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False Foundations Will Crumble in the End

Proverbs 10:28 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
²⁸The hope of the righteous is gladness,
but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.

The hope of the righteous is gladness: The “b” portion of line one can also be rendered brings joy. Hope (תּוֹחֶלֶת tocheleth) is rendered by a Hebrew verb that means to faithfully wait with the expectation that God will deliver. It is the grounds for feeling hopeful about the future. The righteous have a positive future prospect. The gladness (שִׂמְחָה simchah), joy, happiness is the result of the faithful waiting with a hopeful heart and a positive mind of the righteous one.

but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing: The expectation here is another Hebrew word (תִּקְוָה tiqvah) for hope, but it is not being contrasted with the hope (faithfully waiting with expectation) of line one but rather the wicked one has hope or expectation in that he is looking forward to his evil ends. However, they will come to nothing, in that they will die or perish (אָבַד abad).

Without God, a person’s hopes or expectations are of no value; really, they are futile in the long run. The Bible expresses that the people of the world, in general, have no real hope or expectations, solidly based on a foundation that can be trusted because humanism leads to futility in the end; mankind is heading for destruction in death, and without knowledge of a provision from a God there is no hope in what lies ahead. Those living in the world without God before they come to a knowledge of God were alienated from God and his people, having no real expectations or hope for the future. The worldly hope in themselves, seeking to fill their fleshly desires, some sensual, some materialistic. Therefore, selfish hopes, and those that are based on a false foundation of selfish materialism, on lies, on wrong dealings with others, or on the power of humans or the promises of men, are sure to be unsatisfied and unfulfilled.