Slippery When Envious

A New Year’s type message at church encouraged us to walk by faith in 2022.  Such a great thing to do in ’22!

But out in the lobby, just before start of the service, we had heard the words “careful the floor is wet” loudly and frequently proclaimed.  We had all been tracking in snow and it was melting on the floor and the floor had become very slippery!  In fact, shortly as I heard those words of warning, I watched one of the younger kids slip and fall. 

So, as I was listening to the message that was encouraging us to walk by faith, I couldn’t help but picture that slip and fall I had just witnessed earlier.  I began to wonder if we can slip and fall as we try to walk by faith.

I think the Psalmist realized it is all too easy to slip when he wrote:  “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.  For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”  (Ps. 73:2-3)

I don’t know about you, but it is so very easy for me to look around and consider what I don’t have instead of enjoying what I do have.  And, as I do that, it is so very easy to become envious. 

Later in that same Psalm, the Psalmist explained why he didn’t slip.  How?  He had come to realize that while the wicked that had prospered seemed to have everything they could ever want, they were actually facing an end that would be very unpleasant because they had been rejecting God.  The Psalmist, with a bit of irony in his words, noted this:  “Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin” (Ps 73:18).

But for the Psalmist, it was much more than just realizing the end of the wicked that had prospered; he also acknowledged what all he was enjoying from the Lord:

 

·         That God was continually with him (v. 23);

·         That God held his right hand (v. 23);

·         That God guided him with His counsel (v. 24);

·         That God would receive Him in His glory (v. 24);

·         That God was the strength of his heart (v. 26);

·         That God was his portion forever (v. 26);

·         That being near to God was good (v. 28).

 

So, if I am splayed out on the ground because I was envious of the prosperity of others, I think you can figure that I wasn’t exactly walking by faith.

But if I realize what the Psalmist acknowledged and walk by faith in those very things, my steps most likely will be safe and secure and I won’t likely slip.