Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward doers of unrighteousness. For they wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in Yahweh and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in Yahweh and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:1-4 LSB
It took me a long time to wrap my head around this Scripture, and even longer to actually walk it out. I used to seriously fret over evildoers. Working in law enforcement, when someone disobeyed the laws, or their conditions of probation or parole, I could take action. I could bring them before the proper authorities to have them suffer the consequences of their actions.
Often times, however, people do evil things that don’t violate any laws they are just upsetting to those around them. For this reason, they get away with it. As Christians, we are clearly told not to fret over the things they do. We are told not to be envious of them. There are times when it may even seem as though they are winning.
Our Scripture passage tells us not to fret over them and not to envy them. It goes on to say they will die and wither like the grass or the green herb. They are not winning. They don’t win in the end, even if it looks that way for a time.
Then we are told to trust in the Lord and do good. If we fret over evildoers, we run the risk of saying or doing things that don’t please God. We run the risk of sinning in our anger. But, if we trust in God, we can cultivate faithfulness. Why would we fret over or envy those who are unrighteous if we trust God’s got this? We should let our faithfulness shine like a beacon of light to those who are lost.
Oh, it may not shine for our enemies, those evildoers. But that’s okay, it will shine brightly for someone else and hopefully lead someone to the Lord.
How can we witness to others if we act just like the evil, unrighteous people? If they see no difference between us and them, what have we accomplished?
Verse 4 tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our hearts. This is where we must be careful. This verse does not mean if we are happy with God, we can ask to win the lottery and He will allow that to happen. It means if we delight ourselves in the Lord, we will want the same things He wants. We will be on the same page, so to speak.
When this happens, we want His will to be done because we trust it is what is best. We trust that He knows what is best for us. Only He knows what our future holds and what we need today to make our future better. We trust in Romans 8:28 that says He works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. So, even when things seem to be falling apart, we trust that God is just shaking them up, so they fall into place.
When we delight ourselves in the Lord, we are not easily distracted by those who perpetrate evil. The devil uses his minions to try to distract us, but we must remain focused on the Lord.
When we focus on God and devote ourselves to Him, we have no reason to fear, no reason to fret and no reason to frown. God has got this.
Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you and walk in faith. This will help prevent a whole lot of drama in your life. Don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself.
Have a great day!