7. 'The Wicked' and Their Works Psalm 37:12-22

Text:  “The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.”

                                                                                                               Psalm 37:14.

Good morning, Christian suffering at the hands of ‘the wicked’.  Lift up your head, beloved in Christ, Psalm 37 brings you ‘good comfort in bad times’.

‘The wicked’, as Biblically defined, in this increasingly corrupt and apostate 21^{st ‘}end times’ Century, are a fierce, ruthless, and ever-present enemy to every serving Christian soul.  Everywhere we find them hindering, opposing, and treating with open ridicule ‘the faith once delivered unto the saints’.  Our Bible beliefs are scorned and treated with sceptical contempt – as ‘the wicked’ world of unbelief seeks to deny Christian values and beliefs, and put Bible-believing Christianity to open shame.

However, in the midst of such sore and hard oppressions and oppositions – God’s Word brings you and I ‘good comfort in bad times’.  Praise God, read on, Christian friend.

‘The Wicked’:  Biblically speaking, ‘the wicked’ are clearly defined by the works that they consistently do.  As their deeds, so is their hearts.  They are very ‘wicked’ indeed.

Verse 12. “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The continual verb here used in the King James Version of our Bible, ‘plotteth’, denotes the fact that those defined as ‘wicked’ plot, and continue to plot against the ‘just’. 

The Just:  The ‘just’ are defined as those whom have been justified by faith in Christ, and in His full Atonement Sacrifice at Calvary’s Cross, and of course, by His bodily resurrection on the third day, according to the Gospels.  Therefore, ‘the wicked’ are wicked indeed in God’s Holy eyes, when they are clearly seen to be plotting evil and harm against those whom the Lord Jesus Christ has justified by the shedding of His sinless Blood.  God-inspired Scriptures always clearly define the real facts of Eternal life and Eternal death.

However, verse 13 of Psalm 37 immediately brings us ‘good comfort in bad times’.

Verse 13.  “The Lord shall laugh at him.  Lest the flesh should still murmur and complain, demanding why God should only laugh at the wicked, and not rather take vengeance upon them, the reason is added, that He sees the day of their destruction at hand. “For He seeth that his day is coming.”  (John Calvin 1509-1564)

Verse 13.  “For He seeth that his day is coming.  The evil man does not see how close his destruction is upon his heels; he boasts of crushing others when the foot of justice is already uplifted to trample him as the mire of the streets.  Sinners in the hand of an angry God, and yet plotting against His children!  Poor souls, thus to run upon the point of Jehovah’s spear.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 180)

The wicked:  “His dismal day, his death’s day, which will also be his doom’s day.”  (John Trapp 1601-1699)

Verse 14.  “The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation (entire lifestyle).  God the Holy Spirit, the Author of canonical Scripture, leaves absolutely no doubt as to how He defines ‘the wicked’.  In the New Testament we immediately hear the voice of Christ Jesus rehearsing the exact same Divine message: “...By their fruits ye shall know them.”  (Matthew 7:15-23)

Verse 15.  “Their (the wicked) sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.  The Lord Jesus’ Divine teaching is again Scripturally corroborated by this verse from Psalm 37.  “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”  This Divine law is seen to be clearly at work when we look at verses 14 and 15 of Psalm 37.  The wicked draw out their swords and bend their bows to slay and maim the justified, and the Lord God returns the actions/motives of their wicked hearts upon their own heads. 

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man/woman soweth, that shall he/she also reap.”  (Galatians 6:7)  Anti-Christian enemies beware!

Verses 16 & 17.  “Never let a Christian murmur because he hath but little, but rather let him be still a blessing of that God that hath blessed his little, and that will bless his little to him.”  (Thomas Brooks 1608-1680)

Verse 18.  “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever.”  “...My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:19)

Verse 19.  “They (the just) shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”  More ‘good comfort in bad times’ for those of us who have been saved by God’s free and Sovereign grace, through the Atonement Sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  The Lord God looks after His own people - forever!

Verse 20.  “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord...shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.”  The lot of those that persist on in their rejection of Salvation in Christ Jesus, is forever sealed in God’s Eternal plan.

Verse 22.  “For such as be blessed of Him (the Lord) shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off.” The warning has been given – take heed.

Thought: For true Christians redeemed by Christ’s Blood – it is all ‘good news’!  We may well face ‘bad times’, but in the end we are assured of ‘good comfort’.