Patience

Psalm 37:7-9

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.

For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Few things are as irritating as seeing someone else get away with cheating.  Whether it is cutting in line at the grocery store or something much more serious, cheating (and lying and stealing and bullying) makes our blood boil.  These things offend our sense of natural justice; our normal response is anger. 

Sometimes we are in a position to do something about the situation, we can confront the cheater and stop the cheating.  When we are able to do that, our anger goes away.  But sometimes, we cannot and we are left to stew in our resentment. This does us no good.  The cheater gets off scot-free and we become sour and cynical. 

These verses from Psalm 37 offer us a way to deal constructively with those situations where we see injustice but are unable to set it right.  Martin Luther King Jr. said: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”   Rev. Dr. King used this quote more than once in his speeches and writings, it expresses something central to his message of hope and non-violent resistance to the racial injustice that he opposed.  In his eyes, the universe has a moral dimension.  Underlying and guaranteeing this moral dimension is the love of God for all living things, a love which bends itself towards justice, peace, and wholeness.  If this is so, then we need only patience and a willingness to let go of anger to see in the future the justice that is only promised in the present.

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him ….

Do not fret—it leads only to evil ….

those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land ….

So … be patient and trust in God, do not give up hope and do not give up on the promise of justice.

Blessings,

David