“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.”
How easy it is for us to get depressed when it seems that those who act selfishly and do not honor God are profitting by it. It can be easy to be envious, and lose our faith. But the psalmist tells us very well how we should behave, knowing that their path is not righteous, that they will sooner or later have to stand in judgement, being cut down like grass.
“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.”
I love these verses. Here we are told to put our trust in the Load, and we are told exactly how. To me the land represents His word, and we are told to feed on His word, which is food for our soul. The word is ever faithful, and will never let us down. In essence, we are told to put our trust in the word of God that has been revealed to us, not in the evil ways of men who seek to profit from selfishness.
“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.”
Now the results of our faithfulness and our trust is seen. Our trust will bring forth God’s promise of righteousness. His righteousness will live within us, and our example will shine from us as a light to those around us, and the Lord’s justice will prevail in the end.
“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.”“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.”
“But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
We are asked to find comfort and rest in God, not worrying or suffering anxiety because of those that would do us harm. We are told to calm our hearts, and not let anger consume us, and not to exact revenge. How wise is the psalmist to tell us that these reactions will only cause us more harm. We are told to leave revenge up to God, who will cut off those that do harm to others. We are asked instead to choose patience rather than anger and revenge. This life on earth is really just a blip of time, and we all get to choose what we do with it. We can turn from God, and be selfish, full of pride, or we can humble ourselves, trust in God, and patiently await His plan for our lives. Through Jesus Christ, we are guaranteed eternal life.
Later in the same psalm, we have the following…
“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 steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the LORD upholds him with His hand.”
This is probably the most beautiful part of this psalm to me. Sound familiar? It should. It is essentially what Jesus was trying to tell us. In today’s society we judge how successful someone is by the size of his house, the size of his bank account, the value of his car. All those things mean nothing to God. How many times have we seen a man or woman who seeks to maintain constant control of every thing he or she THINKS he owns. The truth is – you own nothing, and you can’t take it with you. In the end, we will all have to stand in judgement, and nothing you controlled or possessed in this world will do you any good.
A good man will not be forgotten by God. Yes, he will fall. Yes he will have troubles. A man’s troubles are not what defines him. It is what he does in these moments that will mean everything. Does the man choose to use anger, pride, revenge to deal with his troubles? Or will he choose instead to let God have the control, putting his trust in our Savior Jesus Christ?
With God in our corner, we can rejoice even in times of trouble, knowing that when we fall, we will fall into the arms of our Savior.
God Bless…
Ginzo Talk 