What of the Unbeliever?

Psalms 73:16-20
(16) But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
(17) until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
(18) Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
(19) How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
(20) Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

Here the Psalmist wrestles with the apparent prosperity of those who do not worship the Lord. How could their lots in life be so much better than his while he remained faithful? It was all confusing until he went into the sanctuary of God. It was then that he was able to get the right perspective. Their end is destruction, while the end for the believer is life.

It's easy to look around at the unbelievers in our culture and envy what they have. The beautiful and rich folks in Hollywood spring to mind as do many corporate executives. I tend to think of Hugh Hefner as the modern-day Solomon. All of these folks seem to have it made now. Yet in the end they are going to end up spending a very long time experiencing God's justice.

I realize that this is not the spin that the popular prosperity folks put on things today. However, I do think that this is the biblical spin. What's interesting is that I read this as well today:

1 Corinthians 1:18-25
(18) For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(19) For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
(20) Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
(21) For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
(22) For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
(23) but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
(24) but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
(25) For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

I think of this as being more directed toward those who think themselves too smart to believe in God. However, the folks I mentioned before functionally live as if they believe that. Most are either true, professing atheists or functional atheists. I want to be a professing and functional Christian.