DEALING WITH THE DEVIL INCARNATE

Every once in a while a bible verse pops in my head and I find myself reflecting on it for hours and sometimes even days. It’s usually a verse which is familiar, and, at times, it’s even one which is well-known it almost sounds cliché. So, it happened yesterday. I was with several Christian brothers and we were sharing about some of our struggles in life. The verse flashed through my mind: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” These pop-up verses are usually a combination of several bible translations given that I’ve spent so much time with the KJV, NAS, and NIV. In this case, what flashed was a direct quote from the NIV. So, in today’s blog I will take you with me through a brief study of this verse.

The first thing I did was go to my favorite website, biblestudytools.com to search for the location of the verse in the bible: Psalm 37:4. Then I read the chapter to get a sense of the context of the verse and the general theme of the change. When I did this, I was stunned. Even though I didn’t share the specifics when I was talking to my friends yesterday, this week I have become aware of the most evil actions which have directly impacted my life. I am unable to share the specifics, at least right now, but I have been dealing with a straight-up evildoer. In fact in talking to one of our church board members, this was a separate conversation last night, I referred to this particular evildoer as the devil incarnate. I’ve been wondering how I need to respond to the situation, which I’ve been aware of for many years, but reached a whole new level on Wednesday this week. Numerous things have come to mind, but they don’t exactly fall in the category of what Jesus would do. Suffice to say, if I am going to have a prison ministry I’d rather do it as a visitor not an inmate, if you know what I’m sayin’.

Psalm 37 is a short chapter, so here it is in the New International Version: “Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. 2 For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb. 3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. 6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday. 7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. 8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. 9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.”

After reading Psalm 37 it becomes very clear how I need to react and respond to the devil incarnate. I told the board member I was talking to last night I was going to begin praying the guy is bankrupt in six months. In light of Psalm 37, I guess I’ll hold up on the prayers and let God deal with him. This chapter is so clear in its practical counsel I don’t feel like I need to explain what it says. I dive deeper into verse 4, the pop-up verse: “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” The way I study scripture is to research the key words. In this case, I wanted to look at two key words: DELIGHT and DESIRES. The Hebrew word for, DELIGHT, is: anag (aw-nag’) and it means, “to be soft, be delicate, be dainty; to be delicate.” I can tell you, and you already know this, when you’re dealing with an evildoer, the devil incarnate, delicate and dainty are not the first things which comes to mind. The psalmist, here in verse four, is referring to how we respond and relate to our Lord. When we’re in a time of conflict and turmoil, if we don’t guard our heart, it begins to affect our relationships, including our relationship with the one who loves us most. In the last 36 hours I have had some serious questions for the Lord. This chapter is a good reminder to keep my heart “delicate” before the Lord. I have to be very careful not to allow my righteous anger to become just anger. I have to let Him fight this battle and trust him to keep the promises which are made so clear in this powerful psalm. 

The other key word is: DESIRES. The Hebrew word, Mish’-alah (mish-aw-law’) means, “request, petition, desire.” I want my desires to be what the Lord desires for me. The chapter concludes in verse 9 with this closing statement: “…But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.” I don’t know specifically how this inheritance will be reflected in my life, but in general the psalmist is pointing to several things: One, promises fulfilled; and, two, prosperity. Evildoers have always existed and they can and do cause big problems for the people of God. God, in his infinite wisdom, allows evil to exist but the time always comes when he says, “That’s enough!” The promise in Psalm 37:9 is: “For evildoers will be cut off…” The psalmist states this directly and definitively…”will be cut off,” It will be the Lord, not you or I, who deals with the devil incarnate. To which I say, “Get ‘em God!”