Evil Doesn’t Pay
Setting aside our respective positions regarding the recent elections, as a general rule, does it sometimes feel like the bad guys are always winning these days? I love old movies, especially westerns. Although the action is always good, there is an added appeal to these old movies: it is always clear who the good guys are and who the bad guys are, and the good guys always win. There is always this ringing slogan, “Crime never pays.”
Modern movies are not that way. Not only do the good guys not always win, but it is often hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Unfortunately, this often reflects real life, as well. The subtle message seems to be, “Who really knows who or what is good, so crime does pay if you don’t get caught.”
If this grieves you as it does me, what does God have to say about it? In Psalm 37:1-11, David addresses this issue:
Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like 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!
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land.
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
Regardless of how it appears, God is in control. David, the author of this psalm, had every reason to be bitter and seek vengeance for the wrongs people committed against him. Yet we experience a completely different mindset and heart in his writing. In the final analysis, which belongs to God, evil does NOT pay.
When we trust our lives and our eternities to God because he has redeemed us through Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross, and when through his power we live our lives in obedience to his word, God assures guaranteed returns. Hold tight, knowing that there will be an accounting for those who actively commit evil. Even if they apparently prosper from it, trust God that he is in no way mocked, that he is truly in control, and that he will have the final say, and rest in him. This is the key to living a peaceful, joyful life in the midst of the reality of a confusing, fallen, evil world.
In Christ,
Chris Heinss