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Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Psalm 37:12-17
“12 The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. 15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. 16 Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; 17 for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.”
Understand:
Have you ever had a dog come rushing at you with its hair standing up on its back, jaws snapping, barking and growling? It’s a pretty frightening experience. That’s the picture that David is trying to paint for us. The wicked that plot against the righteous are like a wild beast gnashing its teeth…waiting to seize and devour the Just.
It may be intimidating to us, but not to God. The Lord doesn’t act immediately, but instead He laughs. That’s right, the Lord laughs at all their bravado and scheming because “He knows their day is coming”. Their activities are futile. We can take comfort in this, because it is the Lord who sees the end from the beginning; He’s the one that has assured us that His judgement against the wicked is coming. In fact, their attacks on the poor and needy (the righteous) are going to backfire on them and their own violence will end up destroying them. Their strength (their swords and bows) will be broken.
Apply:
Contrast their fate with the righteous; it’s different as night and day. The righteous will be upheld by the Lord’s immeasurable power!
Look at the Lord’s response to the wicked. He is sovereign and all-powerful. He is all-knowing. Your life situation, the current struggle you find yourself in, has not caught Him off guard. He has promised to “never leave you or forsake you.” That’s why we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Heb. 13:5-6)
We, the righteous, have no reason to fear the wicked or to feel like we have to bring about justice on our own. We can give it to the Father and trust that He will bring about His judgment.
God is our living hope and our hope is based on Jesus! HE is the one who was raised from the dead, the one who has given us new life and everything to live for. The cool thing is…it starts now! We can have confidence regardless the circumstance, because God is keeping careful watch over us. (1 Pet. 1:3-5)
“31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?… 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31; 37-39)
Reflect for just a moment on your life; ask the Holy Spirit to give you a right perspective.
All of us, believer and nonbeliever, are like smoke and dust; our lives are like a vapor.
In reality there is not much that we can control.
But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus makes all the difference. So we remember that because of Christ…the wicked, like ourselves, do not have to experience God’s justice.
Take a moment and reflect on the Lord’s love for you. Think about His kindness and mercy toward you. Remember that he is for you, and not against you.
Offer your praise to Him… Because it is the LORD who upholds the righteous!
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.) Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.