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would please turn to Psalm number 37. Psalm number 37 is where we'll be reading this morning. And also make a bookmark in Proverbs 21. We're going to read Psalms 37 and quickly look at Proverbs 21. So if you want to just take a quick moment to just bookmark those two places in your Bible. And we'll go ahead and get started here. Beginning reading in Psalms 37, verse number 1, the Bible reads, Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Fret not thyself because of Him who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself, and in wise, to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while the wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked ploddeth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bended their bow, to cast down the poor and the needy, and to slay such as be of an upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bow shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed of the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fad of lambs. They shall consume, into smoke shall they consume away. The wicked borroweth and payeth not again, but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, if the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have seen the young, and now am old. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth. His seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good, and dwell for evermore. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved for ever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watcheth the righteous, and sleeketh to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, was not. Yea, I saw him, and he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together, the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him. Go ahead and pray. Heavenly Father, again, thank you for the Bible, thank you for the encouragement that we can glean from it, thank you for the instruction that it gives us. Father, I pray that you would meet with us this morning, that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit, and Lord, that you would bless the preaching of your word now, in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Now keep a place there in Psalms 37, if you would, quickly, just turn over to Proverbs chapter 21, and we'll look at verse 12, and this is where I get the title of a sermon this morning. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 21 verse 12, the righteous man righteously, the righteous man wisely considerth the house of the wicked, but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness. The title of my sermon this morning is the wisely considerth the wicked, wisely consider the wicked. I get that where it says there in verse 12, the righteous man wisely considerth the house of the wicked. You see, it's important that we take time to consider the wicked, and we do so wisely. Why? Because there in the end of the verse, the Bible says, because God shall overthrow the wicked for their wickedness. So we say that we ought to know who the wicked are because they are going to face the wrath and judgment of God one day. And so the Bible here is instructing us to consider the wicked. Now what does it mean to consider? It means that we're going to contemplate, we're going to think upon. It is to think carefully about something, especially when making a decision. So the Bible is telling us we are to come to a decision concerning the wicked. That's what it means to consider the wicked. The Bible says that when we consider the wicked, we are to do so wisely. Now to do something wisely means that we are to discern or judge properly as to that which is right or true. So the Bible is teaching us here that we are to consider the wicked, we are to judge them wisely with discernment. And we are to determine what is wicked and what is not wicked. We must not allow the world to define what the wicked is for us. We have defined these other words, the words considered wisely. But when it comes to the word wicked, we must not allow the world to define that word for us. We should use the Bible to define what is wicked and what is not wicked. The Bible says in Isaiah 5.20, woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. The Bible says woe unto the person that is not going to discern and consider the wicked wisely. The Bible says in Proverbs 24.24, he saith unto the wicked, thou art righteous. He that saith unto the wicked, thou art righteous, him shall the people curse, the nation shall abore him. So there's a curse upon the person who we call the wicked righteous. The Bible says here that we are to consider the wicked. And so what we're going to do is just to begin with, my first point would be that we are to consider the character of the wicked. Who are the wicked? What makes them wicked? What is it that they do that makes them wicked? What are some of the attributes of the wicked? Now if you would please turn to Psalms chapter 10, again keep that place in Psalms 37, we'll be back here later in the sermon. But if you would turn to Psalms chapter 10, while you're turning there I'm going to read some verses for you. See we're to consider the character of the wicked, that's what we're going to do first. So when we start to ask, you know, what is the wicked? Who are they? A great place to look is in the book of Psalms and the book of Proverbs. The book of Psalms uses the phrase wicked 86 times in the Bible. Now you would think, you know, that's not such a big deal because Psalms is such a large book. But when you consider also the book of Proverbs, it mentions it 87 times, a much smaller book. So these are two books that are great if we're going to define, if we're going to consider who the wicked are, if we're going to consider their character. These are two books that would be great to look at. You're there in Psalm 10, I'll read for you from Psalm 58, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Bible says in Psalms 28, draw me not away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Psalms 109 says, the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the, excuse me, for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. So when we consider the character of the wicked, the first thing that we're going to see is that the wicked are deceitful, they are liars. Bible says in Proverbs 11, the wicked worketh a deceitful work, but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. So we see that first of all, when we consider the character of the wicked, when we stop to consider the wicked wisely and ask who they are, what is the fabric of who they are, we see first of all that a wicked person is a deceitful person. The next thing that we would see is that the wicked are oppressive and violent. This is the next characteristic of a wicked person, when we consider the character of the wicked. The Bible says in Psalms chapter 10, you're there, look down at verse 2, the wicked in his pride persecute the poor. He persecutes the poor, that's what a wicked person does. Bible says in Psalms chapter 11, if you flip over just one page perhaps, Psalm 11 verse 5, we'll see again where the wicked are oppressive and violent. Bible says, the Lord trieth the righteous, but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Bible says the wicked and him that loveth violence, these are two people that God hates equally, they're both in the same camp. They are wicked and they love violence. We see again that one of the characteristics of the wicked is that they are oppressive and violent. Turn to Proverbs chapter 15 if you would, Proverbs chapter 15, I'll read a few more verses showing us that the wicked are oppressive and violent. The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him. The Bible says in Psalms 37, Psalm 71, deliver me O my God out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. Psalms 82, deliver the poor and needy and rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Again, you see where the wicked is the type of person that would persecute the poor and the needy. Psalm chapter 10, blessings are upon the head of the just, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 12, the righteous is more excellent than his neighbor, but the wicked, the way of the wicked seduceth him. The soul of the wicked desireth evil, his neighbor findeth no favor in his eyes. Proverbs 28, as a roaring lion and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the people. Proverbs 29, the righteous considerth the cause of the poor, but the wicked regardeth not to know it. So we see first of all, when we consider the character of the wicked, we see that they are deceitful and we see that they are oppressive and violent. And thirdly, we'll see that the wicked themselves are an abomination to God. Psalms chapter 10, verse 3, the Bible says, for the wicked boasteth in his heart's desire and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth. So the wicked is the type of person who would bless somebody that God abhors. Proverbs 15, where you are, if you look at verse 8, the Bible says, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. So again we see that all these characteristics, and we're going to go on here in Proverbs chapter 15, we'll see that there are several things that the wicked do that are an abomination to the Lord. Verse 29, the way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, but he that loveth him followeth after righteousness. Jump down to verse 26, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant words. Verse 28, the heart of the righteous studieth the answer, but the mouth of the wicked poured out evil things. Verse 29, the Lord is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. So we see here that the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination. We see that the way of the wicked is an abomination. We see that the thoughts of the wicked are abominations. We see that the wicked, their mouth pours out evil things, and we see that the Lord is far from the wicked. You see my friend, one of the characteristics of the wicked, when we consider them, is that they are an abomination to God. That's why it says that the Lord is far from the wicked. When you consider something abominable, you put distance between you and it. God considers the wicked to be abominable. The Bible says in Proverbs 21 to 27, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination. How much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind. So it's not bad enough that the wicked is wicked. He even brings his sacrifice with a wicked mind. So we have, first of all, we have seen, we have considered, as the Bible has told us, to wisely consider the house of the wicked, and our first point, we have considered the character of the wicked, who they are. And we've seen from these few verses that the wicked are deceitful, that they are oppressive and violent, and that they are an abomination to God. And these are just a few of the characteristics. For the sake of time, I left several other things out, but we can see in other places where wicked men are described, and they're the type of men that desire power. They desire that they're greedy and covetous for physical power and wealth. So these are all very bad attributes, things that we should have nothing to do with. The Bible says in Proverbs 17, verse 15, if you flip over very quickly, Proverbs chapter 17, He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. So now we see why it's so important that we wisely consider the wicked, that we use wisdom, that we allow the Bible to tell us who the wicked are and who the wicked aren't. Because if we are those who would put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, if we are those who would put light for darkness and darkness for light, we ourselves will become an abomination. As it says there, he that justifieth the wicked, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. So we must judge them properly when we wisely consider the wicked. We must use the word of God to properly judge the wicked. This failing to do so may result in our own selves being abominable before God. Now we've gone and looked at some of these characteristics, deceitful, oppressive, violent, they're an abomination. Now we should recognize some of these characteristics of the wicked. Maybe even as I was reading through some of these verses, certain individuals that we might know of in the world have popped into our minds, perhaps. You see, we should recognize these characteristics of the world because they represent an accurate description of the people in our world. It is an accurate representation of the people that we see. We see deceitful people. We see oppressive and violent rulers. We see abominable people being lifted up and exalted. We see people calling that which is unholy, holy, and that which is holy, unholy. The Bible says in 1 John 5, 19, that we know that we are of God and that the whole world lieth in wickedness. The Bible says in Galatians 1, 3, that the Lord Jesus gave himself for our sins that he may deliver us from this present evil world. The Bible says in Psalm 12 that the wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted. And today, we are living in a world, we are living in a country, when the vilest men are being exalted. They're being lifted up, they're being put in places of power, they're determining policy, and we even see in our own, you know, the culture is being swayed and influenced by ungodly people, people that would lift up the wicked and say, this is who you need to be like. We see that the wicked walk on every side. They're out. They're out in the open. They have no shame about the things that they're doing. They're contrary to the word of God. They hate the word of God. They hate those that would love the Lord. The Bible says that they are exalted. So it's important that we consider the wicked because they're everywhere today. We see them oppressing the poor. We think about, you know, these wars that are going on all around the world. You know, that the United States is, you know, pretty much the tip of the spear. We're the ones that are funding it. We're the ones that are providing ammunition, so even ourselves are going there. And we're oppressing the poor. People might not like to hear that. They have this idea that America is just everything we're out there doing around the world is just some great thing. And I'm telling you, friend, what we're doing out there on these other countries bombing these people, it's wicked. It's oppressing the poor. And people don't like to hear that. But the fact is, you know, that's the way it is, you know. So we need to consider wisely the character of the wicked because they walk on every side. They're all around us. Which leads me to my next point is just that we need to consider coexisting with the wicked because the fact is they're everywhere and they're not going anywhere. They're going to be here for some time. So we have to consider how are we going to coexist? Now when I say coexist, I don't mean it in like the trendy new age way that you see in the little bumper stickers with all the different signs and the religion that they use in a cute way to expel the word coexist. Because the word coexist means to exist with somebody at whom you are at odds with. It means getting, not necessarily getting along, but just cohabitating with an enemy, some adversary. And these, the wicked are our adversary. They are evil and they are our enemies. We should count them our enemies. So we need to understand how it is that we're going to coexist with the wicked. If you would please turn to Psalm chapter 73. The Bible says, Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked. Now we say, how can we envy people with such a corrupt character? Why does that command even in scripture? And it's in several other places and we'll see it says, neither be thou envious at the wicked. Why does that even need to be stated? We see how evil they are. We see what wicked things they do. Why is it that we should be careful not to envy the wicked? It's because the wicked, they prosper in this world. They do well. We're going to see that there in Psalms chapter 73, that the wicked, you know, they're farewell in the world today. They're, you know, we'll just very quickly here look at Psalms chapter 73 where the Bible reads in the beginning of verse one, truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. And as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps said, well, nice lift for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. So we see this guy, he was envious at the foolish when, when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. It's not, it's not, it's not hard. It's easy to not envy somebody who's doing very poorly, you know, and we don't envy the drunk in the gutter. At least we shouldn't. We know we don't envy the guy who's made a complete mess of his life, has nothing to show for his life. It's just screwing everything up. That guy we're not going to envy, but we start to see the wicked people who hate God, people who do things contrary to the Lord, to the Bible, that they're beginning to, that they're doing well in the world. They have a full bank account. They have nice homes, nice cars. Everybody's healthy. You know, they have all the things that the world would tell you. These are the things that you should desire. We can become envious, goes on in verse four, for there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride comes to them about as a chain, violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt. They speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walking through the earth. Therefore his people return hither. The waters of a full cup are rung out to them. And they say, how doth God know? And there is no knowledge in the Most High. Behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. So we see this guy, he begins to envy the foolish when he sees the prosperity of the wicked because it seems like they don't have all the problems that a lot of other people have. At least they would put up that front. Of course we know everybody is going to have trouble. This is very true. In my line of work I end up in a lot of people's homes. I end up in a lot of very nice homes. One particular person I have in mind is a very wicked person. I won't go into details. But they are an abomination to God and they have a very nice home. You would look at this person and say, this guy has got everything. This guy has got the nice cars, he has got the big house with the pool. But I can tell you the things that that man engages in are an absolute abomination to God. The man is wicked as hell. And there is no reason why we should envy a person like that. Because the wicked prosper, God must command us not to envy them. That's why it tells us, why God explicitly says the words, don't envy the wicked. It's because they prosper. The Bible says in verse 17 of Psalm 73, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I therein. So we see this guy in Psalm 73, he's kind of expressing his angst. He's kind of telling us all these things that were bothering him and why. But then we see in verse 17, how he kind of turned the corner, how he kind of came around on it. Until, not before, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I therein. You see, when we get into the Bible, when we get into church, we get into the preaching of God's word, begin to understand who the wicked really are, we begin to understand what their end is. And we're going to look at that here next. What the end of the wicked is. And that is a great motivation for us not to envy them. Because of what the wicked got coming to them. And the Bible kind of gives us, he says until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I therein. He's saying, like I just mentioned, when you get into the preaching of God's word, when you get into your Bible, when you get into the sanctuary of God, then you begin to understand. And it's interesting that we have Psalm 73 where this angst is kind of expressed, but if you flip those numbers around to Psalm 37, that's kind of a good way to remember it. And if you would, please turn to Psalm 37 where we began this morning. We'll see that in Psalm 37, God gives us a sort of how-to guide in order to deal with the wicked. How it is that we should, as the point is, you know, how we should consider how we are going to coexist with the wicked. What should our attitude be? What kind of action should we take? Well we'll see in Psalm 37 that God kind of gives us a little bit of a guide on how we're going to coexist with the wicked. And Psalm 37, let me get over there real quick. Now the Bible begins by repeating a command that we already just read in Psalm 37 verse 1 where it says, Fret not thyself because of either evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. So there again, another clear cut from command from God that we are not to envy the wicked. We are not to envy the workers of iniquity. Now this is a negative command. It's telling us what we should not do. You know, it's telling us something to avoid. And that's a principle that we can apply in our life. There's a lot of things that God tells us not to do. Don't do this, don't do that. He tells us not to envy the wicked in this case. And we need to understand that it's great to not do something. But often times I think people struggle with things in their lives because we decide we're not going to do this thing anymore and we kind of create this vacuum. We don't fill it with anything else. And then that thing that we didn't want to do anymore starts to creep back in and fills that void again. So when we get something, a sin out of our life or an attitude or whatever it is, when we get something that God doesn't want in our life out of our life, we need to make sure that we find something that God does want us to do and we need to fill that void with that. That makes it harder for that sin or that attitude to creep back in into our life. You see, God adds positive commands in the following verses here in Psalm 37. Look at verse 3, the Bible says, Trust in the Lord and do good. So he's saying, you know, in verse 1, don't envy the wicked, but trust in the Lord and do good. And verily, thou shalt be fed, it says there at the end. You see, if we trust God for our provision and do what is right, if we trust the Lord and do good, we're going to be fed, meaning that God is going to supply our needs. We don't have to envy the wicked. You know, they have, you know, the pantry full of food. They've got, you know, everything in abundance. They're going out to eat every other meal. They got housekeepers and all this other stuff. They're prospering in the world through their wickedness. We shouldn't envy that. We shouldn't be, man, it'd be so nice if I had, you know, granite countertops in my kitchen and every, you know, KitchenAid and Cuisinart and blender and food processor areas and, you know, that I can have the pool and the luxury and the leather sofa and all this stuff like that. We shouldn't envy those things because God is going to give us what we need. We should not envy the wicked for having more than heart could wish, as it describes the wicked there. See, Matthew 6 31 says, Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye have need of. See, God is telling us here that we should not envy the wicked because He knows what we need and He'll provide it. The Bible goes on and says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Look at Psalms 37 verse 4, another positive command. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. So we should not desire the wicked, we should not envy the wicked, we should not covet after what the wicked have. We should delight ourselves in the things of God. We should delight ourselves in the Lord, and when we do that, the Bible says He shall give us the desires of thy heart. Now it's kind of one of these self-fulfilling prophecies. If we desire God, God's going to give us our desires. If we delight in God, God's going to give us that which delights us. It's the principle that's found in Scripture, but it rings true. If we delight in God, we will desire the things He desires to give us. If we delight in God, God is going to give us those things that He desires to give us. You see, the pleasures of sin, when we delight ourselves in the Lord, the pleasures of sin, those things that we thought we wanted, those things will not appeal to us as they once did. When we start to live for God and get in our Bibles and start to engage in the work of God and trying to accomplish a great thing for God, we'll go into that customer's home and we'll see all the nice things and say, you can have it. Because it's all going to burn one day. It's all dust. You see these guys driving around in these cars and people just get, they just become so identified with their cars, it's like it's an extension of who they are. It's like their child or something. People who just, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having a hobby, but good night. At some point, as long as you're willing to be able to step away from it all. But some people put so much of themselves into things like cars or whatever the hobby might be, you know, and they should not have. I step back and I see my, I look at these cars sometimes and the way people are giving over and saying, it's just a piece of metal. It's just a piece of dirt that somebody dug out of the ground, painted and shined up and put some fancy things in it and it just becomes all that people desire. And you can apply that to anything, homes, vacations, all the luxuries that the world offers us today. If we delight ourselves in God, those things, they won't appeal to us as they once did. The Bible says in Psalm verse chapter 1, you probably know this, blessed is the men that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Bible says in Psalm 37 verse 5, another positive command, commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass, and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as a light and thy judgment as the new day. You see, if we're committed to God, then we know that we're going to have a good end. It says to commit thy way unto the Lord, trust in him and he shall bring it to pass, and thy judgment shall be as the new day. Our future is bright, we're going to see a bright future. We're not going to come to a long, dark night in our lives. Our lives aren't going to end in misery and woe and heartache and regret. And that's what a lot of people, a lot of the wicked, who are investing everything they have in this world, we're putting everything that they have, all their effort, all their time, all their energy is being spent on making life nice and easy and comfortable and having all the frivolous things of life that it has to offer. They're going to come to the end of their life one day and look back, whether they realize it or not, and they're going to realize it's all been for naught. As the preacher said in the book of Ecclesiastes, vanity, all is vanity. That's what people start to realize. That's why they can never have enough. That's why these people who have more, they want more. Everybody that loves silver should not be satisfied with silver. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, the ear is not satisfied with hearing. See, there's never enough in this world, but if we commit our way unto the Lord, we're going to come to an end of our life, we're going to receive the desires of our heart, and we're going to come to the end of our life. And sure, we'll probably have things that will say, you know, I wish I had done more. I wish I had given God more, I wish I had done more for God. But nowhere near the amount that a wicked person is going to come to the end and say, you know what, I did nothing for God. I accomplished nothing. You know, naked came I, and naked I go. You know, and you cannot take anything in this world with you. You see, if our way is committed to God, then we know that we shall have a good end. But the wicked, they live only for today. They don't consider the consequences. That's another reason why we ought to commit our way to God, because if we commit our way into another way, we don't commit our way into God, you know, there's going to be consequences for that. God's not just going to let his child wander off the course without some kind of correction. You know, he's going to bring us back one way or another. There will be consequences for the decisions that we make. There will be consequences for our sin. But the wicked, they only live for today. They don't consider the consequences that are to come. The Bible says in Proverbs 3, Trust the Lord with all thine heart, and lean on unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. We should commit our way unto the Lord so that he can direct us. Romans chapter 8 says, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. All things work together for good to them that love God. But to those that do not love God, all things do not work together to good. All the trials and tribulations that even a wicked person is going to go through, they're going to look at all the difficulties and things that they have in their life, and they're never going to be able to step back and say, Well, I can see why God allowed that to happen. I mean, I think of people that I know, you know, other Christians, other Bible believers, people who love God and want to follow God and serve God with their life, that have gone through certain trials and tribulations. You'll talk to these people after these things have come to pass and often they'll tell you, Well, now I can see why God did that. They can understand what this verse means. It says that all things work together for good to them that are loved. Go see mama. Go on. Just sit down there. That's fine. Take some water. Now go on. Go see her. Take her, honey. The Bible says in verse 7, we'll move on to another positive command. The Bible says, Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. See, after we've committed our way, after we've delighted the Lord, after we've chosen to trust in God, the Bible says that we can then rest in Him. The idea of rest is not having to toil or to worry or to be overly concerned about what's going to happen. We can rest, the Bible says. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Fret not thyself because of Him who prospered in His way, because of the man who brought the wicked devices to pass. You know, it's really easy sometimes, you know, when we start to look at the world and what's going on in the world today, that we can begin to fret, we can start to worry. Because the world, you know, it's getting wicked and even more wicked every day. It's getting worse and worse. You know, when I was writing this sermon, one thing that, you know, really the inspiration of the sermon was some of the things that, you know, I've seen before but really brought it back to mind when I saw Babylon USA this last weekend, this last week, excuse me. And you see a lot of these images and you understand that, you know, what was so sobering about the film was not the fact that, you know, all these things that the Bible talks about, you know, God judging the whore and the tribulation and God's wrath being poured out upon the dead. That we all understand. But what's sobering about it is the fact that, you know, we're living in that country. You know, that's where we are. We are in the heart of that country that is oppressing the poor. The country that is, you know, destroying, you know, the innocent from off the face of the earth. That's a very sobering thought. You know, we can begin to fret, you know. You see these images of people in other countries that have just, you know, bombed. You know, the practice of modern warfare, you know, I can't remember where I heard it once, but they said, you know, the collateral damage or civilian casualties are not just, you know, an unfortunate, you know, a byproduct of warfare. No, it's the very nature of warfare today. You know, that's what blew me away in that film. One moment was just hearing Donald Trump during his campaign speech. Because I didn't listen to the guy at all. I don't follow politics. I really have no interest in them. So this is like the first time I'm hearing this guy, Donald Trump, talking, saying some of the things. You know, bomb them all. We're going to bomb them and bomb them again. And that's the mentality of the average American. There's a lot of people that I know that have that same attitude that, yeah, just bomb them all. Let God sort them out. That's a wicked mentality, friend. That's a wicked philosophy. Because when you're saying bomb them all, what you're saying is go bomb the mothers, go bomb the fathers, go bomb the sons and the daughters, go bomb the children. That's what Donald Trump is saying. Go bomb them. Bomb them all. Go bomb the innocent. Go bomb the poor. Go oppress the poor. Go be a violent man. That's what we are today. That's what our country has come to, sorry. People don't want to hear that. But you know what? People don't want to go dig their child, their dead, lifeless body of their child out of some rubble because of some empire, because of some oppressive country decided it would be a good idea to just bomb them all. And that's really, you know, maybe I'm getting a little fired up, but that's what, you know, you can start to fret about that kind of thing. It starts to bother you. When you see the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass, a man like Donald Trump and those who came before him, the Bible says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because of him that prospers in the way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. When we rest in the Lord, we need to understand something. It's not that we just rest on our laurels. We are not idle. But it means that we are at peace in the midst of trials. We are at peace even though, you know, today, we are in the midst of this country that has just become this, you know, whose teeth are as knives to devour, to pour out the face of the earth. We're in that generation, or that generation is soon approaching. And we can begin to fret, but friend, if we rest in the Lord, we can have peace. We can have peace in the midst of that. But there is no peace to the wicked, the Bible says. There is no peace to the wicked. They have no hope when trouble comes to them. The Bible says in verse 8, cease from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself and any wise to do evil. You see, it's okay to be angry with the wicked. You know, we should, it's okay to get, you know, upset with the wicked. It's okay to be bothered by the things that the wicked are doing. But we should not be so angry at the wicked to the point that we're going to lash out against them, you know, physically. And we should not take matters into our own hands. We shouldn't become some kind of vigilante that's going to go out there and right every wrong in the world. The Bible says forsake wrath, fret not thyself and any wise to do evil. You see, we should not seek to avenge ourselves or avenge others of the wrong that has been done them by the wicked. Now we can cry out against it, we can call it what it is. And we should do that. And wouldn't it God that more men of God would get up behind a pulpit and tell it like it is instead of being these, you know, neocon, Republican worshiping, you know, flag-waving Baptists you know, that just, you know, the Republican party can do no wrong, you know, pray for peace, prepare for war, all this nonsense, all these stupid slogans, all these guys, you know, who spend more time listening to their talk radio than they do in the Word of God. More time listening to, you know, Rush-Limbotomy. They've been lobotomized by old Rush-Limbotomy. They're just mindless drones, just, you know, whatever Rush-Limbot says, you know, boy, yeah, he's right, America's so great, neocons, you know, all our Republican values. Listen, friend, the Republican values, it's greediness, it's covetous, all these politics, you know why I don't follow anyone? Because it all comes down to money. At the end of the day, that's all they care about. It's not about moral issues. You know why abortion will never be illegal again in this country? Because it's because of the fact that it is a political issue. It's politicized, it will remain politicized. That issue is what they use to get people in office and to get people out of office. And it's all, you know, it's however they want to bend it to their whim, whoever they want to get in there. That's why abortion will, you know, always be legal in this country. From here on out, I believe that. We'll never see that taken away. Because it's used, it's a tool. You name the issue. You know, that's this controversial issue in politics. And the point is, you know, that we need some men of God to stand up and, you know, call a spade a spade, tell it like it is, and stop bowing allegiance to some political party and tell us what the word of God says. The Bible says that we should not, you know, take matters into our own hands. We should cease from anger, we should forsake wrath, and we should not fret ourselves on any wise to do evil. The Bible says in James 1-19, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. We should be slow to wrath. Why? Verse 20, For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Why is it that we should not take matters into our hands? Because God is righteous and He will repay. He's the one that's going to take care of it. You see, the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. But let me tell you something. The wrath of God worketh the righteousness of God. When God pours out His wrath, it's going to be a righteous thing. And God is going to judge the wicked. It's not our job to do it. Our wrath is not righteous. God's wrath is righteous. The Bible says in verse 9, look down at verse 9, For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Why should we not envy the prosperity of the wicked? Why is it that we should not take matters into our own hands? Because the evildoers shall be cut off one day when God pours out His wrath upon this earth and we shall inherit the earth. You know, people are so worried about all these possessions, about accumulating all this wealth. Well, hey, you know what? I'm going to inherit the earth. You know? What else can this world offer me? What have they got to offer? What worldly pleasure or possession is there that can compare to the earth? You know? You know, God is our Father, you know, and He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mind. The Bible says that we should not envy the wicked because, as we look back in verse 2, where it started out, we should not envy the workers of iniquity. Why? For they shall be soon cut down like grass and wither as the earth. I love that God says He's going to cut them down like grass. He didn't say He's going to cut them down like a tree. Because if you go to cut down a tree, have you ever done it? It's hard to do. You ever mow your lawn? It's pretty simple. That's what it's going to be like for God when He cuts down the wicked. It's going to be like mowing his lawn. It's going to take him a few minutes. It's going to take him a Sunday afternoon to go out and it's bzzz done. And they're going to be gone and they're going to put in that compost heap of hell. They shall be cut down like the grass. The Bible says in Romans 12, Dearly beloved, Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. When it says give place unto wrath, it's saying let the wicked do what they're going to do. You can't stop them anyway. You're just going to get stomped under their boot. Give place unto wrath. Why? For it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Whatever God's going to do, however He's going to repay them, it's going to be so much better than anything I can do. I could go out and curse and yell and throw stones and get crazy and just do whatever, but it's nothing compared to what God's going to do. If we know the Scriptures and we see the things that God is going to do in this world, if we go read about the wrath that is going to be poured out upon this earth, it's frightening. It's the thing of nightmares. But that's what God's going to do. He said, I will repay. All the poor that are being oppressed today, all the innocent blood that's being shed today, that's all going to get paid. It's all crying out from the ground to God as the blood of Abel did when Cain slew his brother. And God hears it. And God's keeping track. And God's got a tally book up there. He's marking it off. And He's got some names written down. And He's going to come and He's going to collect one day from these wicked men. And they're going to pay. That's why we should not avenge ourselves because vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. See, this is what it means to understand the end of the wicked. We read earlier there in Psalm 72, you know, until I came into the sanctuary of God, then understood I at their end. You know, He was speaking of the wicked. That's what it means to understand the end of the wicked. To understand it to mean, how should it affect us when we consider the end? We've considered the character of the wicked. We've considered what it means to coexist alongside the wicked as we are in this day. My last point is I want us to consider the conclusion of the wicked. And we've already kind of talked about it a little bit. But if you would, turn to Ezekiel chapter 33. We need to consider the conclusion of the wicked. If we're going to obey scriptures as it says in Proverbs 21 and wisely consider the house of the wicked, we need to consider the end of the wicked. We need to consider the conclusion of the wicked. How is the chapter on the wicked going to close? How is it going to end? When God closes that book, when the wicked are cut off, when God brings their reign to an end, how is it going to end? How will it conclude? Well, first of all, the wicked are cursed. That's one thing. They're cursed. It might not come today, but one day it's coming. The Bible says in Proverbs 3, the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked. It's a terrible thing to get cursed. It's a bad thing to have somebody put a curse on you if you believe in some of that mumbo jumbo people want to get that bad juju. Maybe they've got to wear the chicken foot around their neck and cast the salt because they're worried about getting cursed. That's just a bunch of superstitious nonsense. But the Bible does say that there is a curse and it's of God. I'd take the bad juju from somebody before I'd have to take the curse of the Lord. The Bible says the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked. My friends, the wicked are cursed. Whether they know it or not, that's their end. They've got a curse upon them. The wicked are destined to be destroyed. That is their destiny. That's where they're headed. Full steam. They've got that train, the engine's just full of coal and it's steaming and it's barreling down the tracks and they're headed to be destroyed. That is the destiny of the wicked. That is the conclusion of the wicked. The Bible says in Psalm 92, when the wicked spring as grass, when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever. Yeah, they come up today. They're flourishing. They're like the grass. They grow up quickly. They get tall and they flourish and they flower and they even bloom and we look at them and we say, wow, isn't that nice? Isn't it pretty? Everything that the wicked have. But the Bible says it is that they will be destroyed forever. Psalm 145, the Lord preserveth all them that love him, but the wicked shall he destroy. The wicked are destined to be destroyed. The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God. All nations, all nations that forget God are going to be turned into hell. So we read here that when we consider the conclusion of the wicked, we see that they're cursed and we see that their destiny is to be destroyed, that they're going to be wiped out. Now, I'm going to just say this. The destruction of the wicked, that's a good thing. Because when the wicked are destroyed, they're not going to go out and violently oppress the poor anymore. They're not going to deceive people anymore. They're not going to commit abominable works anymore that God hates. That's why the destruction of the wicked is a good thing. That's why it says in Psalms 58, the righteous shall rejoice when they see the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. The destruction of the wicked is a good thing. The Bible even says that the righteous, those that love God, those that are saved, those that are filled with the Holy Spirit, those that read His Word and delight in His Word, the Bible says that when we see the vengeance of God come upon the wicked, that that is a reason for us to rejoice. That's something to get glad about. Because it means that everything that the wicked do is coming to an end. And we will no longer have to fret, we'll never have to worry, we'll never have to experience the angst and the sorrow when we see all the things that the wicked do. That will all come to an end. We won't have to see those images of mourning families, of cities destroyed, of people living in poverty, of people just being poisoned and destroyed by the wicked. The Bible says when they're destroyed we should rejoice. It goes on that we should wash our feet in their blood. That's some strong language. That's really something when God says, you know what, not only do you rejoice, you should wash your feet in their blood. You shouldn't even have any kind of conscience towards the fact that they're being destroyed. It shouldn't bother you in the least. You should treat their blood like water, like it's just something that should just be in abundance. The wicked shall rejoice when they see destruction, when they see the vengeance, when they see the wicked destroyed. We should rejoice when we destroy the wicked. But I want to point out one thing about this verse that says we shall rejoice when we see the destruction of the wicked. When. You see, we should rejoice then. When we see the wicked destroyed, that's when we should begin to rejoice, not before. We shouldn't even say rejoice about the fact that the wicked are being destroyed because, honestly, the destruction of the wicked is a sad thing. Because the thing is, you know, I believe there's different degrees of wickedness in a person. Not every single person, you know, they're wicked, but not every single person is to the point where they're just, you know, reprobating, giving over to them, you know, not even being able to believe that they can still be saved. You see, we should rejoice when we see the destruction of the wicked, but not before. We should not rejoice on the destruction of the wicked until it comes. Until then, until we can see the destruction of the wicked, when then it would be appropriate to rejoice, until then we should try to reach the wicked with the gospel. We can't reach all of them, but we should still endeavor to reach the wicked. The Bible says here and there in Ezekiel chapter 33, look at verse 11. Say to them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die from the house of Israel? God's saying, you know, why is it that you're just going to live a life of wickedness and continue on, you know, rejecting me just to the end that ye die? Just to be destroyed. God doesn't take any pleasure. You know, the Bible says that God is long suffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That includes the wicked. Now obviously there's the wicked and then there's, you know, people who are just complete reprobates that couldn't come to God if they wanted to. And that's a biblical, sound doctrine. But the fact is there's a lot of wicked people that probably would come to God. That they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That they would put their faith and trust in him. And once they have received that free gift of eternal life, they put their faith and trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and they receive the seal of the Holy Spirit, they become God's child, then God can begin to reveal to them, hey look, you know, the things you do, the things you think, the things you say, they're wicked. You need to stop doing that. But before that, people, they're like dumb animals. They're like beasts. They don't even realize that they're wicked before God. That's why we need to try and reach them. The Bible says in Proverbs 15, Hell and destruction are before the Lord. The Bible says that God looks and sees Hell. God sees Hell every day. He sees the people going and the Bible says that God, you know, he's the one who kindled the fires of Hell out of his own mouth. So God has a very good idea of what Hell is. And Hell is a terrible place. And that's why it says, you know, Hell and destruction are before the Lord. How much more the hearts of the children of men. How much more than the hearts of the children of men. See, God sees the wicked. He sees their destiny. He sees that they're destined to be destroyed. He sees that the, you know, the conclusion of the wicked is eternal destruction. And God sees them, you know, and he sees their heart. And he says, you know, I want them to be saved. That's why until we see the destruction of the wicked, we should not rejoice. We should endeavor to reach them with the gospel. So the title of the sermon this morning was, you know, Wisely Consider the Wicked. And we've seen the character of the wicked. We've considered the character of the wicked. We've seen that they're deceitful. We've seen that they're violent and they're abominable. We've seen, you know, that they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. That they're going to be around until God takes vengeance. Until God cleans things up down here. We're going to have to consider coexisting with the wicked. And we've seen that the destruction of the wicked is nigh. You know, and that's why we need to consider, you know, reaching out to the wicked. We need to consider the conclusion of the wicked. That they are to be destroyed. And then for that reason, we should reach out to them. So let's reach them while we still can. If you would, turn to Romans chapter 12 and it will remind us of something. The Bible says in Ephesians 2, And you hath the wicked, who are dead in trespasses and sins. So we were also dead in trespasses and sins, just as the wicked. Where in times past ye walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, that spirit that the wicked are following, the children of disobedience, that's the same spirit that we once followed. The spirit of the power of the prince of the air. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. So the Bible is showing us here, you know, that when we consider the conclusion of the wicked, we need to understand something, that the destiny that the wicked have, that was the destiny we once shared. The only reason that we no longer do is because someone took the time to reach us with the gospel. Somebody came to us and showed us from the Bible. You know, we heard the gospel of our salvation, and that's the only thing that's separating us from the wicked, is the fact that we've believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're there in Romans chapter 12. Look at verse 17, the Bible says, Reconpense no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto the wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing, thou shalt keep coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. So the Bible says, you know, that we are not to avenge ourselves, and that if we see a man hunger, we should feed him. You know, the wicked, whether they realize or not, they are hungry for something. And we have the bread of life, that's what we should feed them. We should feed them with the word of God. The Bible says that, you know, if they thirst, the wicked are thirsty for something today. And we have, you know, that well springing up unto eternal life. Let's give them that to drink. For in so doing, thou shalt keep coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. What did it say in Psalm 37-3? Trust in the Lord and do good. So thou shalt dwell in the Lamb. The good that we can do to the wicked is to reach them with the gospel. Because we've considered their character, and we've considered their conclusion. What is coming to them? So let's pray.