Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 37:32-40
Ps 37:32-40
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives; 33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned when brought to trial. 34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. 35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, 36 but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found. 37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. 38 But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off. 39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
People often say that the world is worse now than it was before. Our nation is more wicked or other nations are more ruthless now than they were a few years ago. While sin is rampant and many refuse to acknowledge God, there is probably not a greater percentage of evil people now than at most other times in the history of our nation or this world. Since sin entered the Garden, the devil has been the prince of this world and seems to be in pretty solid control.
God intervened at the tower of Babel. He sent the flood and destroyed the entire world in the days of Noah because everyone was so evil. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their immorality. He later wiped out Egypt because Pharoah would not acknowledge him as God and then defeated and killed the people of Canaan because of their ungodliness, immorality and worship of idols.
Jesus, and the Apostles, lived in a time and under a government that was about as corrupt as one could imagine. The non-Roman individuals had no rights or freedoms and even the Romans were subject to the whims of the rulers. Most of the world was pan-theistic, sexual perversion was rampant and accepted in every form we know today and sexual child molesting was the norm. The people, along with their rulers rejected the Son of God and killed him. But God never lost control nor forgot his people in any time in history. He still watches over his own and protects us from the wicked, if not in this world, in the one to come.
O Lord God, I just want to thank you for all the ways you show your love to me and all you have done to protect me and provide for me over the course of my life here on earth. Most of all, I thank you for Jesus and the forgiveness of my sins made available to me through his death, burial, and resurrection. Use me to reach out to those who are lost in sin and help them to come to know Jesus. Be with your people in the countries having political and social unrest. In Jesus name.
Robert
