Passage Read: Psalm 31-34
Meditation Verses: 34:21-22
Thought
Those who hate the righteous will be condemned. There are indeed those who hate righteousness and the righteous. There are people who give themselves over completely to do evil. There are people who don't care about what is right or wrong but only what suits them. And there are those who are unwilling to submit to the Lord's definition of righteous and instead declare and establish their own standard of righteousness. All these are wicked and all these hate those who submit themselves to God and walk by His standard of righteousness. They will be slain by evil and they will be condemned. Those who humble themselves before the Lord and submit to His Word to walk in His ways will be redeemed and delivered from the hatred of the wicked and will stand justified before the Lord forever.
Application
I need to fear the Lord and His judgment, rather than the judgment and condemnation of men. There are nice people and there are evil people who will condemn and mock and ridicule and hate me the more I submit to God and walk by His commands. But their judgment is meaningless, except to exclude me from their fellowship. And that is no hardship, because the end of their ways is only evil and destruction. I don't want to care what they think or care what they value--that is worthless in view of eternity! They are not so precious to me that I would desire to spend eternity cut off from the Lord and His majesty in order to be with them forever in torment. They are meaningless and useless and care nothing about what is best for me but what justifies themselves. They would gladly condemn me to hell in order to think they are superior to God. They are true fools! What is so important about being your own boss if you end up in eternal torment? Submit to God! Learn His ways and live by them! You'll actually make friends you can enjoy for eternity, who help you build good things in your life rather than foolish things!