Don’t Let Them Get To You

You know the scene well. You’ve seen it in countless movies, whether comedies or dramas. Someone is being a jerk. They’re real proud of themselves, too. Maybe they are bullying the main character or breaking all the rules and laughing about it. But then, as the audience, we see the authority figure join the scene, silently in the background. Often, several characters see the covert entrance, too. Maybe it’s the teacher or the principal, the prison warden, or the boss. Or maybe it’s one of my all-time favorites, Mr. Miyagi.

It’s Halloween night in the 1984 classic movie Karate Kid. The rich, mean karate jerks, dressed in skeleton outfits, have surrounded Daniel. They have him up against a fence and are proceeding to beat the tar out of him. Their vengeful leader, Johnny, refuses to stop, even when his own thug says Daniel’s had enough! Instead, he yells out the mantra the evil Cobra Kai dojo has taught him: “an enemy deserves no mercy!”

If you watch carefully behind the kid holding Daniel, you can see Mr. Miyagi sneaking up behind them. He climbs the fence, waiting for the right moment to jump down into the middle of the five bullies. He crushes them one by one, effortlessly leaving them rolling around, moaning on the ground in pain.

We love these scenes in movies and books because we love justice. We hate it when the “bad guys” are getting away with it. The recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia makes me feel like a helpless bystander. But this sense of trapped injustice is especially true when it’s our life and our injustice and it looks like the people abusing the systems and other people are laughing as they get away with it! They get to us and we get angry, stressed, and consider sinning, ourselves, so that we can set things straight.

Praise God for Psalm 37, where David has us take a few deep breaths and count to ten. Then he tells us to shift our focus and our “camera angle”. There, silently watching behind the person doing evil, “up on the fence” is the LORD God Almighty!

Here are a few verses from Psalm 37, but I encourage you to read the whole psalm on your own.

 

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

    be not envious of wrongdoers!

2 For they will soon fade like the grass

    and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;

    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;

    trust in him, and he will act.

6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

    and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

    over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,

    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

 

27 Turn away from evil and do good;

    so shall you dwell forever.

28 For the Lord loves justice;

    he will not forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,

    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land

    and dwell upon it forever.

 

Isn’t that great? Yes, we see injustice in this world. People are doing horrible things and seem to be getting away with it—and prospering! But only for a short time. So, don’t despair and don’t add any more sins to the fight. Instead, remember this picture of the LORD standing behind the evildoer, guaranteeing to deliver perfect justice.

Lastly, let’s remember that you and I are not innocent bystanders. We’re often the thugs—selfish, insensitive, and at times brutal to others around us. So, give thanks to God that when he stands watching behind you, the heavy justice you deserve falls on Jesus, upholding his righteousness—and sparing you.

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