“I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged” Psalm 37:25-33.
The Psalmist tells us here that he has not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendents begging bread.
However, there are people who will say that they have seen that very thing. How is this so?
Well there are examples such as the extreme persecution in Roman times when they had to hide in the catacombs. And during the Dark Ages when they were being persecuted by what was represented as a Christian church.
Often in these circumstances their property was seized and they could not find work to feed their families while many were soon martyred.
But the bloodlust in Muslim countries today will soon far outstrip the carnage in Rome and the Middle Ages; not so much in body count, but in ferocity and wanton cruelty.
Christians are relentlessly persecuted, enslaved, tortured and murdered; Muslim parents will even turn their own children over to be stoned to death.
News is that in some Muslim countries all of the Christians have fled or been murdered.
This is also true in many communist countries. Citizens of these countries are being persecuted by the atheistic powers in control; men have given the demonic free reign and gleefully go along with them because they are wicked.
We are now seeing godless power hungry men and women influenced by doctrines of demons begin to persecute Christians here in America too.
Men like this are just as happy creating misery and destruction for others; as you or I might enjoy creating a life of peace and tranquility.
“The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; he blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord. The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts. His ways are always prospering; Your judgments are far above, out of his sight; as for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, ‘I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity.’ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue is trouble and iniquity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent; his eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; he lies in wait to catch the poor; he catches the poor when he draws him into his net. So he crouches, he lies low, that the helpless may fall by his strength.” Psalm 10:2-10.
Do not for one moment let your mind enter some little fairyland where these wicked people do not exist, they do. God knows the hearts of all men and He says they do exist.
Avoid evil, and stay away from evil people, men or women.
“Keep me as the apple [pupil] of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me. They have closed up their fat hearts [indicates wealth, power and indifference to God]; with their mouths they speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps; they have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth, as a lion is eager to tear his prey, and like a young lion lurking in secret places.” Psalm 17:8-12.
“Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? They utter speech, and speak insolent things; all the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. They break in pieces Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, ‘The Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand.’” Psalm 94:3-7.
So yes, there have been many exceptions to the statement; “Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.” but that does not make the statement untrue.
It is a great sin against the grace of God in this country that up to 53 million Christians did not vote in the last election.
Our Constitutional rights are being taken away by greedy, power hungry, wicked people in our government.
Christianity is being vilified while Islam is presented as a religion of peace and Sharia Law is welcomed in this country by lawmakers who have lost all sense of morality.
Christians have been given, by God, the task of maintaining liberty and peace in this country, and it is done by simply being a good citizen and stepping into a voting booth and voting for righteous leaders.
While it is true that Christians are told to go out and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all mankind. We have also been given a stewardship to maintain that freedom in a country given to us, just as God gave Israel to the children of Israel.
Still, in an evil time, God’s people will often suffer along with everyone else.
But none of Christ’s own will ever be forsaken.
“… [Jesus] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5b-6.
And again God’s own sinless Son suffered to the point of crying out from the cross.
“Now when the sixth hour [12 noon] had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour [3 pm]. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” Mark15:33-34.
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” John 15:19-20.
Let us continue now by examining a bit more here in Psalm 37, notice the next verse.
“He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed.” Psalm 37:26.
This shows an active righteousness not a passive one.
That is to say that we have righteousness imputed to us by the blood of Christ, and that cannot be changed.
But this righteous person acts on that righteousness, which produces fruit in their lives, such as giving and lending, doing good really.
These acts show Christ to a dying world and highlight Christianity as a reality not just a philosophy or another religion.
This kind of righteousness that glorifies God is rewarded by God, “And his descendents are blessed”. Nor do we see his “descendants begging bread.”
We seek justice, and God delivers.
“But the descendents of the wicked shall be cut off” Psalm 37:28b.
This can be accomplished in a couple of ways, the wicked may have no children and thus, no posterity, or if their children follow their ways, as they often do, they or their line are soon snuffed out.
By the grace of God many hear and receive the good news of salvation in Christ and the chain is broken, this too glorifies God.
Verse 27 says this.
“Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore” Psalm 37:27.
Now that is a promise worth collecting on. God is actually talking to the believer here, not the wicked.
While it is true that this psalm is directed to the Israelite, it is still a promise to us all.
“For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever…” Psalm 37:28a.
“The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide” Psalm 37:29-31.
The emphasis here is, “The law of his God is in his heart”, for the Israelite it was the law of the Old Testament.
For the Christian it is the word of God as expanded in the New Testament, and explained by the Holy Spirit within the believer. This is done without ignoring the Old Testament for they both display Christ.
You cannot live a fruitful life in wisdom and justice if you have not hidden the word of God in your heart. It is true that you can hobble along with a little knowledge and God can use you, but it will be like playing a major league baseball game with a tennis ball.
“The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay him.” Psalm 37:32.
You would think that these people had better things to do, and I would not believe this if the Lord had not put it in His word, repeatedly.
“The Lord will not leave him [the righteous] in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.” Psalm 37:33.
This implies that we may fall into the hands of the wicked, while at once frightening; the promise is that the Lord is in complete control.
It is very difficult to rest in Jesus under these circumstances, trials are going to come, no doubt, but as quoted earlier, He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, Hebrews 13:5b. Do not let the darkness swallow you up.
“Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; indeed I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.” Psalm 37:34-38.
Wait on the Lord and when the wicked are cut off you shall see it, we will see justice with our own eyes.
Over the years many of us have seen the truth of this verse and the ones preceding it, dictators rising and falling, some leaving nothing more than death and destruction as their legacy.
Men do not recognize it because of the misery left behind, but these evildoers are in hell now and while we have to deal with the results of their perfidy, always remember you will look upon all these wicked people as they are cast into the lake of fire into an eternal state of misery for the sins they have committed.
Justice for the Just, Part 1 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 7-29-15, updated on 4-7-19.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.