Pride is Their Necklace

Psalms 73:3-9 ESV

“For I was envious of the arrogant

    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death;

    their bodies are fat and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are;

    they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Therefore pride is their necklace;

    violence covers them as a garment.

Their eyes swell out through fatness;

    their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff and speak with malice;

    loftily they threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against the heavens,

    and their tongue struts through the earth.”

Who are the wicked? They are all who are living wickedly, for whom sin is their practice, their habit, their go to. They are those who make sin their practice and who practice wickedness as their lifestyle. They habitually and deliberately sin against God and against other humans, and they plot evil on their beds. And they plan out in advance how they are going to sin, and how they are going to hurt others, and how they are going to get away with it and to excuse their own behavior, and/or how they will blame someone else.

And these are not just people who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. They include many who do profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are not living the faith that they profess. They give lip service only to the Lord but their hearts are far from him. They profess him with their lips but by their actions they deny him. And some (or many) of these wicked people are pastors and elders of church congregations (or of what is falsely being called “church”). For so many of them are double-minded people.

Now this does not apply to all who are wicked, but it appears that many of them are getting away with their evil plots and actions and that they are not being called to account for the evil that they are doing. And so while the righteous may be going through all sorts of suffering, many who are evil may appear as though they do not suffer at all. And rather than others seeing their wickedness, which they may hide well, others may even admire and really love these who are wicked at heart and evil in their behaviors.

And on the flipside of that, these same people who love and admire those who are truly wicked, but who hide it well from certain people, may also hate, reject, and despise those who are truly righteous. And this is mainly because they are being deceived, and they are being convinced to believe the lies as though they are truth, and to reject the truth as though it is a lie. Also, the wicked can be very charming and manipulative while the truly righteous will be more honest and straightforward, but kind and loving.

So, continuing with the wicked, if they are consistently getting away with their wickedness, and if they are not called to account for the evil that they are doing to others, they are most likely to be filled with pride and to be overconfident that they will continue to get away with their wickedness. And they may, for a time. And so they continue in their evil and wicked deeds and in hurting other humans, because they have not been caught in the act, and so they have not had to pay for their crimes.

In their pride and arrogance then they may flaunt that overconfidence even in front of and to those who they are deliberately and habitually sinning against. For they feel surely they will not be found out and so they can continue to get away with their evil, just because they always have. For if their evil acts against others leave no visible scars and therefore they know that those who they are sinning against cannot prove the evil they are committing, that may feed their pride and confidence to continue in evil.

And, although they may profess to know God, and to follow Jesus with their lives, and to be in fellowship with God, by their actions they deny him. And the Scriptures teach that they do not truly know God, and that they are not in fellowship with him, and if they claim to be that they are liars. But those who live double lives are usually one way in front of people who don’t truly know them while they are another way with those they know that they can abuse but who will not be able to prove the abuse, sadly so.

So, we need to watch out for people like this, and we need to test every spirit against the whole of the teachings under the New Covenant. And we need to be so careful that we do not get caught up in their charm and their winsome personalities and therefore be deceived into believing their lies. For many who are wicked and evil at heart can give the appearance of being very friendly and winsome outwardly, and people may easily be drawn to them. They are called charlatans. So, be on your guard.

[Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25] 

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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