Once again I call us back to Psalm 37:1-40. There are more than 20 imperatives in this Psalm, with 3-5 more implied commands for us to keep in mind. Three of them tell us what not to do when the wicked prosper; the rest tell us what to do. Let's look today at one of the "thou shalt nots", thrice repeated in the Psalm:
"Fret not yourself because of evildoers...
"Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way...
"Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil" (Psalm 37:1, 7, 8).
Sounds a little emphatic doesn't it?!
The Hebrew word repeated in each of these verses actually means: to burn, to kindle, to get all heated up. The translation "fret" is actually a little weak. It speaks of emotion more heated than mere fret or a tad of worry. David is telling us not to get all "hot and bothered" when the wicked seem to have the upper hand.
Cool down. Chill. Don't get emotional heart-burn over the thugs and thieves of human society. Whatever right responses there may be--like speaking out against evil, voting evil out of office when able, not conforming to the evil, rescuing victims from the evil, and praying for the evil-doers--one thing we are not to do, is go into a slow burn. Don't become a boiling cauldron of worry, anger and rage (Psalm 37:8). Just don't go there.
In Psalm 37:8 David gives a compelling reason why we must not travel that road --"Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." When we allow the prosperity and success of the wicked to get to us, we begin to share their wickedness. Sustained fret and anger, even when we think it's justfied, begins to eat at the soul, and sin is not far behind. Fretful anger leads only to evil.
Soon, instead of loving, doing good to, and praying for our enemies, as Jesus tells us to, we will be:
-cursing the wicked
-plotting against them ourselves
-justifying lying and shenanigans of our own to try to dethrone them
-indulging unsubstantiated rumors about them
-believing the very worst about them
-hating and despising our enemies
So what do we do? One way to turn down the heat a bit is to consider the following question: "When all is said and done, what is the very worst that man can do to me?" Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:28 not to "fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul."
The very worst that man can do to me is kill me. But when man kills, God makes alive. What man puts in the ground God raises up. If the wicked persecute the righteous they only add to the reward of the righteous (Matthew 5:10, 11). If they kill the righteous, they only hasten the day of the saints' going home to glory.
Man's worst is God's best. That ought to help cool our passions.
Thanks Pastor, opening up the scriptures is always a good thing. I was reminded of two passages. The first, "be angry, and sin not" and secondly, "the fruit of the Spirit is self control". We ought to be angry when the wicked prosper, but righteous anger need not issue in fretting or anxiety. If we, by the Spirit, have self control, our anger at the prosperity of the wicked should flow into compassion. Surely they have all that they will ever have in this life, and that by ill gotten gain. Only to suffer an eternity in hell for their sins. The imprecatory Psalms have always left me with mixed emotions.(Psalm 37 is not an example of this) One day we will celebrate the eternal ruin of the enemies of our Lord (Rev 18:22, 19:1-3). We pronounce, as did David on many occasions, our imprecator on the wicked, but also have a duty to pray for them. Perhaps you could shed a little light on our duty to love the sinner and hate the sin at the same time.
ReplyDeleteJR
"Man's worst is God's best. That ought to help cool our passions."
ReplyDeleteWhat you wrote (scripture amplified) and turning off the news at the right time is helping to cool my passions.
Thanks Tim!