“The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.” (Ps 37:32-33 AV)
There are those among us who have so low an opinion of themselves that they think any and all adversity is the hand of God’s judgment. They confess sins of which they are not even guilty. Or, they muse how much they have failed God and therefore are suffering the judgment of God upon them. They can never live in victory because the Devil has them convinced they are continuously and perpetually displeasing God. They do not know the way of mercy. They cannot comprehend it. Some live this way as their comfort zone. As long as trouble is part of their life, they feel God is, at the very least, active in their lives. They do not know how to exist outside of self-condemnation and self-loathing. They live there because that is the only way they have known. Therefore, when the wicked treat them harshly, all they can see is guilt and shame whether they deserve it or not. What they cannot comprehend is trouble as persecution. Persecution rarely exists in their mind. It all must be the hand of God which is against them. And His hand will always be against them.
David, who made some really bad choices from time to time, and also suffered at the hands of those who wanted him dead, had to differentiate between the chastening of God and the persecution of the wicked. If he did not, he would not be able to effectively lead his people. He would have been under a cloud all the time. This is the point of the passage above. The whole psalm speaks of the treatment he receives at the hand of the wicked. Perhaps he has Saul on his mind. Or perhaps it was the Philistines, Absalom, or a hose of others who gave him problems. What David is saying is that despite the judgment of the wicked that fell upon him from time to time, the LORD would not condemn or judge him. The LORD would not add insult to injury. The LORD will not condemn David for sin, whether he was guilty or not if what David is experiencing is persecution from those who hated him. David knew there would be times of adversity that had nothing to do with God’s justice upon him. He knew the wicked looked for any opportunity to make his life miserable. They sought his failure and destruction. This was part and parcel of being king. The anointed was a target.
It is important to believe God is not after you! He is not active in your life only when times of disobedience or doubt are the point. The LORD is our biggest cheerleader! He wants to see us succeed. He wants to see us trust Him for everything. He wants to see us change into Christlikeness. He is not out to get us! His mercy is everlasting. His love is unchanged. Yes, there are times when the LORD uses the actions of the wicked to correct us. He did that with Israel. Just because God does this occasionally, does not mean every time we suffer at the hands of the wicked that God is displeased. Give yourself a break! Maybe what the LORD is trying to do is to show you how much He is in your court every time trouble comes, so that you can accept His love and affirmation. God will not condemn you nor judge you in every moment of adversity. Praise be to the God who loves us more than we could ever know!
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