Psalm 52

1 Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior? Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?
2 All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies.
3 You love evil more than good and lies more than truth.
Interlude

4 You love to destroy others with your words, you liar!
5 But God will strike you down once and for all. He will pull you from your home and uproot you from the land of the living.
Interlude

6 The righteous will see it and be amazed. They will laugh and say,
7 “Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God. They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bold in their wickedness.”
8 But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
9 I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people.

It's difficult to accept, but our world is is home to bad people. It's not simply that they are dishonest...and feel remorse. It's that they've thought about it and they prefer to be dishonest. They boast about their crimes. They spend time plotting to do evil. They actually gain pleasure by destroying others. Before their deaths, Saddam Hussein and his sons may have been good examples of this kind of person.

They robbed, raped, pillaged and murdered others...simply because they could. It's a lifestyle.

We can't relate to such an attitude. Fortunately, most of us can say we've never known people like this. But, they're out there.

The problem is...the influence of such people is wide-spread. Whether they are leaders of remote nations or are part of our own government (national or local) we feel the consequences of their behavior. Foreign despots act up and the price of oil goes through the roof. Congress acts in its own self-interest and taxes soar...inflation rears it's ugly head. And it's not just politicians. We know that. It could be our neighbor...ignoring local covenants and making life difficult for the community.

So, what can we do...?

Our country is filled with activists who are trying to make an influence against such behavior. That's an option...often effective...but it will never eliminate the problem. You see...the problem lurks in the heart of man, not in the halls of congress. More disturbing is the reality that each of us has the potential of being just like these characters...if the circumstances were right.

Was Timothy McVeigh really that much different from us? How do we respond to the ugly realities around us? We all should agree that Timothy McVeigh's response was not just inappropriate, but evil. Yet...he was simply acting out his frustration against what he saw as the evil around him.

How can we be part of the solution without slipping into the same reactionary conduct?

David says "God will strike you down once and for all. He will pull you from your home and uproot you from the land of the living". Our first bit of advice is to remember justice is God's responsibility, not our own. You see...we often fail to see the "big picture" and our version of justice harms innocent people...just like Oklahoma City.

It doesn't mean we should do nothing. Somebody once said "all it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing." Probably true...but doing the right "something" isn't always simple.

David closes this psalm with these words: “Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God. They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bold in their wickedness. But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love. I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people".

I understand it is God's unfailing love that protects and prevails. The question really is this. Are we willing to view trusting God as a strategy for combating evil? Or do we see it as little more than putting our head in the sand...which prompts us toward inappropriate behavior?

We have to choose. And believe me...as our own nation becomes increasingly hostile to the notion of God...a strategy of trusting God will become a strategy filled with it's own peril.

Live boldly out there today...