The Christian Response to Injustice
Psalm 37v1-11
Part 5 - Psalm 37v7-10
30th January 2026
We've considering these verses from Psalm 37 to help us understand Godly wisdom regarding how to behave, how to think, and how to survive in times of great injustice. That can be either in great national and international injustice or in smaller, personal injustice. In either case, God's advice is the same. The words of this Psalm can be of great help to us.
At times of great national or international turmoil, such as war and civil unrest, we may be in a position to help hurting people, we may be able to say a few words of peace, but most of us will only be able to pray. Prayer is always the most powerful thing we can do. So we help where we can, we try to be peacemakers so far as we have opportunity, and we pray.
On the smaller, personal, scale, when we've been sinned against, or when somebody we love has been sinned against, we generally have more opportunity to push back, but we're usually best advised not to do so. The urge to vindicate or even avenge yourself or your loved one, to "get your own back" can be very strong. But as verse 1 says, "Do not fret because of evil men" Instead:
Psalm 37v7a
Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him.
Be still. Calm yourself. Allow yourself to find peace. And be still before the Lord. Look after your relationship with God. That's the most valuable thing you have. Wait patiently for him. Don't rush into precipitate, rash action without God. Spend time with God, read your Bible, and pray. Let God bring about your vindication and justice. He does love you. He is powerful. He will act. You may have to wait, but God will do it right. Meantime, although this is difficult, let it go. Move on. Live your life for Jesus, despite the injustice and pain.
Some of the ideas we've already thought about are repeated in the next verse. God says them twice so we don't ignore them:
Psalm 37v7b-8
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret — it leads only to evil.
There is such a thing as righteous anger, but this psalm doesn't talk about it. It focusses on negative anger. Most of our anger is negative anger. Don't allow the hurt you feel because of other people's sin to end up with you committing sin. That can be very tempting, but it makes everything worse. If you get angry, let it go as soon as you can. If you hold on to anger, or to unforgiveness, it will eat away at your soul and you will fall into deeper sin.
Ephesians 4v6
In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are
still angry.
Which I think means don't be angry for more than a day.
And we have a second, powerful. reason not to fret about evil people doing evil things:
Psalm 37v9
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
There were many evil men in ancient Israel. Many of their kings and others were despicable people. They robbed and murdered and worshipped idols. They were all cut off. They all died. And because of their sin, they were invaded and mistreated by foreign countries. The Jewish people suffered greatly, but they continued.
And in the church age, Genghis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, whichever evil historical figure you care to think of, is dead. These people did great harm, but civilisation continues. The Gospel is still being preached. The world-wide church is still growing. The kingdom of God is still coming.
The bully in your children's school, the tradesman who cheated you, the drug dealer in your village, will all be cut off. They'll die. If they don't repent of their sins, accept the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus offers, and worship Him as Lord, they will all face God's judgement on earth and on the day of Judgement.
And God will look after His people. We all know that God allows people to sin against us, but God limits the amount of damage they're allowed to do. We don't know how often He's protected us from them – probably much more often than we realise. We do know that He's protecting us spiritually, so we will assuredly live with Him in glory for ever.
Psalm 37v10
A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
There are evil men today. I don't want to introduce political controversy but I think we can all agree that Vladimir Putin is not a good, Christian person. The leaders of Hamas are not nice people. And there are plenty of others. They will die. Their projects will fail. The church will continue. God will be glorified. He will continue to save the lost, to build the church, to tend the hurting, and to work out His plan for humanity.