April 4, 2016

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
(Psalm 37:1-8)

It seems to be getting increasingly difficult to escape the appearance of evil.  Headlines from print and social media scream the days tragic results of evil.  As a follower of Christ, how must we respond?  An appropriate answer can be found in Psalm 37.  Actually, several responses are given within the first nine verses.

Fret not because of evildoers (v1)

Trust in the Lord (v3)

Delight in the Lord (v4)

Commit your way to the Lord (v5)

Be still before the Lord (v7)

Refrain from anger and forsake wrath (v8)

In the face of evil, our focus must not be on the actions of the evildoers.  It must be on God.  Why?  Because the evildoers will have their day in court (v9-10).  The Psalmist is singing a song of encouragement and comfort and providing exhortations.  Why?  God is still in control.

The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.
(Psalm 37:12-13)

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O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

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A minister delivered a sermon in 10 minutes one Sunday morning, which was about half the usual length of his sermons. He explained, "I regret to inform you that my dog, which is very fond of eating paper, ate that portion of my sermon which I was unable to deliver this morning.”
After the service, a visitor from another church shook hands with the preacher and said, "Reverend, if that dog of yours has any pups, I want to give one to my minister."