Over the last few months, I have been noticing how much the Bible has to say about wickedness. God hates evil and, as followers of Jesus Christ, so should we. The battleground encompasses the world, our own sinful, fleshly desires and the devil. Here is a sample of some passages that are in my Prayer Prompter folder titled “About Wickedness”.
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But He loves him who follows righteousness. (Proverbs 15:8-9 NKJV)
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! (Psalm 1:1 NASB)
Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. (Psalms 97:10 NASB)
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life. (Proverbs 16:17 NASB)
And here are some of the verses that describe what we should do to combat evil in our lives:
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17 NASB)
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 NASB)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12 NASB)
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8 NASB)
Based on verses like the ones above, I pray the following passages to God:
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice wicked works
With men who work iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies. (Psalm 141:4 NKJV)
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way. (Psalm 119:37 NKJV)
And I pray this passage as my commitment to Him:
I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
It shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will not know wickedness. (Psalm 101:3-4 NKJV)
Here’s an example of what keeping that commitment looks like for me:
My wife and I have been watching old reruns of a 70s TV series where someone gets murdered and the bumbling detective, who is the star of the show, eventually identifies and arrests the murderer. It is a very entertaining program and we enjoy watching it. So, what’s wrong with that? Well, I have come to believe that watching someone carefully plan the murder of another human being in such a way that he or she won’t get caught and then watching the murder being carried out fits the description of a wicked or worthless thing. So, in order to keep my commitment that I would set “nothing wicked before my eyes”, I decided that I should stop watching that program and I have stopped.
I believe that, if I am serious about following the Lord and I know that He hates wickedness, I must turn away from wickedness even when it’s only being acted out on TV.
“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10 NASB)
For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. (Romans 16:19 NASB)
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27 NKJV)
