March 17, 2022

Passage Read: Psalm 11-14
Meditation Verses: 14:2-4

Thought

The wicked endure and prosper and overcome the righteous. They do as they please on the earth and get away with much evil. Yet they are heaping up condemnation for themselves. They eat the righteous like bread, the righteous are defenseless, yet the Lord sees and will remember. The righteous have a very good reward, the wicked will receive eternal destruction. It is better to be counted by God among the righteous, though we have no strength to resist the wicked, because it will be far better for us than for them.

Application

I cannot envy the wicked, no matter what.  Better to envy the righteous and the reward they will gain after this life.  Better to long for that than to long for material and earthly treasure.  I have no need to fight for my rights or for my own defense.  If I speak up for God and His Word, it is for the sake of others.  Perhaps that's what Paul meant when he said he suffered for the benefit of believers.  He wasn't trying to save his own skin, but to argue for the innocence of all who believed in Jesus, for the legalization of faith in Christ.  If nothing else, it was to set an example that nothing should matter more to us than faithfulness to Christ, even in the face of great hostility.