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Balanced Thinking about Evil People (Psalm 119:78)

May the arrogant be ashamed, for they subvert me with a lie; but I shall meditate on Your precepts. Psalm 119:78
  The psalmist is not living in a make-believe world where there is no evil. He has plenty of enemies and they are aggressively trying to cause him harm. From his response, we can learn how to think rightly about the evil of the world without falling into a dangerous pattern of allowing our minds to become absorbed with these difficult circumstances.   He begins by describing his enemies in no uncertain terms. They are arrogant and they are liars. He also expresses his desire that they be put to shame. This is a theme that is often repeated in the Scriptures.  
Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. Psalm 35:4
 
Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who seek my life to destroy it; let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt. Psalm 40:14
 
Let those be ashamed and humiliated who seek my life; let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt. Psalm 70:2
  The psalmist’s arrogant enemies are absolutely confident that they are right and can essentially do whatever they want. But God will not allow it. A day is coming, known only to the Lord, when the wicked will be put to shame and humiliated.  
The LORD keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. Psalm 145:20
  The psalmist can be confident that God will deal with the wicked. Rather than staying focused on his enemies, he determines to continue meditating on God’s word. He does not allow the wicked to distract him from fulfilling God’s purposes.   We must maintain the same commitment. We can acknowledge the wicked and desire that God will bring them to an end of themselves, which He will. But we must not continually dwell on the wicked. Our meditation must be on the word of God so we continue fulfilling his purposes, even as we live in this sinful world.  
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Rocky Wyatt

Rocky Wyatt came to know the Lord as a young teenager and began working in youth ministry when in college. After serving in churches in Utah, California and Colorado, Rocky moved to Texas to serve as Youth Pastor at Countryside Bible Church. He served there for 26 years where he eventually moved from youth ministry to serve as an Associate Pastor.

Over the course of his ministry, Rocky has always had a desire to train men for pastoral ministry in the context of the local church. In 1992 he started XL Ministries, an organization that is committed to helping churches establish intensive internships for pastoral training. In 2020 he left his position at Countryside Bible Church to become the Executive Director of XL Ministries and now works full time assisting churches in training men for ministry.

He is co-author of The Youth Ministry Training Manual, a textbook for training youth pastors, and has also written multiple other resources for use in various local church ministries. He is currently working on a book to encourage churches to take the primary responsibility to train pastors.

Rocky is married to Pamela, has two sons and daughters-in-law, and ten grandchildren. 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.1 Corinthians 15:58