“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
While yet in flower and not cut down,
They wither before any other plant.
Such are the paths of all who forget God.
The hope of the godless shall perish.
Their confidence is gossamer.
Their trust is a spider’s web.
If one leans against its house,
It will not stand.
If one lays hold of it,
It will not endure.
The wicked thrive before the sun,
Their shoots spread over the garden.
Their roots twine about the stone heap.
They live among the rocks.
If they are destroyed from their place,
Then it will deny them, saying,
‘I have never seen you.’
See!
These are their happy ways.
Out of the earth still others will spring.”
Here the power of God is seen in the growth of vegetation. Without water nothing will happen. Water your plants! If you forget God you are like a plant without water. Your hope will disappear. Your confidence will be delicate. Your trust will be like that in a spider web. If you lean on a house, it will fall. The wicked seem to be fine in the sun, but their roots are stuck in stone. They will be destroyed from their place. They will say that I have no idea who they are. However, others will sprout from the earth who are not wicked.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 