Dwell or Depart
In the Psalm passage in the One-Year, another segment of the reading stuck out to me. I added it to my highlights and wrote out some of my thoughts on it this morning. The later part of Psalm 37 is an encouraging principle from the Psalmist, having to do with the kind of life that leads to blessing and the good life in the land of the covenant, in Israel, in the land God had given them as their inheritance. It is similar to most of the “live this way” lessons and observations in the writing of the Psalms. This is the passage I highlighted this morning:
Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever. (Psalm 37:27–29)
The pathway to a blessed and forsaking-free life isn’t an arduous task. It is a simple command: “Depart from evil, and do good.” Turn from darkness, and do what is right in the sight of the Lord. Why? First of all, it’s the right thing to do. It isn’t difficult. It might feel embarrassing at first, it might be a little inconvenient — but it’s that easy to do. “I’m sorry, God; I am leaving evil behind and doing the good You have for me to do.”
The Psalmist gives a much more important reason, after that: “For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever.” Turning from evil is good, and it is good because God is a just God who responds to repentance with abundance. No matter what, you and your family will dwell in the land, unabandoned and preserved.
There’s a warning for the kind of life that continues on in darkness, regardless of how hard and grimy and evil it is: you are cut off. You and everyone who follows after you, in the same footsteps and paths are removed from God’s blessing. The Psalmist is literally talking about physical land, the dirt and grass and crops of the land of Israel. But that easily applies to you. God will never leave you behind — your feet will be on the ground, and you will be preserved in this life and beyond this life, forevermore.
I saw this as a happy promise and a grim warning. I prayed that the leaders of this country who refuse to do good, to partner with people they don’t like for the betterment of their people and their land simply knock it off. Depart evil, do good, dwell in the land forever blessed and always seen. That isn’t hard! It’s wonderfully easy — you just have to say you were wrong, and you are choosing to walk in the way that isn’t wrong anymore.
There are consequences to a life that continues onward in wickedness. There is no promise of safety, abundance, land or posterity. Those who come after you will hate you because of what your choices resulted in for them. I don’t want to say God forsakes people who continue to walk in wickedness, but there’s not really a nicer way of putting it. He can’t stand to look at or entertain or coddle evil. It has to be cut out, like a cancer. But there’s a much better option, an option that He worked for millennia to prepare and perfectly orchestrate. All it takes is for you to choose the better road!
Depart from evil, and dwell in the land of God’s promise and protection. I am praying that the seats of government offices and chambers are filled with those who have left the mark of evil far behind them. I am believing for wicked policies and deeply rooted corruption to be cut off and removed from the future. I don’t want there to be anyone who goes with it, but the choice has to be theirs, and it has to be yours. The will of God is for good to endure and evil to wither away, for people to change and to be saved and set free. The alternative is too grim to fully comprehend.
What will your decision be? Will you change the course of your descendants in favor of righteousness, or forsake them to follow in the footsteps of the wicked?
My entire future was hijacked for good because someone made a choice for their sake, and for those who would come after them — you can do the same!
