Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 18
March 30, 1967
NUMBER 46, PAGE 10b

Envy Not Evil Men

Jere E. Frost

The most troublesome object in the path of good men, Socrates once said, is the prosperity of the wicked. The psalmist confessed, "For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked... their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men... they have more than the heart could wish..." (Psalm 73:30 The wicked can do as they please. They can take any questionable short-cut and use any unethical practice that furthers a business or personal aim. They can pursue and indulge wantonly in pleasurable revelries and sinful passions. Life is become seemingly full and intoxicatingly delightful. The smug sinner thus thinks himself smart and clever, as outwitting the "squares" who insist on being honest and upright, and as 'putting one over' on the moral prudes. He does as he wishes! Inhibitions never cramp his style, and he appears, said the psalmist, to have more than the heart could wish. It is therefore not too difficult to see how a man who is struggling to be honest, righteous and honorable might become discouraged and envious, and even think himself cheated by life and handicapped by his principles. Oh, to be as the wicked.

But true wisdom cries and says, "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long." "Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them." (Prov. 23:17: 24:1.)

True wisdom sees beneath the surface of the prosperity and pleasure of the wicked and notes - it is shallow and short-lived. Not only must the riches fail and the pleasures cease, resulting in ultimate sorrow and suffering, but at their very best moment these glittering baubles cannot quench the thirst of the inner man. How sad that a man's spirit is neglected and that worldly desires dominate and leave him only a shallow imitation of true happiness. And there is the infinitely sadder fate of eternal and utter doom. "For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee." (Psalm 73:27.)

Evil men are rather to be pitied than envied, for in sowing the wind they must reap the whirlwind. They have the worst of two worlds. They are deceived as to where and what true happiness really is, and therefore waste the precious passing moment of life on the emptiness and vanity of sin. And how can they approach the grave as the twilight gathers and the darkness deepens? Fearful and uncertain, his misspent life leaves him without comfort or solace as he ponders the grave, judgment and eternity. Tortured by the past, unprepared to face the future, the sinner no longer evokes envy. He is soon to be cast upon the timeless shores of utter ruin. Lawlessness and disdain for God have a terrible price to pay. The whirlwind must be reaped. Harvest time will come.

When the hour comes for the righteous to change worlds, how sweet can be their memory and how comforting their hope. As the psalmist said: "My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:26.)