Psalm 37 (NKJV)
Do not fret
because of evildoers,
Nor be
envious of the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut
down like the grass,
And wither as
the green herb.
There are many evil people at work today, who
are successfully gaining prestige, power, and money by promoting
immoral agendas and sacrificing the good of others. Barack Obama, for
example, enjoys the cheers of millions of (un-)American followers,
despite the fact that he is continuously lying to us, that he is
working to destroy American freedom and prosperity, and that he has
supported ungodly organizations like Planned
Parenthood.
Nevertheless, the point of this psalm is that
the pious should not fret because of these people, or envy them
for what they have, because their judgement will come in due
time.
Notice, the psalm does not say that we should not be
upset with them and with what they are trying to accomplish. Nor does
it say that we should never speak up against evil, or fight for what
is right. Rather, the clear teaching from the language of the psalm
as a whole, is that we should not be upset or angry at the fact these
evildoers seem to enjoy more prosperity and popularity than we do.
("We" being those of us who obey God and trust him.)
The
reason is that our trust in God and our service to him will be
rewarded:
Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself
also in the LORD,
And He shall give
you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the
LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your
righteousness as the light,
And
your justice as the noonday.
It is difficult to say, for
example, whether conservative movements or future leadership will be
able to tear the country out of the grip of liberalism and socialism.
And it might feel, in darker moments, as though the voice of truth
will be drowned out by the shouts of the ignorant and the screams
of the activists. Nevertheless, the Biblical assurance is that God
himself fights for the cause of right, and specifically here the
cause of those who trust and obey him.
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from
anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not
fret--it only causes harm.
I do not believe the instruction
here "cease from anger" is teaching that we should not be
angry or upset with the evil works of evil people. Rather, the psalmist is admonishing us
to avoid being angered by the contrast between the apparent success
of the wicked and our lack thereof. (Compare similar Psalm
73.)
For
evildoers shall be cut off;
But
those who wait on the LORD,
They
shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while and the wicked
shall be no more;
Indeed, you will
look carefully for his place,
But
it shall be no more.
Time passed quickly in the eyes of
eternity. Soon enough, the wicked will meet his end, and his
prosperity, popularity, and evil intentions will vanish away.
But
the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The
wicked plots against the just,
And
gnashes at him with his teeth.
The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn the
sword
And have bent their bow,
To
cast down the poor and needy,
To slay
those who are of upright conduct.
Their sword shall enter their
own heart,
And their bows shall be
broken.
A
little that a righteous man has
Is better
than the riches of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall
be broken,
But the LORD upholds the
righteous.
The
LORD knows the days of the upright,
And
their inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be ashamed in
the evil time,
And in the days of famine
they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the LORD,
Like the splendor of the meadows,
shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall
vanish away.
If
we truly trust God and live in obedience to his Divine Word, we
should not be afraid of the future, because God will have victory
over his enemies. And we should not be envious of those who work in
opposition to God, because what we have now, and what we will come to
enjoy, is better than all that the wicked will ever possess.


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