“Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
Psalms 73:1-3 NKJV
In Psalm 73 we see the psalmist facing a familiar struggle: He was having a hard time, yet the wicked were prospering. And, as he meditated more on seeing himself as being the victim of injustice, he began to slip from his steadfastness.
We find a similar dilemma expressed by Jeremiah.
“Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth But far from their mind.”
Jeremiah 12:1-2 NKJV
Now, for Jeremiah, the issue was not his being envious of the prosperity of the wicked. Rather, he was questioning God’s judgment for allowing the wicked to prosper. Jeremiah knew that everyone was suffering because of the wickedness of the people who talked a good game, but lived lives far from the law of the Lord.
The Lord responded to his question promptly, not telling him what he wanted to hear, but rather, what he needed to hear.
““If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?”
Jeremiah 12:5 NKJV
You see, Jeremiah wanted the Lord to immediately punish the wicked. He wanted to hear the Lord say that He would quickly deal with them. But, the Lord’s answer to Jeremiah was basically that he should not be discouraged over this, but to keep his eyes open so that he would not be deceived by their treachery.
A similar admonishment is given in Psalm 37.
“Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
Psalms 37:1-3 NKJV
Here, the admonishment is to not be upset over evildoers because their day of judgment is coming. As well, the assurance is given that the righteous will be upheld by the Lord in this life and have an eternity of peace. However, the unrighteous will be cut off.
“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. 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.”
Psalms 37:31-38 NKJV
No doubt, we are living in a time of great evil. And yes, it may seem that the wicked are getting by with what they’re doing. They may be even prospering while abusing and mocking those who are following the Lord.
Yes, we seem to be surrounded by cases of injustice. And in a temporal sense, righteous people are indeed being subjected to injustice. But from the heavenly perspective, the test of justice is the end of a matter. And make no mistake, the end of the matter will be glory for the righteous, and destruction for the wicked.
Child of God, focusing the wicked, for any reason, will only lead to being put on the slippery slope with them. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, remembering that He will bring righteous judgment.
Given, we will not understand all that we see in terms of how the wicked are dealt with in this life. But make no mistake, the word of God is true: the Lord will exalt the righteous and cut off evildoers.
Instead of worrying about what evil people are doing, or getting, or getting by with, let’s keep our eyes on God. Let’s worship Him. All of our questions will be answered in His presence.
“When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me— Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.”
Psalms 73:16-19, 24-26, 28 NKJV
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.””
Revelation 15:1-4 NKJV
I’ve never known another man more committed to doing the work of the Lord than was my father. But early in his ministry, he faced a real moment of crisis.
You see, he and his young family were struggling financially. He was basically a troubleshooter for the denomination in which he then operated, and was sent to congregations in some sort of distress. As such, the finances of the churches were often lacking, and in that denomination, if the finances were lacking, so was the pastor.
Now, the other side of this equation is that there was a man ministering in the same city, who was a charlatan. He was someone who took every opportunity to “fleece” the people. Yet, he was experiencing great success.
My father was at a point of breaking on this day. He knelt down in front of a chair in the church office and began to pour out his heart before the Lord.
He told the Lord that he would always serve Him to the best of his ability; but this would be the last time that he would come to Him as a minister, as a pastor. He could no longer endure the hardship and injustice he was seeing.
Jesus appeared before him. He saw Him with his eyes open, a sight he would continue to see for the rest of his life when he closed his eyes.
Jesus did not address my father’s complaint, but rather said to him, “My son, preach My word. I am coming, and My reward is with Me to give to every man according to what his works may be.”
From that moment forward, my father never looked back. Of course, he had read the many scriptures in which the Lord spoke of His coming judgment and justice.
He well knew the words of the prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, through whom the Lord shared the justice that was to come.
“Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:10, 29-31 NKJV
““Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
Jeremiah 17:7-10 NKJV
He had read the prophetic words in the psalms concerning the judgment of the Lord that brings salvation to His people.
“Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.”
Psalms 96:1, 9-10, 13 NKJV
“Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity.”
Psalms 98:1-2, 9 NKJV
He had read the words of Jesus as He walked on the Earth, as well as His triumphant words as King over all things.
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
Matthew 16:26-27 NKJV
““And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.””
Revelation 22:12-13 NKJV
But on that particular day, my father grasped those words and held to them as a “rope of hope.” Yes, he held onto them for the next several decades. He heard those words in his heart. He seized on what he needed to finish his course. And finish his course, he did.
We began this week talking about the trouble in this world, the distress of nations, and yes, our personal distress of living in such an evil world.
With that, we have been—in one way or another—discussing the Lord’s plan that has been woven through millennia, a plan that would start with our redemption, and end—or actually—continue on, with the perfect rule and reign of Jesus Christ.
Yesterday we ended off by hinting at another new song.
This new song, found in our opening scripture, is one of victory, a new song celebrating the righteous judgment of the perfect Lamb of God. It’s a song about this worthy Lamb, Who will return as a Lion to rescue Israel, and to set up His righteous, eternal Kingdom.
Child of God, grasp the hope found in taking God at His word.
Make no mistake, the Lord will destroy His enemies and reward His children. Grab this rope of hope, now! Hold on to it for dear life! After all, Jesus is coming! So, get ready for Him!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.””
Revelation 5:9-10 NKJV
There was a song that came out in 1975 called, “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” The gist of the lyrics is that the person is sad over having lost his love and wants them to play “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” because he doesn’t want to be alone in his sadness.
Now, we all know the power of music to either lift our spirits or to aid our wallowing in sorrow. Indeed, songs cover—and can provoke—the whole spectrum of human emotions.
Music and singing are inextricably woven through man’s history. In fact, singing is often referenced throughout the Bible.
Interestingly, one of the books in the Bible—the Psalms—is actually a “song book.”
The songs found in the psalms also cover a wide range of emotions, but are often associated with thanking the Lord. For example, David sang many songs to the Lord because of His delivering power.
“But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”
Psalms 13:5-6 NKJV
As well, the psalms repeatedly encourage people to join in the singing.
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”
Psalms 95:1-2 NKJV
“Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.”
Psalms 147:1 NKJV
In fact, singing before the Lord is prescribed for believers in many other books of the Bible.
Here are a couple of examples from the New Testament of calls to sing before the Lord as part of one’s spiritual service:
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
Ephesians 5:18-21 NKJV
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.”
James 5:13 NKJV
We also see references throughout the Bible to singing a “new” song. Such a reference is found—more than once—when David is celebrating the salvation of the Lord, such as we see in Psalm 144.
“I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You, The One who gives salvation to kings, Who delivers David His servant From the deadly sword.”
Psalms 144:9-10 NKJV
In our opening scripture, we see a new song being sung by the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders.
This new song is actually a song that could not have been sung until the worthy Lamb redeemed us to God by His precious blood.
This redemption, this salvation, goes beyond being rescued from earthly foes and trouble. This redemption and salvation brought us out of darkness into the light, out of being destined for destruction into eternal life.
Child of God, we who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, are able to sing a new song (in the first person) that even the angels cannot sing!
“Regarding this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace [of God] that was intended for you, searched carefully and inquired [about this future way of salvation], seeking to find out what person or what time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glories [destined] to follow. It was revealed to them that their services [their prophecies regarding grace] were not [meant] for themselves and their time, but for you, in these things [the death, resurrection, and glorification of Jesus Christ] which have now been told to you by those who preached the gospel to you by the [power of the] Holy Spirit [who was] sent from heaven. Into these things even the angels long to look.”
1 Peter 1:10-12 AMP
But wait, there’s more. Not only has the Lord given a new song pertaining to salvation, there is something coming that will make occasion for another new song. It will be a song pertaining to all things being made right!
We’ll bring this all together tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!