“I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.” -Psalm 37:35–36
The Hebrew underlying this passage is a bit awkward but the point is clear. David offers a personal testimony of God’s justice in dealing with the wicked. One minute he was alive and active, expanding his power ruthlessly like a burgeoning tree spreading itself as far as its reach would allow. The next minute he was gone, dead, no more. Just like that death ended his ruthless reign and his power, presence, and person could not be found.
David isn’t just prophesying the truth that God sees and judges righteously; he is testifying as an eyewitness to the validity of that truth. Haven’t we all, in some fashion, seen similar? Death brings judgment to all men in a moment.
“Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.” -Psalm 73:18–20