I have told you, maybe more often than you would like to hear, but I am an optimist. I look upon the future from where we stand and I see spring and greenery. We may need to go through a fall and a winter to get there, but spring is coming. It is not coming to stay, but it is coming. It may not be necessarily in our lifetime, but I believe it is coming. It will not mean the elimination of contention, but it is coming. We will fight and we will struggle, but spring is on its way. A spring like the Founders of this country looked upon. A spring that produced a harvest that our fathers reaped abundance. Those seeds that were planted 200 years ago are abundant. They have not rotted. They can be planted today. They can sprout and grow. There is good reason to put your hand to the plow and expect a harvest. The nature of life and God above stand ready.

That being said let it all be set aside for the moment. The virus that afflicts us also afflicts the wicked. If it concerns us, it concerns the evil one. If it strikes us down it also strikes them down. It shows no partiality. As I said before, God is moving the furniture on this planet. His purposes continue to be established. I (I will have you know) want to be in the center of all of that. His judgment has yet to come upon this earth. We have yet to declare, “peace and safety.” Our time has not yet come. God can thwart evil as well as let it thrive.

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

Psalms 10 is A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked. Will you pray it with me? Will you hate evil and love righteousness?

Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?

Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted;

Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire,

And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.

All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

His ways prosper at all times;

Your judgments are on high, out of his sight;

As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.

He says to himself, “I will not be moved;

Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.”

His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;

Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

He sits in the lurking places of the villages;

In the hiding places he kills the innocent;

His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.

He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;

He lurks to catch the afflicted;

He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.

He crouches, he bows down,

And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.

He says to himself, “God has forgotten;

He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”

 

Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Your hand.

Do not forget the afflicted.

Why has the wicked spurned God?

He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”

You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand.

The unfortunate commits himself to You;

You have been the helper of the orphan.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,

Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

The Lord is King forever and ever;

Nations have perished from His land.

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

Notes

While preparing this I could not help withholding a beautiful illustration of the battle we are in. It reminds me of Isaiah 5:20.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

I was looking for some synonyms for the word “wicked.” This is what appeared.