Don’t Envy Evildoers

Posted on May 21, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 29

Do not fret because of evildoers
    or be envious of the wicked,
for the evildoer has no future hope,
    and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Proverbs 24:19-20

Here we go again with the same instruction that must be more needful that we would realize (see v. 1 and Psalm 37:1 and Proverbs 23:17). Psalm 73:3 shows us the tendency toward doing this: “I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

Really there is nothing about the prosperous wicked to envy when we consider their end (no reward and his lamp put out).

Both Bildad:

The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out;
    the flame of his fire stops burning.
The light in his tent becomes dark;
    the lamp beside him goes out. (Job 18:5-6)

and Job:

Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
    How often does calamity come upon them,
    the fate God allots in his anger? (Job 21:17)

realized that God would deal with the wicked. Other passages on the light of the wicked going out: Proverbs 13:9; 20:20. The Psalmist in 73:3-16 quit envying the wicked when he went into the sanctuary and considered their “latter end” (v. 17).

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Lesson 2: Put Love into Action

Posted on May 21, 2026 by Don Merritt

Romans 12:9-16

Paul continues in these verses with his discussion of our response to grace. Here, he sets the tone with verse 9:

 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 

Our response to God’s grace must be one of love, both love for God and love for others, and this love must be sincere. It is interesting that Paul should modify this sincere love statement with the concept of hating what is evil and clinging to what is good; in our sincere love, we are to maintain the highest of ethical standards, not allowing ourselves to misuse our new freedom.

So then, what does love in action look like in practice?

Paul begins shedding light on this question in the verses that follow, first with an emphasis on what we should do to put love into action:

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves (12:10). 

Because our response to grace is that we love others, we should be devoted to one another, and we should put others ahead of ourselves. 

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord (12:11). 

Because our response to grace is that we love God, we should serve Him with enthusiasm always. Because our response to grace is one of love, our attitudes should reflect that love for God and other people: 

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer (12:12).

Since we have a whole new attitude because of the grace we have received, our love should result in generosity toward other people: 

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (12:13).

Many commentators refer to this section as the “Law of Christ” but at least for me, it doesn’t really read that way; I highly doubt that Paul is intending to give us a list of rules that we check off as we go. Instead, I think he is simply pointing out some no brainers as if to say that since we love God and love others, these are the natural kinds of things that should follow. In the next three verses, his emphasis shifts slightly, but he is still speaking of sincere love:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Romans 12:14-16

As we read these verses, notice that they are not things that are common in this world. I’ve never met someone who blessed their oppressors, for instance; have you? I don’t always see people rejoicing with their friends who are rejoicing, for all too often a person sees their friend rejoicing while harboring resentment because their friend was fortunate in an area where they hadn’t been as fortunate. Harmony is surely lacking in our world, while pride and conceit are commonplace; and so many decline to associate with the less fortunate. Real sincere love is a very rare thing in our world, but within the church, it is supposed to be a given.

In fact, the apparent lack of love in some church bodies is a sore subject for many people. Some of them complain loudly and criticize bitterly about the lack of love in this or that church, some even leave church entirely because of it. While on the one hand I might be inclined to feel for such people, on the other hand, after going through these verses, I can’t help thinking that they aren’t exhibiting love either. Thus, I’ll add a response to grace that Paul alluded to in verse 14, but hasn’t mentioned yet by name: Sincere love requires quite a lot of forgiveness, for all of us are works in progress.

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Photo of the Week: May 20. 2026

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Don Merritt
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Gloating may not be the best move

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 28

Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
    when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the Lord will see and disapprove
    and turn his wrath away from them.

Proverbs 27:17-18

This is not the only place in Scripture where we are told not to gloat over an opponent’s downfall; no sir, not by a long shot. We have a tendency to rejoice over an enemy’s troubles (Psalm 36:15). Obadiah 12 told Edom not to rejoice over Israbl’s fall. David prayed that his enemies would not be given the chance to rejoice over his calamities (Psalm 35:19). Job said he had not erred in this field (Job. 31:29). And David was a good example of one who did not rejoice over his enemies’ misfortunes: see him as he weeps over the death of Saul (11 Samuel 1:11) and over the death of the revolting Absalom (2 Samuel 18:33).

God sees everything that takes place on the earth. He saw Adam and Eve’s sin in the beginning, and He has seen every sin since. Rejoicing over an enemy’s troubles or fall is displeasing to God to the point that in some way He will deal mercifully with him in the future as a result.

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Lesson 1: Humble Service

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Don Merritt

Romans 12:3-8

Paul set out his proposition in verses 1-2, that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices and be transformed by the renewing of our minds as a response to grace; in verses 3-8 we have our first lesson on how to go about it: Serve the body of Christ in humility.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (12:3)

So, the first step in the transformative process is that we adopt an attitude of humility. Right away, we can see that not being conformed to this world was something Paul was very serious about (v. 2) for in this age of “game”, “swagger” and “bling” humility is very much out of style. Verse 4 uses the metaphor of our bodies in the same way that Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 12 as he shows that each of us has a unique part to play in the Body of Christ. While this is easy enough to grasp, he takes another shot at the attitudes of this world in verse 5 when he says each member belongs to all the others. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen Christians bristle at that one.

In verses 6-8 Paul refers to spiritual gifts that each of us has received by the Holy Spirit.

I hope you will consider this carefully: In a context of humble service, a context that is not only counter-intuitive but also counter cultural for most of us, Paul tells us to exercise our spiritual gifts in humble service to the Body of Christ. Think about the magnitude of the implication of this…

Not only are we to adopt an attitude of true and honest humility, not only are we to consider our positions as members of and belonging to the Body of Christ, but we are to serve the Body of Christ. Yet even more striking than that, we are to rely upon our spiritual gift from God in our service, which is to say that we are not to rely on our own strength, ability or talent, but on God’s grace alone.

Now, let’s consider why Israel did not obtain righteousness by the Law. They relied on their own strength and ability to follow the Law, but they did not rely on God for His righteousness. How are we to live as Christians? We are to rely on God in all things to serve His purpose and not our own.

Just think, Paul is just getting started in these life lessons,  we’ll look at the second one next time…

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The Right will Rise

Posted on May 19, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 27

Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
    do not plunder their dwelling place;
for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
    but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

Proverbs 24:15-16

The wicked are described as lying in wait for the righteous, seeking his ruination (Psalm 37:32). Whoever does this qualifies for the title “wicked man’’ used here. Every persecutor of the righteous would be included in what is said here. The righteous will have many trials, but he will prevail through the special help of God. Notice these interesting verses: “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19); “though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand” (Psalm 37:24). See Micah 7:8; Job. 5: 19. In other words, as our expressions go, “you can’t keep a good man down;” he may be “down”, but he isn’t “out”. Notice that when the wicked fall, he is not promised to come back, for he has no personal God to whom to look for restoration.

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Spiritual Thirst

Posted on May 19, 2026 by Don Merritt
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There’s nothing worse than being thirsty, seriously thirsty!

Millions are slowly dying of thirst in our world, but theirs is a different kind of thirst.  Spiritual thirst is pandemic and has been all through the ages.  The symptoms are fairly easy to identify: people grabbing anything and everything in a vain attempt to satisfy the longing and never succeeding in quenching their need for more.

In many cases they find a substitute that can mask the symptoms for a time, but the crisis always returns…

Jesus Christ offered Mankind living water, a kind of water that could quench a spiritual thirst for all time.  He said that this would be like a spring of water within, welling up into eternal life.

Spiritual thirst can be quenched; all we need to do is take a big, long pull from the right cup!

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Honey and Hope

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 26

Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
    honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
    If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
    and your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:13-14

The people of that day depended upon honey for their sweetening, and its properties are still highly acclaimed by health advocates. Judea was a land with an abundance of natural honey as we see in Exodus 3:8. The father would urge his son to seek, find, and know wisdom with the same eagerness with which he enjoyed the sweetness of honey. The sweetness of the wisdom found in the Word of God is compared with the sweetness of honey: Psalm 19:lO; 119:103. The ending of this verse is much like Proverbs 23:18. It shows the great reward and ’the hopeful life that wisdom brings to its possessor.

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Be Transformed

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Don Merritt

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2

As all of you know, whenever we see the word “therefore”, we are reading a passage that draws a conclusion from what has preceded it. While that is certainly true here, this one isn’t just referring to the verses just concluded, for this is the beginning of a new unit (12-15) and thus, “therefore” is drawing a conclusion from the preceding unit (1-11), which is a very important distinction. The first unit in Romans discussed grace; the second unit discusses our response to grace. Thus, Paul is telling us that in response to God’s amazing grace, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.

Verse 1 is, in a sense, a counterpoint to the Old Testament worship in which animals were sacrificed and rituals were observed. Notice the presence of the words “offer”, “sacrifice” and “worship”, all three of which are terms that pertain to worship in the Old Testament. The old system of worship involved symbols and ceremonies, but worship in the New Testament involves “spirit and truth”. Consequently, the proper and true manner of worship for the Christian is for us to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices. Please understand: This is no platitude; it is an imperative. A fair question right about now would be, “OK, but just exactly how do I do that?”

You will no doubt be relieved when I tell you that Paul has provided the answer in verse 2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

My goodness, how we love to quote this, but how many of us actually do it? How many of us actually believe that it is possible? Surely this is nothing more than an abstract ideal, a goal that cannot be realized in this life!

Maybe we should all pause and re-read it; look carefully at the words, the grammar…

Holy heart attack! This is no abstraction; it too is an imperative.

So here’s another question: Would the Apostle Paul command us to do something if it is impossible? Perhaps we need to think about this some more. Do you recall what Paul told us regarding Israel’s failure to attain righteousness? Yes, that’s right: They never obtained righteousness because their faith was in their ability to conform to the Law, but what God wanted was for them to put their faith in Him… and with God, all things are possible.

Notice that in the imperative of verse 2, there is a contrast, a duality that is set up by the word “but” “. Do not be conformed… but be transformed” Thus we have a choice to make: Either we live as the world does with its values, activities and ways of thinking, or we allow the Holy Spirit to transform our minds so that we have an entirely new way of thinking with different values that lead us to a different way of living; this is our choice, and to be quite candid with you, it is very much like the choice that Israel had to make.

As Paul continues in 12:3-13:14, he will fill in many blanks for us, so that we can see more clearly how to accomplish this task; I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait to see what comes next!

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Joy and Peace

Posted on May 17, 2026 by Don Merritt

In the last few months, I’ve received way too many notifications relating to illnesses, despair and death.  Friends, relatives, associates…

We all have streaks like this when you really pause and think about mortality and suffering, right?

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4

To be “clothed with our heavenly dwelling” is an interesting way to put it, but the meaning is clear enough; to receive the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises is the idea Paul is trying to get across to us.

We look forward to the day when we are in God’s presence and see Him face-to-face, when suffering and death are over with, and to be in the place where joy never ends.  In the meantime, we look forward to that day and take what life brings as those who have a great hope, and the assurance that our hope will not be a vain one, for we know that our God is faithful in all things and keeps His promises.

Because of this assurance, we can press on without fear, without despair, filled with joy and peace.  And since I just said that I think I should add, filled with thanksgiving too.

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