Responding to Evil

 “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.”

(Psalm 37:1-4 ESV)

There’s no doubt that we’re living in an evil time. There’s no doubt that we’re living in a wicked society. And it’s needless to say that this can leave us rattled. So, what are we to do in the face of this?

Our tendency is to respond in one of two ways. Quite often, we fret because of evildoers. We’re agitated by them. We’re angered by them and their actions.

Other times, however, we’re envious of them. We’re envious of the life they live. We’re envious of the perceived freedom in which they live. We’re envious, quite frankly, of the sin in which they live.

However, as we see in the passage above, neither response is correct. Neither is appropriate. Neither is appropriate because the wicked will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Neither is appropriate because they will soon perish.

We’re called, instead, to trust in the Lord. We’re called to do good.  We’re called to dwell in the land and to befriend, or to cultivate, faithfulness. And we’re called to delight ourselves in the Lord.

In the face of evildoers, then, we’re called to faith. We’re called to a genuine, heartfelt faith that expresses itself in our life. And we’re called to do so joyfully.

As we do so, we’re promised that God will give to us the desires of our heart. He’ll give to us those things that we request of him. He’ll give to us the things for which we pray.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that God will grant us our every selfish desire. Nor does it mean that he’ll fulfill our sinful desires. As believers, after all, our heart is conformed to that of God.

We’re made to desire what God desires. We’re made to long for the things for which God longs. And it’s these blessings that will be granted us.

We see this, in verse 6, where we’re told that, as we commit ourselves to the Lord, and as we trust in him, he’ll bring forth our righteousness as the light and our justice, or our vindication, as the noonday. 

We’re reminded by this that our righteousness is not something that we earn or deserve. It’s a gift of God. It’s a blessing that he provides to us.

The same is true of our justice. The same is true of our vindication. It’s a blessing as God clears us from all blame.

This, of course, is the blessing provided to us by Jesus. It’s the blessing provided to us by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. And, as this passage makes clear, it’s a blessing that’s received by faith.

So, again, in the face of evildoers, we’re called to trust in the Lord. And we’re called to a genuine faith that’s expressed in our life. We’re called to delight in the Lord, knowing that he will provide for us his eternal blessing.