My 12 Favorite Scriptures Pt 4

Psalms 37:1-7 ESV

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

    be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass

    and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

    trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

    and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

    over the man who carries out evil devices!”

The favorite Scripture here is actually in verses 5-6, but it is important to read the passage in its context to get the full understanding of its meaning. So, we will begin with verse one and read through verse 7. And in verse one we are instructed to not fret and to not be afraid because of what evildoers are doing, whether speaking of globally or in our individual nations or in the churches or communities. And this instruction is repeated for us in verse 7.

And who are evildoers? They are those who make evil their practice. They are adulterers, liars, thieves, slanderers, mischief makers, con artists, tricksters, manipulators, the unfaithful, the wicked, and the immoral, etc. And many of them are professing Christians and even pastors and elders of churches, usually institutional churches. And many of them are politicians and government officials and CEOs of corporations and the news media, etc.

Although we should grieve over such evil, especially as is existing within the gatherings of what is called church, we must not let it undo us. We must not fret and worry or be afraid of what evildoers might do. And we are to love our enemies and pray for them and do good to them. And we are to forgive those who do evil against us and to not retaliate. And so we need to keep loving people and trust God to work it all out according to his plan.

Now there are instructions for us, the church, regarding habitual and unrepentant sin going on within the church. But we need to handle these situations biblically and justly and fairly and not hypocritically. If we are going to exercise church discipline over one unrepentant sinner, we need to do the same for all habitual and deliberate sinners who are unrepentant, and in America, that would be a lot of people, I believe.

Anyway, we are not to fret over these situations but we are to commit them to the Lord and we are to commit our own way to the Lord and trust him to work in these situations and in our own lives according to his plan and purpose for our lives. And we are to delight ourselves in the Lord and then his desires will be our desires, and so when he gives us the desires of our hearts he is actually giving us the desires of his heart.

The Lord’s Anointed  

An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving. 

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to 

Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to wear, 

As the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior, 

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness, 

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations. 

https://vimeo.com/114836524

My 12 Favorite Scriptures Pt 4

Video Talk

November 23, 2022

https://youtu.be/SBmGVkG7Uro

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