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Psalms 37:1-2 ESV
Who are the evildoers? They are those who make it their practice to do evil. They are liars, adulterers, murderers, slanderers, idolaters, mischief makers, haters, tricksters, charlatans, the unfaithful, and the sexually immoral, etc. They are those who plot evil against others and who carry out their evil plans. So they are those who deliberately and habitually sin against God, who made them, and against their fellow humans, without conscience.
We don’t always know their evil plots, but sometimes we do, for sometimes we are recipients of those evil plots. And in most cases we have no influence and no control over what these evil people do and plot against us, especially if they are people in high up positions in governments and in the corporate world and even in church denominations. Yes, evildoers exist within the gatherings of what are called churches, too. And some of them are pastors.
So, we just commit our lives into the hands of God, and we trust in his sovereignty over our lives, and we believe that nothing will touch us unless God allows it for a purpose, and he will carry us through it. And we are definitely not to worry because worry is lack of faith, and worry never changes anything for the good, but it just destroys us from within. If God allows it to happen in our lives he will provide what we need to survive it.
Psalms 37:3-7 ESV
So, when Satan attacks our minds with all kinds of fearful thoughts, which he sometimes will, we must cast off those fearful thoughts and instead we must put our trust fully in the Lord Jesus. We have no control over what Satan does other than we can resist him, and we can take up the armor of God and fight against him and his evil plots against us. We can tell him “No!” and we can refuse to let him have his way with us.
And then we need to tell the Lord “Yes,” but not just with our lips but with our actions. Instead of giving way to Satan’s evil plots against us, we can put on faith and love, and we can walk in obedience to our Lord, and we can be faithful and live holy and godly lives in the power of God, by his Spirit. For Jesus already won this battle for us. We just have to live like we believe that. For we need to walk by faith and not by sight.
And we need to trust the Lord with our circumstances believing that he has our best in mind. And we have to remember here that he never promised us that life would be easy. In fact he promised us that we would be hated and persecuted as he was, and that we will have trials and tribulations to test our faith, but that these trials and persecutions are for our good to make us into the holy people God wants us to be.
Psalms 37:8-9 ESV
I hate lies! Do you hate lies? I get angry about lies, but so does God. He hates lies, too. So is all anger wrong? No! We read in Ephesians 4 that we are to be angry and sin not, and that we are not to let the sun go down on our anger, and we are to give no opportunity to the devil. Jesus got angry at the money changers in the temple. But that was righteous indignation. We should get angry over the things that anger God.
But we are not to sin in our anger. Anger should be used as a motivator to move us to do what is good. Or it should be used as a motivator to look into our own hearts to examine them to find out why we are angry, for some anger is sinful. Some people are angry people because their hearts are filled with bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, envy, hatred, lust, and greed. They don’t get their way and so they get angry and they lash out in hate.
In James 1 we read that we are to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. But this is not speaking of all anger, for God gets angry, and Jesus got angry, and we are not to sin in our anger, so not all anger is sin. It is the anger of man which comes from human flesh, and not from hearts grieved over all the wickedness in the world, which does not produce righteousness.
And the context helps us understand this, too, for in James 1 it continues by saying that we are to put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save our souls. So clearly the anger here is not righteous anger over the things God gets angry over but it is anger produced in the human flesh of those who are living in filthiness and in rampant wickedness, and that is wrong.
So, if you are angry over all the sin going on inside the gatherings of the church, which is being given full reign at times, it appears, that is a healthy anger, but don’t let it lead to sin. Give it over to the Lord and let him direct it in a good way. For, we are to grieve over all the rampant sin going on within the church today. But if you are angry because you didn’t get your own way, then that is the kind of anger you need to cast off.
And, again, we are not to fret and fear and worry over what evildoers are doing or plotting. But we are to commit our lives and our future into the hands of God and trust him to work it all out for our good. But again, that doesn’t mean that evil won’t be done to us. It will. But we have to keep trusting the Lord that he has a plan and a purpose for it all and then we need to rest in him and commit our ways to him.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]
‘Til The Storm Passes By
By Thomas Mosie Lister
In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face
While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place
'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
Many times Satan whispered
There is no use to try
For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by
But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise
Where the storms never darken the skies
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
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“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.”
Who are the evildoers? They are those who make it their practice to do evil. They are liars, adulterers, murderers, slanderers, idolaters, mischief makers, haters, tricksters, charlatans, the unfaithful, and the sexually immoral, etc. They are those who plot evil against others and who carry out their evil plans. So they are those who deliberately and habitually sin against God, who made them, and against their fellow humans, without conscience.
We don’t always know their evil plots, but sometimes we do, for sometimes we are recipients of those evil plots. And in most cases we have no influence and no control over what these evil people do and plot against us, especially if they are people in high up positions in governments and in the corporate world and even in church denominations. Yes, evildoers exist within the gatherings of what are called churches, too. And some of them are pastors.
So, we just commit our lives into the hands of God, and we trust in his sovereignty over our lives, and we believe that nothing will touch us unless God allows it for a purpose, and he will carry us through it. And we are definitely not to worry because worry is lack of faith, and worry never changes anything for the good, but it just destroys us from within. If God allows it to happen in our lives he will provide what we need to survive it.
Psalms 37:3-7 ESV
“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.
“Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!”
So, when Satan attacks our minds with all kinds of fearful thoughts, which he sometimes will, we must cast off those fearful thoughts and instead we must put our trust fully in the Lord Jesus. We have no control over what Satan does other than we can resist him, and we can take up the armor of God and fight against him and his evil plots against us. We can tell him “No!” and we can refuse to let him have his way with us.
And then we need to tell the Lord “Yes,” but not just with our lips but with our actions. Instead of giving way to Satan’s evil plots against us, we can put on faith and love, and we can walk in obedience to our Lord, and we can be faithful and live holy and godly lives in the power of God, by his Spirit. For Jesus already won this battle for us. We just have to live like we believe that. For we need to walk by faith and not by sight.
And we need to trust the Lord with our circumstances believing that he has our best in mind. And we have to remember here that he never promised us that life would be easy. In fact he promised us that we would be hated and persecuted as he was, and that we will have trials and tribulations to test our faith, but that these trials and persecutions are for our good to make us into the holy people God wants us to be.
Psalms 37:8-9 ESV
“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.”
I hate lies! Do you hate lies? I get angry about lies, but so does God. He hates lies, too. So is all anger wrong? No! We read in Ephesians 4 that we are to be angry and sin not, and that we are not to let the sun go down on our anger, and we are to give no opportunity to the devil. Jesus got angry at the money changers in the temple. But that was righteous indignation. We should get angry over the things that anger God.
But we are not to sin in our anger. Anger should be used as a motivator to move us to do what is good. Or it should be used as a motivator to look into our own hearts to examine them to find out why we are angry, for some anger is sinful. Some people are angry people because their hearts are filled with bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, envy, hatred, lust, and greed. They don’t get their way and so they get angry and they lash out in hate.
In James 1 we read that we are to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. But this is not speaking of all anger, for God gets angry, and Jesus got angry, and we are not to sin in our anger, so not all anger is sin. It is the anger of man which comes from human flesh, and not from hearts grieved over all the wickedness in the world, which does not produce righteousness.
And the context helps us understand this, too, for in James 1 it continues by saying that we are to put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save our souls. So clearly the anger here is not righteous anger over the things God gets angry over but it is anger produced in the human flesh of those who are living in filthiness and in rampant wickedness, and that is wrong.
So, if you are angry over all the sin going on inside the gatherings of the church, which is being given full reign at times, it appears, that is a healthy anger, but don’t let it lead to sin. Give it over to the Lord and let him direct it in a good way. For, we are to grieve over all the rampant sin going on within the church today. But if you are angry because you didn’t get your own way, then that is the kind of anger you need to cast off.
And, again, we are not to fret and fear and worry over what evildoers are doing or plotting. But we are to commit our lives and our future into the hands of God and trust him to work it all out for our good. But again, that doesn’t mean that evil won’t be done to us. It will. But we have to keep trusting the Lord that he has a plan and a purpose for it all and then we need to rest in him and commit our ways to him.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]
‘Til The Storm Passes By
By Thomas Mosie Lister
In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face
While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place
'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
Many times Satan whispered
There is no use to try
For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by
But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise
Where the storms never darken the skies
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
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