The Finiteness of Evil

Psalm 63:11

But the king shall rejoice in God;

all who swear by him shall exult,

for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

So I was reading in Psalm 63 this morning and this verse set me to thinking…yea, I know, uh oh.  Those who rejoice in God shall exult, but the mouths of liars will be stopped.  I am struck by the finiteness of evil, it will be judged, removed, destroyed, stopped.  The end.  This in contrast to that which is good, holy, identified with God, that which endures into eternity.  This is the promise and hope of my good deeds, my redemptive acts in creation and with others, now in this life.  Part of the futility of evil, as powerful and pervasive as it feels in the moment with its mass shootings, war, poverty and disasters, is that it has a short half life.  It does not and will not get equal time in the full story that God is writing.  It is a temporary, finite subplot.  In contrast the glory and hope of good is that it endures in eternity.  Good and God are not a subplot they are the story.  What I do for and in Christ has staying power beyond the present moment, how awesome is that and how motivating to do good and not evil.

It seems that most of the time we are more concerned about where evil comes from, especially as a philosophical exercise, than how it will be dealt with and removed.  Evil will only be with us for a time, God is removing it, but all that is good and God’s endures in eternity. So I will rejoice and exult in Him.  Thanks be to God.