Psalm 37 deals extensively with a believer’s attitude toward evildoers. David expresses the relationship between those who are evil and those who seek to do right. Those who do evil observe the righteous, just as the righteous observe the wicked. They do not just observe, but they respond according to what they see. David cautions the righteous about their response to evildoers. Three times he writes, Fret not thyself because of evildoers. Here is what he says.

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." (v. 1.)

"Fret not thyself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass." (v. 7.)

"Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." (v. 8.)

"Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked. For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out." (Prov. 24:19-20.)

The fretting that the Psalmist describes is related to jealousy and envy. The righteous should not become anxious because they often have less than those who do evil. "A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked." (37:16.) "I have been young and now I am old. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." (37:25.) The word, fret or charah in Hebrew, means to glow or grow warm; to blaze up in anger, zeal, jealousy, or displeasure. Do not get all worked up or stirred up over evildoers in the sense of questioning if serving God pays off in life. Do not compare your lot in life to theirs. Trust in God and do good, not evil.

David is addressing something very significant; that is, an attitude in life that is positive and hopeful. He acknowledges the problem of good and evil, but encourages faith and confidence in God.

What if all men came to the conclusion that life is vain, that there is no real justice, that might makes right, that evildoers have more than the righteous in life, that death ends one’s existence? What if people generally gave in to pessimism and despair? If so, society would destroy itself? The poor and helpless would be trampled. Chaos and anarchy would reign.

David is reminding those who believe in God the basic principles upon which they have built their lives. He is drawing a bold contrast between evildoers and those who do good. We need to be reminded of those foundational truths often, less we forget. Why do we care about the weak and helpless? Why do we not steal from orphans and widows? Why do we sacrifice for others? Why are we patience when evildoers seem to prosper more than the righteous? We have not cleansed our heart in vain. (Psalm 73:13.) Why have we chosen this way of life over the way of the wicked? At the heart of all of these questions is faith in God. We have chosen God and His promises. We also know that the way of the wicked is based upon selfishness, lust, pride, hate, love for money, love of pleasure, and a disregard for God and man. We need to be clear about what is at stake when we make our decision in life. There is really only one decision---for God or against God. Everything else is based upon that decision. We must remember our choice, especially when we are tempted to go away from it.

Repeatedly, David argues that the righteous should not fret over evildoers because of the end of the wicked. He described their end in vivid language.

• "shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither like the herb" (37:2.)
• "shall be cut off" (37:9, 22, 28, 34, 38.)
• "In a little while, they shall not be; yea, they shall diligently consider his place and it shall not be." (37:10, 36.)
• "The Lord shall laugh at him." (37:13.)
• "Their sword shall enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken." (37:15.)
• "Their arms shall be broken." (37:17.)
• "Wicked shall perish, like fat they shall be consumed away." (37:20.)
• "Transgressors shall be destroyed together." (37:38.)

In another Psalm, the writer said, "Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou casts them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. . . Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory." (Psalm 73:17-24.)

No one should envy evildoers or desire to stand in their shoes because they will be utterly destroyed. The strongest language describing their overthrow and destruction is expressed toward the evil in the Bible. In fact, God will laugh at them!

Brother V. P. Black presents a message titled, "A Sad Time When God Laughs." (Sermons For This Crooked Generation, V. P. Black, 1974, 69-80.) Four times the Bible pictures God as laughing at the wicked. David wrote, "The Lord shall laugh at him, for he sees his day coming." (37:13.) "He that sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision." (2:4.) "But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision." (59:8.) "But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear comes." (Proverbs 1:25-26.)

It seems out of character to read that God laughs. We think of laughter as being associated with light-heartedness or mean-spirited. But in every instance where God is pictured as laughing, the context shows that it during a sad time in the history of the world. God does not mock man when he seeks to do right. But he does laugh at the foolishness of man when he opposes God.

Man often laughs at God. He does so when he is on the pinnacle of victory, when he thinks that he has succeeded over the warnings of God. But man does not laugh when calamity strikes. Man does not laugh when there is a depression, draught, or disease. Man does not laugh when a loved one dies. Man laughs at God when he thinks that he has somehow defeated God and has shown that God does not exist.

God never laughs at man for frivolous or spiteful reasons. The Bible describes God as one who loves man and desires his redemption. He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4.) He does not laugh because the matter is not serious.

God laughs because puny man sets himself against the Almighty as if he can overcome God. It is laughable to think that man can defeat, deceive, or hid from God. It is as vain as a mongrel barking in madness at a speeding freight train. "The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision." (Psalm 2:2-4.)

Agnostics and atheists have mocked God publicly. One stood before an audience and gave God five minutes to strike him dead, if He exists. He stood in mockery as the minutes ticked away and then pronounced that God does not exist. God must have surely laughed in the heavens. What foolishness and stupidity to oppose the God of heaven and earth!

David enumerated many of the things that evildoers do.

• "brings wicked devices to pass" (37:7.) Similar to Paul’s words: "inventors of evil things." (Rom. 1:30.)
• "plots against the just and gnash upon him" (37:12.)
• "use the sword and bow to cast down the poor and needy" (37:14.)
• "obtain riches" (37:16.)
• "borrow and do not repay" (37:21.)
• "watches the righteous and seeks to slay him" (37:32.)
• "I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree." (37:35.)

The wicked cannot do their wickedness in isolation, without harming the just. They often do evil against the innocent and helpless.

In this psalm there is no explicit reason given; though it seems to be done to obtain riches. Elsewhere the Bible does address this issue.

"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9.)

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness." (Rom. 6:16.)

"This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hates the light, neither comes to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. He that doeth truth comes to the light that his deeds may be manifest that they are wrought in God." (John 3:19-21.)

There are many reasons that could be named for the evil men do. But at the heart of all the evil lies one cause. The heart of man is not just a physical organ. It is a moral organ. Man makes moral choices. All of these choices are centered in the reality of God. An acceptance of God is an acceptance of what is good and right. A rejection of God expresses a determination to embrace evil and self-centeredness. There is no moral middle ground. Either we embrace the light or we embrace the darkness. Evil becomes increasingly a part of any life lived away from God. When one stops walking in the light, one steps into darkness where God is not found. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5.)

This psalm tells what the righteous man’s response should be toward evildoers. It also tells how God regards the wicked. He sees and knows what they are doing. Justice will come upon all in due time. The question is not, Why does God not stop evil from occurring? Why did He not stop the terrorists as they were plotting their evil deeds? The answers to those questions are the same as to these: Why does God not make us do good? Why does He not intervene and force us?

The only question is, When will God punish the evildoers? It is a matter of time. This calls for patience on our part. Yes, the ordained powers from God can act against those who do evil. (Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2.) God can bring to naught those who rail against him and his people. (Revelation 18 &19.) Those who lived under the first covenant did not know what has been revealed to us about eternity. They most often looked for justice during their lifetime. But the end of the wicked will be most severe. The blessings for the righteous will be great.

"For the Lord loves judgement and forsakes not his saints. They are preserved forever. But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." (Psa. 37:28.)