says that "posterity" is a noun meaning: 'Generations or time to come. The body of descendants from an ancestor.'

The idea of 'posterity' is what I'll call a 'legacy'. It is something that a person hands down to the next generation when they die. However, it is really more than that because 'posterity' speaks of more than something, it speaks of the very people themselves!

Let me re-set this: We are to 'mark' those (watch them, look up to them) that are blameless, upright, and peaceful, because THEY are the ones that, rather than just fade away, will leave a lasting legacy, which is the people that carry on their righteous way of living.

We are a culture of hero worshippers. And the heroes we choose to lift up and 'mark' are all too often undeserving. They exemplify greed, materialism, lust, and selfishness. This passage in Psalm 37 ends by stating that those we should be watching are ultimately the ones that "take refuge in God". In other words, they may not be perfect, wealthy, or even have all their 'stuff' together, yet "He is their strength in time of trouble".


Do you know someone like that? Maybe they aren't the perfect picture of 'success', as far as this world might define it. However, they live lives of total dependence upon God. They are peaceful. They are upright. They are simple, but they are blameless. If you are lucky enough to be around someone like that, then point your laser at them. Mark them. Watch them. Do it for posterity's sake. Keep your eye on them... understanding that you too are being watched.

I look down... I see a red dot... I realize that my son has marked me.

What will I pass on?

What will I leave him?

What's important today?