Trusting and Forgiving

Psalms 37:1-11, 39-40; Luke 6:27-38

Psalm 37 tells about trusting in the Lord and not being envious or fretful of evil doers. Anger, wrath, and fretfulness are said to lead to evil. Instead, we are to put our trust in the Lord and live God’s righteous ways. We are to do good as we live on the land and enjoy its security. The opposite of envying those who prosper is to delight in the Lord who will give you the desires of your heart – what you truly need. When we trust God and turn the evildoers over to the Lord, God will vindicate us – our vindication shining as the light and the justice of our cause like the noon day sun. The psalmist promises that the wicked will be cut off and will soon fade like grass. But those who wait patiently for the Lord shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Jesus goes further in our Luke passage – telling us not to just turn our enemies over to God but to love and forgive them. He says to do unto others as you would like them to do to you. How? Instead of fighting back with the same treatment they’re giving you – tit for tat, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, let them strike the other cheek, and if they take your coat give them your shirt also.

A beautiful example of this is in the musical Les Misérables when the thief steals the silver from the priest. When the police arrest him and bring him back to the priest, the priest states that the thief is a friend and forgot to take the silver candlesticks too which he hands to the thief. This act of generosity turns the thief around into an honest man who devotes his life to helping others.

We are told in Luke to love sinners since God loves them and we are told to be good to them – not just those who are good to us. It says that God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, thus we should be merciful as God is. We are also not to judge or condemn so we won’t be judged and condemned. Our reward for this forgiving and loving is that our reward will be great, like promised in our Psalm.

May we not be consumed by envy or unforgiveness. Let us delight in the goodness of the Lord and share this love, forgiveness, and goodness to not just those who are good to us, but to those who aren’t. Amen

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