It’s just a small little word, but when we’re dealing with it, it can be such a big problem. What word is that? Envy. Very simply put, envy is when you want what someone else has. It is having extreme displeasure when someone else gets something good, something that you don’t have, but want. Envy can destroy friendships, and it will ruin our Christian witness. Envy will hold back God’s blessings upon us. Paul, when writing to the Galatian church, listed it as one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).
Our psalm for today, Psalm 37, is one of my favorites. It is a fairly long psalm, so we’ll only look at the first 8 verses today. In these opening verses, David touches on this sin that so many of us deal with. Right away, he jumps right in by describing a scenario that so many of us are familiar with. We look at other people, see what they have, what we don’t have, and become envious of them. We become particularly upset if they are ungodly people, envious that they are prosperous, while we have needs that go unfulfilled. What does David say? He tells us to not get caught up with watching the successes of unrighteous people (vs. 1-2). We shouldn’t envy the riches that the wealthy have. If they are evil, if they do not know the Lord or follow Him, everything they have will one day be gone. They do not lay up treasures in heaven, as we should be doing (Matthew 6:19-20). Treasures in heaven will not fade away. They will last forever.
How should we handle envy when it strikes us? Envy hits us when we take our eyes off of God, and instead are focusing on someone or something else. We are looking at others and wishing we had what they have. When we look at what they have, we need to remember that it is God who chose to bless the other person. That is His right. When we are envious, we feel that we deserve that blessing, and not the other person. Instead, we need to praise God for what He has done in both that person’s life, and for what He does in our own life. That will put ourselves in a position to receive blessings from God because we show that we are trusting Him and His judgment.
When the sin of envy strikes, it often causes anger and hatred to get stirred up in our hearts. A believer in Jesus should instead learn to rejoice in another's good fortune. In addition, we should focus our eyes on what God has done in our own life, and the promises we have in God’s Word. When He is our delight, we will have the desires of our heart (vs. 4).
“Delight” is experiencing great joy and pleasure in the presence of another. To have delight we need to know that other one well. To delight in God we need to know Him better. We need to spend time with Him, learning what pleases Him, praying for discernment to make wise decisions. When we make the Lord our number one delight and joy, and following Him our primary goal, our desires, wishes and wants will be in line with God’s wishes for us. The Holy Spirit will align our hearts’ desires with Scripture, and we will set ourselves up for a blessing. Our hearts will not desire something contrary to His wishes. God’s desires for us will bring us peace and happiness. Things that would be contrary to His will only bring misery and sorrow.
Psalm 37 is a psalm of a divine promise with human obligations, not just a blanket promise to get good things. Self-indulgent prayers overlook that God says we must delight in Him. We are naturally selfish, and if God isn’t our top priority, we will pursue our own pleasures. To “commit” to God (vs. 5) we must entrust everything in our life to His control. Trust God, believing that He can care for us better than we can.
“Fretting” is another word for worrying (vs. 1, 7-8). Envy and worry show a lack of faith in God. When we focus our steps on God’s path, we will be heading in the right direction. God doesn’t bless sinful ways. Focus on God, not on our problems or what we do or do not have. That alone will bring us peace.
Thanks for a wonderful blog. Your last paragraph says it all.
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