THE ERROR OF ENVY
“For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” – Psalms 73:3
Having just read a comment giving praise to a man that I knew well, I was shocked that such adulation was given to a man so undeserving of praise. My first thought was “How unfair!” And I suspect that praise for the wicked is troublesome to a lot of folks.
When we see the prosperity, popularity, and praise of ungodly people it’s easy to get perturbed. It seems that all the wrong people get rewarded. We see athletes, actors, etc. being admired and making millions, while the soldier, cop, school teacher, single parent, housewife, etc. are under paid and unappreciated. That just doesn’t seem fair. Indeed it is an up-side down world that we live in.
This problem might be worse today, but it’s nothing new. Even such a great man as the Psalmist said, “my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped” (vs. 2). And we put ourselves in great danger if we allow ourselves to become “envious at the foolish”. We must not allow that which is troublesome to us to become troublesome for us by becoming envious of the foolish. We always put ourselves in danger when we allow such things, any thing, to shift our focus away from God. Why fret about evildoers getting what they don’t deserve? None of us are deserving.
The fact is, God hasn’t been unfair with any of us. And whatever service we render unto the Lord will be aptly rewarded at the time of His choosing. For the Christian, payday is someday. Don’t fret about the prosperity of the wicked. The praise they get here is all the reward they shall ever have. But, for those who live only to please the Lord it can be said, has been said, “great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:12). Therefore, regardless of our circumstances, we should “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad” (Matt. 5:12), rather than making ourselves miserable by being envious of the foolish.–HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
