The righteous perish,
    and no one takes it to heart;
the devout are taken away,
    and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
    to be spared from evil.
2 Those who walk uprightly
    enter into peace;
    they find rest as they lie in death.

When those we believe to be godly die ‘prematurely’, some of us may wonder ‘why?’

‘Why has God plucked these lovely flowers now, while they are still in their early bloom?’

Warren Wiersbe says that this passage points to the premature deaths of certain of Israel’s good leaders, and that, by being taken early, they were spared from seeing the terrible things that were to befall the nation.

This, however, still leaves us with the mystery of why other devout people are left on earth to witness harrowing things.

It has to be said that our calling is to trust in the Sovereign Lord. He has His own good and wise purposes for the lives of His children. John has a different destiny to Peter, and what God will do with John is none of Peter’s business. we must each of us keep our eyes fixed on Him.