Monday, May 26, 2008

Imperatives From Psalm 37, Part 1

Psalm 37:1 "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity."

Do you remember your grammar? Do you remember the four types of sentences? Let’s review: there are declarative sentences or sentences that state a fact; there are exclamatory sentences or sentences that express strong emotion; there are interrogatory sentences or sentences that ask a question; and there are imperative sentences or sentences which express a command as distinguished from the discretionary. The imperative is important. When one uses the imperative, the implied meaning is that the command should be followed.

As moms, we use the imperative all the time. “Go clean your room. Wash your hands. Stop tormenting the cat.” God also uses the imperative often in Scripture. I’ve been watching for imperatives when I read my Bible. The first seven verses of Psalm 37 have several imperatives in it.

For today, I’m only going to point out one of them. In verse one, God says, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.” I know that if I allow myself, I can really fret because of evildoers. I worry about what evil people are doing. I worry about people who don’t like me and if they could, would do evil against me. I worry about the wicked people trying to take God out of my country. I worry about evil people. Much to my shame, I sometimes envy the workers of iniquity — not because they work iniquity but because they seem to prosper doing it. God looks down and says, “Don’t do that.” It’s imperative.

Are you worried about or envious of evildoers? Don’t be.

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