Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40, “Be still and wait before the Lord!”
Today’s given scripture comes from Psalm 37, which teaches us how to respond to prevalent evil in our midst. Wicked enemies were always present in many laments and prayers for help in Psalms and the lives of prophets and biblical figures. They encountered constant opposition, often violent opposition, as did Jesus.
We experience that in our lives as well. Cinderella’s wicked stepmother got all the money left by Cinderella’s father, and she deprived Cinderella of food and comfort but spent money only on her and her daughters from her previous marriage. We can find similar situations around us in reality. Also, in any human organization or church, we can find people always looking for or making trouble. When we encounter such people, how do we deal with them?
Firstly, we shouldn’t get angry or fret. Verse 1, “Do not fret because of those who are evil.” To understand this verse, we must know what “evil” is. Evil is anything that is not of God or God’s characteristics. God doesn’t tempt, slander, lie, be jealous, selfish, etc., but evil is Satanic. We know that Satan tempted, lied, and was jealous of God. Then what does it mean to “fret”? It means to get heated, furious, or all worked up. If we read verse 1 accordingly, it goes like this: Do not get heated, furious, or all worked up because of those who are Satanic, doing evil things.
Another thing that we are to note, according to the second half of verse 1, is “Not be envious of those who do wrong.” What does it mean not to be envious of those who do wrong? It means not imitating or joining in plotting evil or being partners or accomplices. In other words, it advises not to be dance partners with evildoers in doing evil. Because their plots will not prevail, but they will soon die away. Verse 2, “For like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants, they will soon die away.” As grass is green for a season, and so is the vegetation, they both wither quickly in a few days. In Middle Eastern land, the lush spring vegetation loses its vibrance in a few days because of a hot desert wind that parches the land. No matter how they may appear to be thriving and succeeding, they will soon die away because God is in control. Only God and God’s plan lasts eternally; everything else is fleeting or flying away like chaff in the wind.
Secondly, instead of getting angry at or imitating evildoers, our text advises us to trust God, do good for His glory, and take delight in the Lord in vss. 3-4. Trust, doing good, and taking delight in the Lord requires our willful and deliberate redirection of our emotions. Although our circumstances might cause us to complain, be downhearted, or be upset, we should deliberately redirect our emotions to delight in the Lord for allowing the unfortunate circumstances we are in for His own purposes, though we may not know His purposes. If we read Acts 16:16-40, we see Paul and Silas being imprisoned for healing a girl who was a fortune teller being possessed. I had an opportunity to visit the prison in Philippi they were in; it was not a building but a hole in the ground. Those who committed serious crimes were placed farthest from the entrance, humid and cold, their feet fastened in the stocks. Paul and Silas were such serious criminals in the eyes of Roman officials. However, instead of complaining to God and questioning why they were imprisoned and had to suffer for doing good things, doing God’s work for people, such as healing, teaching, and evangelizing, at midnight, they sang praises and prayed. They redirected their natural and human emotions to delight in the Lord. Likewise, we have to redirect our human emotions. We cannot delight in the Lord without effort. We must withdraw our desires from the things of earth, fastening and fixing them on God. That is what it means to trust, delight, and do good things for the glory of God.
Instead of crying or becoming downhearted, we might want to thank God and trust God for the unhappy circumstances we may be in. God might have plans for God’s people in God’s good timing.
We must know that it is difficult to delight in the Lord if we do not know Him very well. It is difficult to know God very well if we do not spend time with Him. If we don’t sit and learn, how can we know God? If we don’t sit and pray, how can we hear God and His direction? Also, knowing God well doesn’t guarantee we don’t make mistakes or sin. We must grow and learn every day. We are to learn from our mistakes and failures, and we are to move on. In our faith journey, the guide should be God, not worldly advice. What to follow takes wisdom and wisdom comes from God.
At this point, we might want to consider what we have to do with evildoers. Do we just swallow the pain they cause and do nothing? Is this the idea of forgiving? Is this the idea of “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” in verse 7? This leads to the third point. “Be still” also means “rest” in Hebrew, as seen in KJV. It means to trust Him instead of fretting and fearing, ceasing from words of self-defense. Instead of speaking to vindicate ourselves, we trust God to vindicate us for the wrongs done unto us.
However, this does not mean that we are not doing anything. We are to actively resist evil by telling them what they are doing is evil, calling for repentance. “Wait” patiently for the Lord in vs. 7 means to “hope” in the Lord. Hope is grounded in entrusting life and the future to God amid ongoing injustice and wrongs. Hope instills encouragement in the dispirited and the downhearted, not just swallowing wrong as if nothing has happened. Hope is not passive waiting. If your spouse abuses you verbally or emotionally, you are to let your spouse know what s/he is doing. When you do that, of course, not when your emotions are high and angry, but when both of you are calm and ready to talk. That allows your spouse to realize what s/he was doing and repent.
In this context, our text, Psalm 37, calls for active resistance to evil as it teaches us to trust God, delight, commit, and hope in the Lord. God doesn’t condone wrongs or sins. Jesus also taught the Pharisees and Sadducees to repent from their sins. That was why He was hated. As the famous saying goes, “Hope criticizes what is wrong; hopelessness accepts wrong. Hope resists, but hopelessness adapts. Of course, there is a fine line between resisting evil and retaliating against someone for what they have wronged you. As I mentioned, resisting evil includes calling for repentance. God only forgives those who are repentant. In this context, reminding people to repent for their sins is an important duty towards our brothers and sisters in Christ.
As you all know from Genesis chapters 37 through 50, Joseph was hated because he reported on his brothers to their father, Jacob, whenever they did something wrong. We can assume that Joseph was ethical and couldn’t be silent about his brothers’ wrongdoing. When the opportunity came, Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him but ended up selling him into slavery. Joseph was imprisoned in Pharao’s prison for attempted rape falsely accused. He later became a ruler in Egypt, second to Pharao for his ability to interpret dreams and wisdom to rescue Egyptians from seven years of famine followed by seven years of abundance. When the famine affected the whole area of the Near East, including Canaan, where his family lived, his brothers came to Joseph begging for grains for a price. Did he automatically forgive his brothers as if nothing had happened? No, Joseph tested his brothers to see whether they were repentant for what they did against him. Without knowing Joseph as their brother, when they were forced to abandon Benjamin to his fate for stealing the cup of Joseph, an Egyptian ruler who was known to use the cup for divination, they did not abandon Benjamin, but instead, Judas volunteered to be punished in Benjamin’s place. Joseph saw and heard how regretful they had been for what they had done against him, whom they thought was dead. Only after that did he throw his arms around and kiss them in forgiveness.
God is love, and God forgives. But He forgives only those who are repentant. Amen! Let us trust God and be still before the Lord, getting rid of anger and fretfulness. At the same time, let us vigilantly resist evil according to God’s will. Amen!
