On My Mind...
Admit it. It chaps you. You don’t like it any more than I do. When wicked people “get away” with it – it burns you up. And yet it seems to happen every day. We have even set the sentiment in stone when we say, “nice guys finish last.” We expect the good guy to get burned. We sing, “I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken,” and we want to believe it, but sometimes we wonder. Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous are dragged through the mud? If, in fact, God is in charge why do nice guys finish last? Why is it wicked people seem to always come up smelling like roses? Does that make sense to you? Does that bother you?
Well, the fact is nice guys don’t always finish last. Wicked people do not always “get away with it.” Sometimes it just seems that way to us. We find ourselves in a difficult spot and we assume the rest of the world is far better off than we are. In the midst of pain and heartache it is hard to see beyond the end of our nose. The problem is that we dwell on our assumptions, and it eats us alive. How do we break the cycle? How do we move on? King David provides us with a little insight in the 37th Psalm.
David is again writing about his own experience. He has known something about the righteous being oppressed while the wicked prosper. He knows what it is like to be “innocent” and yet pressed down. If you listen carefully to Psalm 37 you will find some help with how to overcome. You’ll not find any revolutionary thoughts or ideas. You’re not going to be overcome by deep, profound insights, but you will be reminded about things you already know and be encouraged to cling to them. Simply put, you will learn that peace, in the midst of an emotional storm, demands clear vision and a trusting heart. In the first 20 verses of the psalm we find 2 key principles. The psalmist begins with a command to quit fretting. To fret is to worry or be vexed. The psalmist says, Fret not yourselves because of evil doers, be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. The call is to put things into perspective. Take the long view of things. By that I mean take your eyes off your sorrow and look up and look ahead. Rather than dwell on what is wrong, trust the LORD (3), delight yourself in the LORD (4), commit your way to the LORD (5), be still before Him (7). Verses 12-20 call on us to rest our hopes in God’s sovereign control. Vision and trust are essential to navigating the troubled waters of despair and heartache. Fix your eyes on Him and rest in His sovereign care.
Have a great week and I’ll see you Sunday!
Rod
Well, the fact is nice guys don’t always finish last. Wicked people do not always “get away with it.” Sometimes it just seems that way to us. We find ourselves in a difficult spot and we assume the rest of the world is far better off than we are. In the midst of pain and heartache it is hard to see beyond the end of our nose. The problem is that we dwell on our assumptions, and it eats us alive. How do we break the cycle? How do we move on? King David provides us with a little insight in the 37th Psalm.
David is again writing about his own experience. He has known something about the righteous being oppressed while the wicked prosper. He knows what it is like to be “innocent” and yet pressed down. If you listen carefully to Psalm 37 you will find some help with how to overcome. You’ll not find any revolutionary thoughts or ideas. You’re not going to be overcome by deep, profound insights, but you will be reminded about things you already know and be encouraged to cling to them. Simply put, you will learn that peace, in the midst of an emotional storm, demands clear vision and a trusting heart. In the first 20 verses of the psalm we find 2 key principles. The psalmist begins with a command to quit fretting. To fret is to worry or be vexed. The psalmist says, Fret not yourselves because of evil doers, be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. The call is to put things into perspective. Take the long view of things. By that I mean take your eyes off your sorrow and look up and look ahead. Rather than dwell on what is wrong, trust the LORD (3), delight yourself in the LORD (4), commit your way to the LORD (5), be still before Him (7). Verses 12-20 call on us to rest our hopes in God’s sovereign control. Vision and trust are essential to navigating the troubled waters of despair and heartache. Fix your eyes on Him and rest in His sovereign care.
Have a great week and I’ll see you Sunday!
Rod