At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
They that forsake the law praise the wicked: But such as keep the law contend with them.
Proverbs 28:4
One of the reasons we sometimes find ourselves in shooting wars, where all the questions about pacifism naturally arise, is because we have previously acquiesced in another more subtle form of pacifism. That is the kind of pacifism that does not want to dispute, or challenge, or debate. We in our complacency want to think that “debates settle nothing,” which is not true at all. We sometimes think we are being peacemakers when we are only being lazy.
Notice what this proverb says. There is a group of people that forsakes the law of God, and as a result of this forsaking, they praise the wicked. This sets the stage for a conflict, which happens because those who keep the law contend with them. It is likely that the righteous contend with both groups—those who forsake the law and consequently praise the wicked, and also the wicked. The verb contend means to oppose, to strive against, to challenge in court, or even to wage war.
There are many manifestations of wickedness on display in our generation, and it appears to many Christians that these manifestations have grown to the point where opposition would be fruitless. But David could have said that about Goliath, but in faith he did not. He could have reacted to Goliath the same way the rest of the Israelite army did—but he refused. So the first point to make is that just because the wickedness has grown to a great size is no reason for refusing to face it.
But a lesson should be drawn from all of this. Most of the rampant evils we are looking at today would have been much easier to defeat had we just contended with them as soon as the law was initially forsaken. Small weeds are easier to uproot than large ones. So we don’t want to be like that fellow who only drinks when he is alone, or with somebody. We don’t want to be those Christians who refuse to engage because the wickedness is “too small,” and then later refuse to engage because it has grown “too big.”
