When the bad guys win, do the math

 

What in the world is that title up there all about?

Let's dig in!

Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong;

for like the grass they will soon wither,
    like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
 Take delight 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 do this:
 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.

 Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
    do not fret—it leads only to evil.
 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
    but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
    though you look for them, they will not be found.
 But the meek will inherit the land
    and enjoy peace and prosperity.

The first portion of our psalm deals with the idea of observing the evil doers and submitting to God. David is going to tell us some things we need to "subtract" from our lives. He will also tell us some things to add to our lives, but let's take the subtraction math, first!

There are three times in these eleven verses in which we are commanded NOT TO FRET. Check out verses one, seven, and eight. The Hebrew word used here actually means to burn!  One commentary that I looked into said that it could be translated, don't work yourself into a slow burn -- when you see evil people prospering. Don't get "hot" under the collar; don't "fuss and fume" or allow it to get under your skin. Remember, this is mentioned three times, so the admonition to subtract irritation and fretting from our lives is an important one. When we think about it, there's a reason why we get irritated when we see evil men and women getting away with their schemes . . . we are assuming that we know how to run the world better than God does! 

But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God. (Ezekiel 11:21, NASB)

So, one aspect of submission to God is to subtract that irritation from our lives and agree with God that He has the sovereign right to deal with evildoers -- in His own time and His own way.

David also tells us in verse one not to envy evildoers. Hmmmm . . . . envy? "A feeling of discontent and resentment aroused by desire for the possessions or qualities of another."  David is focusing in on our heart motives. Selfishness. Sinfulness. Often the reason we don't want evildoers to prosper is not that we hate the sin they commit, but instead we are secretly wishing that we could do the same thing! We want for ourselves the pleasures of sin which they are enjoying. But we must remember two things: first, that the pleasures of sin are temporary, and second, that the pleasures of sin lead to interruption in our relationship with the Father.

Do not be envious of evil people,
Nor desire to be with them; (Proverbs 24:1)

therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you displayed because of your hatred for them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. (Ezekiel 35:11)

We can see that it's important to subtract envy from our lives when we think of how the evildoers prosper.

Lastly, David tells us to subtract anger from our lives. (We also had a preview of that in our verse from Ezekiel 35!) Check out verse eight of our psalm:

Cease from anger and abandon wrath;
Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing. (v. 8)

The Hebrew language may have fewer words than our English language of today (we discussed this some weeks ago) but I love just how picturesque it can be -- the word used in verse eight for "anger" comes from a Hebrew word meaning "nostrils."

Whaaaaaat?

When we get mad, really mad, our bodies begin to pump out more adrenalin and our "fight or flight" instincts get moving. Our heart rate increases, as does our respiration rate. Our nostrils flare out to allow us to breathe in more air! This is bolstered by the second word (wrath) that comes from a root meaning "hot" and all of this points to one thing -- rage. Absolute, unreasoning, sometimes blind, always destructive, rage. The Bible teaches us that most anger is sinful - not always - most of the time. The Bible also teaches us that WE can control it, otherwise it wouldn't tell us to stop being angry!

You see, anger is another thing that shows we are not in submission to God's sovereignty. What we are saying by being angry is "I don't like the way you are doing things, God. I don't think you are playing fair. I don't deserve to be treated this way by these wicked people." And the bottom line is we are not submitting our lives to God.

Here's a rule of thumb to decide if we are experiencing righteous anger or sinful anger: if I'm angry about injustice done toward other people, it might be righteous anger. Especially if I'm motivated by the emotion to take appropriate action on the victims' behalf.  However, if I'm angry about injustice that is leveled at ME, it's probably sinful anger . . . . Most anger is selfish (and therefore sinful). 

Bottom line -- when we see the bad guys winning, we need to follow David's instructions and submit to God. And that means to do the math! Subtract fretting, envy, and anger from our lives.

Next time, we will take up addition!