How to avoid failure in Life

 

 Depart from evil, and do good;

Psalm 37:27a

This is a straightforward command we can read from the very word of David, the psalmist, who wrote these words found in the book of Psalms chapter 37. Looking at this 27th verse, King David pointed out a direct command for us to avoid failure in life. 

Depart from Evil 

What's in it? And what are the things we can consider Evil? That we have to depart from it. The next command is a positive one, which is the opposite direction of the one we have to avoid.

What's in it, How to Avoid Failure?

This will reveal the path we are headed. If you are walking on a journey, there are two directions. The first one is the evil direction and the other is the good direction. We can say that as a person created by God, there are two distinct directions we are in, it's either the "evil way" or the "good way". Why does it seem to show that, by default, our direction is going evilly? It is evident how King David emphasizes these words. "Depart from Evil"! 

The word "depart" will help us explore what it means. To depart is to get away from where we are associated with. Leave, deviate from, diverge, or turn away are some of the similar words. 

What is Evil?

It can be similar to wicked, bad, or wrong. As a noun, it can be described as profound immorality and wickedness or an adjective will describe it as profoundly immoral and wicked. Evil deeds. 

If we put together these words as defined, we can have a better understanding of what these words mean. 

To stay away from immoral, bad, or wrong deeds. If we continue doing those things, we are called evildoers.

The second command is the opposite, but it is an active command where we have to do something contrary to what we are doing. The word "and" connects the two. 

Do Good, Overcome Failure, and Succeed

If you are on a journey, this means that you have to make a turn from your way and go on the opposite. This will help us get a better perspective of why we need to turn back. If you are going in the wrong direction, you are not getting to your final destiny. No matter how hard you try and keep going forward. 

I have a related experience of traveling in the wrong direction, it was late at night and the road was straight and long. I relied on the driver. As we travel, I notice that it's getting so late that we have not reached home yet. As we normally travel to that place, it will only take 1 hour to reach our home, but it's more than that, and it seems that the place we are heading to does not show any familiar place near home. That's when I realized that we were going in the wrong direction! So we went on a full stop and went the other way.

What a practical example to follow in our Christian journey as well. King David's command is a command of love and concern for all people who love the Lord. He wants us to live a happy, healthy, and joyful life. Because the life of a Christian is a victorious life, where one should be serving God with gladness. It will always manifest in the attitude and the end result of his obedience to God. Knowing God and His attributes, we can see a healthy relationship if the end result is a blessing rather than cursing. A defeated life. It is a different context when a Christian is in the midst of a test compared to a Christian suffering the consequences of his bad actions or wickedness. 

As Christians, we are not exempted from making mistakes. We are vulnerable and prone to such kind of wickedness. That is why King David gives us a very practical command;

Go back to God and Depart from Evil

1. If we are living a miserable life, caused by our bad actions and wrong decisions, there is still hope. We can still go back and bounce back to live a happy, victorious life. God provides blessings and His grace will help us get back on our feet.

2. If you want to live a continuous blessing and Joyful life, do good. Keep doing what you do for the Glory of the Lord.