Psalm 10 has the writer talking about how the wicked seem to be getting away with it. “Where are you when I need you”? Did God take off and take a vacation. That doesn’t happen. Nor is He always at our beckon call and will come running at first sign of a problem. Why is that? Does God get a kick out of watching us squirm. No – but He does have a mission for us – to become holy and godly in how we live. Part of the path to that lifestyle is to endure the circumstances we find ourselves in – to wrestle with the enemy and evil and not fall into temptation. We are tempted by the enemy who yells “catch us if you can. God is dead”. Well He isn’t, and their day will come. We may wonder why God doesn’t just rid the world of all evil. Why not just wipe out the enemy and make the world a place that is filled with goodness and love. It all goes back to the way He created us – with a free will. In order for us to have a choice in our love and devotion to Him, there has to be the option for good and evil. It won’t mean much if the only choice is God.
So evil exists and we are given the choice continually about what we will do with it. Sin happens when we CHOOSE evil. It is not an accident. It doesn’t happen to us. It happens when we make an act of our will to disobey God and pursue the wrong thing. This chapter describes that side of the ledger. And it isn’t pretty. They get cocky and think “they’ll never come up for audit”. But how wrong they are. God is watching. He is keeping track of every decision and action. There is a price to pay. And even though there are times it seems like the other side is winning, scripture is clear: “God’s grace and order wins; godlessness loses”. We may lose a battle or two, but the end of the book is written and God’s love and goodness wins the war. We need to stay the course and walk with Him. We need to be very disciplined in how we walk. Obedience is the only option. Anything less puts us at odds with God. And there is a price to pay for that. Jesus went to the Cross to deal with our sin – the result of our choosing to disobey. But even though His blood covers all our sin, it doesn’t prevent the circumstances and results of sin from impacting our lives. The much better option is to run from evil and walk with God. Holiness and godliness are the best and only real path we should pursue!
