Pam Padgett ... teacher
Psalm 52:1 Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the
goodness of God endureth continually. 2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a
sharp razor, working deceitfully. 3 Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying
rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. 4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O
thou deceitful tongue. 5 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall
take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of
the land of the living. Selah. 6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and
shall laugh at him: 7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but
trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his
wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I
trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. 9 I will praise thee for ever,
because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before
thy saints.
While reading Psalm 52, I thought of the mercy
of God in showing us the end of both those who trust in God and those who do
not. Those who trust in themselves can seem so powerful and wise in this world,
and our flesh can be drawn to the way they are going. But when we see their
end, we are strongly reminded that it is God who is truly powerful and wise. He
alone is worthy of praise. We also see the great reward to those who
continue in the ways of God, reward both in this world and in that which is to
come.
I was also reminded of the following ...
Psalm
37:35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a
green bay tree. 36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him,
but he could not be found. 37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for
the end of that man is peace. 38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed
together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. 40
And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the
wicked, and save them, because they trust in
him.
Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and
shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that
trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall
not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
------------
(Comments by Joan Boney ... God defined "wicked" for me as: those who cause harm, difficulty, trouble.)
=======================================================================