Here’s a quote: “Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land.” It’s a wonderful quote. Doesn’t it resonate with the part of your heart that loves justice? Isn’t it a part of why we love superhero movies and movies where Jason Bourne and James Bond take on evil-doers single-handedly?
So quick: Who said that? It wasn’t from a superhero movie. The Hulk would have said “smash.” It also wasn’t from someone running for political office. It’s actually from a song written a few years back.
It’s a song worth hearing and singing again. In a world of increasing violence where some seem to think that the solution is more violence, we need to be reminded of other ways. This, by the way, is not a discussion of self-defence, which is another topic. It’s a look at two ways to wage the war against the wicked that don’t involve violence.
The author was a man by the name of David and the song can be found in the Bible, the last verse of Psalm 101, the English Standard Version. I love his boldness: he will be a crime-fighter without a cape and without violence. That may sound strange in a song promising to destroy evil. How can the non-violent destroy evil everyday? But they can and this song offers two ways to do so.
First, the song writer promises to live a life of personal integrity. He isn’t talking about perfection. We know about some of his life and he never attained that. But he desires moral integrity.
He says such a life is a life spent telling the truth. When we say yes, it must mean yes. When we say no, it must mean no. When we make promises, we must keep them.
Now, other parts of the Bible make it clear that not every way of telling the truth actually helps people. The truth must be told in love. Christians are commanded to always be ready to explain our hope in Christ, but to do so with gentleness and respect.
Yet the truth must still govern how we live and speak. We need moral integrity.
And the second way to destroy evil is to simply not participate, even when invited. Someone tries to tell us a juicy piece of gossip and we refuse to hear it. Someone in their arrogance puts down someone else and we don’t listen and certainly don’t tell it to someone else, even if it would make a good Facebook post.
Slander and pride and deceit come our way and like a fire hitting a lake can’t come any further. Evil is destroyed. The crime-fighters win.
It will require diligence. Morning by morning we must embrace integrity and renounce arrogance. We lovingly speak the truth and refuse to listen to gossip. It may in fact be harder than leaping a tall building with a single bound, but it is doable. We can be superheroes.
Our motto: Morning by morning I will destroy all the wicked in the land.
Rick Cupp ministers the Kenai Fellowship. Sunday morning Bible classes for all ages at 10:00, coffee at 10:45 worship 11:15. Wednesday meal at 6:15 p.m., worship at 7.
