Evil is thwarted, undermined, and outdone by the love of God. This is true especially at the cross where the love of God defeated the darkness that spread over the world. By dying in the place of his people, God in his love enabled sinners to be genuinely forgiven, reconciled to him, and transformed. There, God’s love won.
And this same love God continues to run to and fro thwarting evil today. This steadfast love of God is the answer to all evil from without and within. There is a God—a loving God—who is real, and really loving toward his people, and his love can forgive and destroy evil. There is a Person—stronger and in more control than anyone else—who is committed to his plans and people.
He loves them, today and every day; so, evil won’t win.
Why Do You Boast of Evil? God’s Love Endures
The psalmist in Psalm 52 asks, “Why do you boast of evil, O might man?” And to answer this boast of evil, he declares, “The steadfast love of God endures all the day” (Psalm 52:1). This shows something significant. It teaches that the answer to the boasting (and seeming winning) of evil in the world is the ever enduring love of God. That’s what gives the psalmist comfort, and it should give us the same. It’s as if he’s saying, “Go ahead, boast about things that are evil. Go ahead and think that you are mighty and will prevail. God’s love endures all the day. He’s real. He’s really loving. That boast is futile.”
Why is it futile? Because God loves his people, today and every day; evil won’t win.
God’s Covenantal Love is Winning
When the world, therefore, looks as if evil is winning—whether in the news or in our own personal lives—it is good and joy-producing to relish the enduring love of God. As it is the “steadfast love” of God in verse above (hesed in Hebrew), the psalmist specifically is referring to God’s covenant care and love towards his people. So for those who are his, it is encouraging for us to remember that in and above all that is going on, God’s committed, covenant love—a love which led him to go to the cross—is still present. Evil isn’t winning. It might boast; but it cannot rightly or winningly boast. God might allow it, permit it, even ordain it, but his steadfast love is always enduring. If he has allowed it, he has plans, and they’re always loving plans, because his steadfast love is always enduring.
So may the steadfast love of God which is enduring all the day encourage us and eradicate any evil in our own lives. His love for us his people is present now, and one day, his covenantal love will eradicate evil from the entire world. “The steadfast love of God endures all the day”—for us, forevermore.
