God is loving, gracious, kind, merciful, and patient. He gives people chance after chance to turn from sin and come back to Him. But God’s love does not mean He ignores evil. God is holy, and He cares about what is right. He frowns on wickedness, injustice, lies, pride, and the kind of evil that hurts others.
Psalm 36 shows us what happens when a person has no fear of God. The wicked person does not respect God, does not honor His ways, and does not take sin seriously. The Bible says, “There is no fear of God before his eyes” (Psalm 36:1). When a person stops caring about what God thinks, sin becomes easier to excuse.
Psalm 36 also says the wicked flatter themselves too much to notice or hate their own sin (Psalm 36:2). In simple words, they convince themselves they are fine even when their hearts are not right. Their words become deceitful, their choices become harmful, and even while resting in bed, they plan what is wrong instead of turning away from evil (Psalm 36:3–4).
But the same psalm does not leave us focused only on wickedness. It lifts our eyes back to God. His love reaches to the heavens, His faithfulness reaches to the skies, His righteousness is like the highest mountains, and His justice is like the great deep (Psalm 36:5–6). In other words, evil may look loud for a season, but God’s goodness is greater, His justice is deeper, and His love is stronger.
Psalm 37 reminds us not to panic when wicked people seem to be winning. It says, “Do not fret because of those who are evil” and “Trust in the Lord and do good” (Psalm 37:1, 3). God sees what is happening. He knows every plot, every lie, every hidden motive, and every act of injustice. The wicked may flourish for a moment, but they will not last forever (Psalm 37:10, 20, 35–36).
This is why believers are called to stay steady. We do not have to copy evil, envy evil, or repay evil with evil. We are told to be still before the Lord, wait patiently for Him, turn from anger, and keep doing good (Psalm 37:7–8, 27). Romans 12:19 also reminds us not to take revenge, because vengeance belongs to the Lord.
God’s love is real, but so is His justice. The Lord loves what is right and will not forsake His faithful ones (Psalm 37:28). Proverbs 6:16–19 tells us there are things the Lord hates, including pride, lying, violence, a heart that plans wicked things, and feet that rush into evil. That means God is not blind to the condition of the world, and He is not pleased with wickedness.
The good news is that God still invites people to repent. He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, but wants them to turn from their ways and live (Ezekiel 33:11). Second Peter 3:9 says the Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
So let this be a reminder: God is loving, but He is not soft on sin. God is gracious, but He is not pleased with evil. God is kind, but He is also just. Our responsibility is to fear the Lord, turn from evil, do good, trust Him, and take refuge in Him. In the end, wickedness will fall, but those who hope in the Lord will be upheld by His hand (Psalm 36:7; Psalm 37:23–24, 39–40).
Minister A Francine Green, August 2026