Psalm 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Ah my Friends, the Lord in His loving-kindness and generous mercy has seen it fit to bring us together again to ponder His Holy Word, and try to meld it into the very fabric of our lives. Remember Jesus said; ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ (Mat.18:20) That means He’s here with us again today as we continue to try and understand that most appalling attribute of our human nature; envy, jealousy and covetousness, generically known as ‘the green-eyed monster.’ And I beg of you my Friends, please don’t take it lightly, for it’s one of the enemy’s most lethal weapons, as we can see from the Psalmist, Asaph’s sad commentary on the mystery of prosperous wickedness. He begins thus: ‘Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, (boastful) when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’ (vs.1-3) Oh people, oh people! How often has that same tragic emotion of envy done that to us eh? The times are too numerous to count! And it doesn’t only affect the poor or the uneducated, but also the wise, rich and famous. The sad thing about envy, jealousy and covetousness is not so much there existence, for want of a better word, but what they stir up in us; the anger, hatred, greed, strife, the need for revenge, all the terrible negative emotions. A dash of the green-eyed monster is necessary in our lives, in its productive form, ambition, where it lends encouragement and fills us with a desire to rise higher. But we only need a touch, because even too much ambition aggravates the situation and corrodes our souls. So much so that even a wise, godly man like the Psalmist, was drawn in, yes beguiled, like Eve, into the ranks of the envious. And yuh know Friends, that’s exactly how envy works; it beguiles us, lures us into a false sense of it’s all right to be jealous. But like all the enemy’s wicked wiles, once it gets its hooks into us, it’s an entirely different story; you see what others have, don’t know how they got it, whether they sold their soul to Lucifer to get it, but you want what they have too, and liable to do anything to get it. Look at Bernie Madoff’s pyramid, Ponzi scheme! Now how could he have gotten away with that billion dollar-fraud for almost twenty years eh? Because we too greedy, and always want something for nothing. His returns were always higher than the others, even in rough economic times. So obviously people run to invest their hard earned dollars with him, looking for soft earned ones. Hn! But people, believe me, no dollars are ever easily earned, someone, somewhere along the line has to work hard for them to increase. But once the gravy kept flowing, nobody asked any serious questions, not even the government agency set up to monitor those financial matters, although they were warned several times that his scheme seemed too good to be true. Ah Friends, those old adages and clichés don’t lie. If it seems too good to be true, then most likely it is too good to be true. And if we pay too much attention to what others have, especially if they’re boasting of their possessions, then it literally sours and sickens us, turns us green with envy, and leads us to slip, like Asaph, and oftimes fall. Job also bemoaned the prosperity of the wicked, but he was smart enough to realize that possessions were meaningless for they all died and left them. He was certainly hurt by his friends’ accusation of some great sin against God, for his sudden misery and misfortune. (Job 21) But as Bruh David wisely advises; ‘Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.’ Instead, we ought to, ‘Trust in the Lord and do good…Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass.’ (Ps.37:1-5) Oh my people, right there is the correct prescription for prosperity. It’s a fallacy to go around thinking that believers should not be wealthy. The problem is how we acquire the wealth and what we do with it. There are many wealthy believers around the globe, who acquired it legally, who don’t boast or show off with it, and are using it judiciously, much of it in the Lord’s work. But we first got to trust, delight and commit ourselves to Him, then He’ll give us the desires of our hearts, and we won’t have to be envious of the wicked or worry about losing our salvation and the glory of eternal life. I’ll close with a couple of scriptures for us to ponder till tomorrow. Oh yes, we continuing tomorrow, so doh worry to sigh and shake yuh head in disgust, cause this green-eyed monster not only ferocious, but big too, and ah still have plenty scripture to share with you on it. (smile) And remember is the Lord directing this show, not me. Anyway, listen to two of the wisest men of faith. Sol says; ‘Envy not thou the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.’ (Prov.3:31-32) And Bruh Paul pleads; ‘Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.’ (Gal.5:26) Oh my Friends, as true believers, let’s try and follow those two bits of wise advice nuh. They will certainly stand us, individually, and as the whole body of Christ, His Church, in good stead. Much LOVE!…be not envious…trust…delight…and commit to the Lord instead..
Ah my Friends, the Lord in His loving-kindness and generous mercy has seen it fit to bring us together again to ponder His Holy Word, and try to meld it into the very fabric of our lives. Remember Jesus said; ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ (Mat.18:20) That means He’s here with us again today as we continue to try and understand that most appalling attribute of our human nature; envy, jealousy and covetousness, generically known as ‘the green-eyed monster.’ And I beg of you my Friends, please don’t take it lightly, for it’s one of the enemy’s most lethal weapons, as we can see from the Psalmist, Asaph’s sad commentary on the mystery of prosperous wickedness. He begins thus: ‘Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, (boastful) when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.’ (vs.1-3) Oh people, oh people! How often has that same tragic emotion of envy done that to us eh? The times are too numerous to count! And it doesn’t only affect the poor or the uneducated, but also the wise, rich and famous. The sad thing about envy, jealousy and covetousness is not so much there existence, for want of a better word, but what they stir up in us; the anger, hatred, greed, strife, the need for revenge, all the terrible negative emotions. A dash of the green-eyed monster is necessary in our lives, in its productive form, ambition, where it lends encouragement and fills us with a desire to rise higher. But we only need a touch, because even too much ambition aggravates the situation and corrodes our souls. So much so that even a wise, godly man like the Psalmist, was drawn in, yes beguiled, like Eve, into the ranks of the envious. And yuh know Friends, that’s exactly how envy works; it beguiles us, lures us into a false sense of it’s all right to be jealous. But like all the enemy’s wicked wiles, once it gets its hooks into us, it’s an entirely different story; you see what others have, don’t know how they got it, whether they sold their soul to Lucifer to get it, but you want what they have too, and liable to do anything to get it. Look at Bernie Madoff’s pyramid, Ponzi scheme! Now how could he have gotten away with that billion dollar-fraud for almost twenty years eh? Because we too greedy, and always want something for nothing. His returns were always higher than the others, even in rough economic times. So obviously people run to invest their hard earned dollars with him, looking for soft earned ones. Hn! But people, believe me, no dollars are ever easily earned, someone, somewhere along the line has to work hard for them to increase. But once the gravy kept flowing, nobody asked any serious questions, not even the government agency set up to monitor those financial matters, although they were warned several times that his scheme seemed too good to be true. Ah Friends, those old adages and clichés don’t lie. If it seems too good to be true, then most likely it is too good to be true. And if we pay too much attention to what others have, especially if they’re boasting of their possessions, then it literally sours and sickens us, turns us green with envy, and leads us to slip, like Asaph, and oftimes fall. Job also bemoaned the prosperity of the wicked, but he was smart enough to realize that possessions were meaningless for they all died and left them. He was certainly hurt by his friends’ accusation of some great sin against God, for his sudden misery and misfortune. (Job 21) But as Bruh David wisely advises; ‘Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.’ Instead, we ought to, ‘Trust in the Lord and do good…Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass.’ (Ps.37:1-5) Oh my people, right there is the correct prescription for prosperity. It’s a fallacy to go around thinking that believers should not be wealthy. The problem is how we acquire the wealth and what we do with it. There are many wealthy believers around the globe, who acquired it legally, who don’t boast or show off with it, and are using it judiciously, much of it in the Lord’s work. But we first got to trust, delight and commit ourselves to Him, then He’ll give us the desires of our hearts, and we won’t have to be envious of the wicked or worry about losing our salvation and the glory of eternal life. I’ll close with a couple of scriptures for us to ponder till tomorrow. Oh yes, we continuing tomorrow, so doh worry to sigh and shake yuh head in disgust, cause this green-eyed monster not only ferocious, but big too, and ah still have plenty scripture to share with you on it. (smile) And remember is the Lord directing this show, not me. Anyway, listen to two of the wisest men of faith. Sol says; ‘Envy not thou the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous.’ (Prov.3:31-32) And Bruh Paul pleads; ‘Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.’ (Gal.5:26) Oh my Friends, as true believers, let’s try and follow those two bits of wise advice nuh. They will certainly stand us, individually, and as the whole body of Christ, His Church, in good stead. Much LOVE!…be not envious…trust…delight…and commit to the Lord instead..
SCRIP-BITS 