God Rewards the Wicked
Psalm 17 is one of my favorite Psalms. This morning as I read through it for perhaps the thousandth time, it hit me about as hard as it did the first time. The psalmist is crying out for God to give justice. He presents his case. He is righteous. God can test him all He desires. The psalmist is one of His children. Then there are the other men. They are wicked. They speak proudly. They seek to take the righteous down to the ground. "Arise, O Lord, confront him..." (Ps. 17:13 NASB).
Then the psalmist gives four statements about how God deals with these wicked men.
1. He says that their portion is in this life. In other words, they get their things now. Their reward is in full now. They will get the things that they are longing for in this present life.
2. God fills their belly with His treasure. I'm not sure about you, but I find that a little odd. God punishes the wicked by filling their bellies with His treasure. Whatever God means by treasure, I'm sure it's something I would want too.
3. They are satisfied with children. In our culture, this may be considered a curse, but in the Bible, children are a blessing from the Lord. "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord... Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." (Ps. 127:3-5 NASB)
4. They have so much that they leave their abundance to their children. Not only does God give them their portion in this life, they have so much of it that they leave it all to their children. They are wealthy beyond the average man, who was near poverty in their society.
All these are the rewards of the wicked. The psalmist does not seem to be upset, however. In fact, he seems to have the attitude that this is just. The last verse of the Psalm shows us why.
"As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." (Ps. 17:15 NASB)
How often, if ever, are we satisfied with the face of God. The Psalms cry over and over again that God is the source of our joy. Yet, we walk around as discontented Christians. Turn to God that He may be the satisfaction of your life.
Then the psalmist gives four statements about how God deals with these wicked men.
1. He says that their portion is in this life. In other words, they get their things now. Their reward is in full now. They will get the things that they are longing for in this present life.
2. God fills their belly with His treasure. I'm not sure about you, but I find that a little odd. God punishes the wicked by filling their bellies with His treasure. Whatever God means by treasure, I'm sure it's something I would want too.
3. They are satisfied with children. In our culture, this may be considered a curse, but in the Bible, children are a blessing from the Lord. "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord... Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." (Ps. 127:3-5 NASB)
4. They have so much that they leave their abundance to their children. Not only does God give them their portion in this life, they have so much of it that they leave it all to their children. They are wealthy beyond the average man, who was near poverty in their society.
All these are the rewards of the wicked. The psalmist does not seem to be upset, however. In fact, he seems to have the attitude that this is just. The last verse of the Psalm shows us why.
"As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." (Ps. 17:15 NASB)
How often, if ever, are we satisfied with the face of God. The Psalms cry over and over again that God is the source of our joy. Yet, we walk around as discontented Christians. Turn to God that He may be the satisfaction of your life.
Labels: Devotional, Psalms
posted by Bryan Cirlot at
9:15 AM
1 Comments:
Thank you for the message today.
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