The psalmist advises:
1 Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers.
Why fret? That might just drive your blood pressure up the wall. And of you’re jealous that you do not own ill gotten gains, that’s fretting too- useless fussing.
It’s bothering your head with just what can mess up your head. Eugene Peterson puts it this way:
1-2 Don’t bother your head with braggarts
or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
In no time they’ll shrivel like grass clippings
and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.
Why make yourself sick, especially if other naughty people have done what makes you unhappy? If you do, you’ve lost twice! Take care of your self my friend, and leave the others who will perish anyway, unless they recognise their folly and turn around. Don’t be unfair to yourself and take on their stress, ESPECIALLY if their plan was to stress you. You want to win, right?
So, listen to the psalmist’s advice:
3-4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed,
settle down and stick to your last.
Keep company with God,
get in on the best. Invest your effort in what pays the greatest dividends, when it seems that wickedness is paying off. Notice I said “it seems” because- what did he say? “In no time they’ll shrivel…” Time flies, not only when you’re enjoying it, but while you wait for vindication. Before you know it, the highest placed avenger will have taken on your cause if you hand it over. This is why the good advice is to
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your vindication shine like the light
and the justice of your cause like the noonday.
I used to believe that being patient always involved an unnecessarily long wait. Well, maybe it’s because I’m older and, trust me, time does fly faster when you’re older. But the wait is not always that long. As he said, before you know it, a good change happens.
Having written this, I feel guilty concerning those who are starved to death, or living in constant fear of bombs, and continually experience the loss of their loved ones; for them hard times don’t run past- they only last. My words can harm rather than heal those forced to live with injustice. Let me say, then, that what I wrote above is for persons experiencing ‘normal’ times that hold room for healing and leave space for the brief wait.
Yes, if you can, wait patiently for your vindication and it will come. And for the victims of systemic injustice, I can only pray that the fretting imposed on them will work to the advantage of their survivors. As a descendant of African slaves, I know that the deliverance may wait a generation or more.