Greg Crum

“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:1-4

If you’ve ever read through the 37th Psalm, you know what an encouragement it is to the believer who is trying to live according to God’s precepts in an ungodly world. A few months ago, as I was reading through my daily devotionals, I noticed again what a tremendous message for today’s Body of Christ we find in the 40 verses of this chapter. In just a few words, we see revealed hope for the righteous, justice for all, and an understanding that “payday” is on the way for ever human on the planet!

Now, in Psalm 37, we see what is also shown in a couple of other books of the Bible—the contrast between the righteous and the wicked. In this particular portion of Scripture, we have emphasized a most important theme—that there is a payday on the way for both the righteous and the wicked. According to these verses, whether one anticipates that payday with dread or excitement all depends on which camp they’ve aligned themselves with. For one group, it will be longing fulfilled and an abundance of life. For the other, retribution for denial of the one true God!

With that said, those who are going to receive the blessing might be difficult to identify in the day and age we are living in, especially if you are only looking at the current state of the world. A lot of people today are seeing what the psalmist saw in his day when he commented, “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.” (Psalm 37:35) It would be easy to look around us and feel that the wicked of this world have won, but we must remind ourselves that that’s not God’s reality. The truth of the matter is that what we see is temporary, and in fact, there are reasons the wicked sometimes seem to prosper. What? Yes, the wicked do sometimes prosper, at least temporarily.