What are the signs of a wicked person?
Psalm 10 describes a wicked person as follows:
They boast of the desires of their soul. In their deep pride and self-confidence they curse and renounce the Lord. Their hatred for God is so great that they even make the ridiculous claim that “There is no God”, despite all the evidence seen in the world around them which point clearly to the contrary. In their own mind, all of their decisions and thoughts are exactly as they should be because they have refused to listen to the God who created them and are instead following their own vain imaginations. They are constantly cursing; uttering deceit, trickery, and lies. They are quick to make a fast dollar at someone else’s expense and think nothing of it. Their eyes are constantly looking for opportunities to take advantage of a person or situation for their own gain. The reason they do this is because they think they will not be punished by God for their actions. If they clearly understood who God is and the punishment that awaits them, they would never have acted in this manner.
As I read this psalm and I am immediately reminded of how wicked and worthless I used to be. This description, written 3,300 years ago, is a detailed account of my life prior to God converting me to Christianity. The point is that the God of the Bible is the God of justice who will not allow the law breaker to go without punishment. When you examine God’s standard for entrance into Heaven (the ten commandments) you can easily see how everyone is without hope of salvation on their own merits. This is why God send His Son to make full payment for our sins on our behalf – none of us could do this on our own. How do we obtain this gift of salvation? Jesus, God in the flesh, told us how:
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
The word “gospel” means “good news”. Jesus is telling you to repent of your sins which means to reject them all and not go back to them and to trust in the salvation that God has provided to all people. Even if you are not as bad as I once was, telling a lie once or stealing anything is enough to break the laws of God and to place yourself at the wrong end of his judgment. Does God have a plan for mankind? YES! It’s that all people should repent of their sins and turn to Him for their salvation. When should you do this? NOW! As the ticker on the right shows, 150,000 people die every day. 150,000 died yesterday – 150,000 will die before midnight tonight, then another 150,000 tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Eventually, you will be in that number as well. How many of those people knew that they were going to die that day and got their affairs in order? Psalm 10 concludes thusly:
The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
How do you know that you will survive the day? Do you really want to take your chances with the God who created the universe when you die?