Psalm 37:3 Do Good for the Lord

As a kid, the only good thing about a trip to the doctor or dentist was the Highlights magazines that were in every waiting room. The full-page Hidden Images puzzle could keep me busy for quite a while. And the jokes and stories were fun.

But my favorite part of each Highlights was the Goofus and Gallant cartoon. For a kid raised in a church culture of right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, the simple morality of Goofus and Gallant was appealing.

Goofus: "Gimme a pencil!"
Gallant: "Please give me a piece of paper."

Goofus: "How much will you pay me to shovel your walk, Aunt Sue?"
Gallant: "I'll shovel the walk, Dad!"

Goofus: "I wish I had no little brother."
Gallant: "I'm glad I have a little brother."

Squirrels are scared of Goofus.
Squirrels eat from Gallant's hand.

I question the wisdom of the lesson that last one was teaching to young readers, but you get the idea. Most of them were simple little two-panel morality plays. Others were disturbing in their depiction of a juvenile sociopath contrasted with an overly perfect child.

In Psalm 37, David offers up his own contrast, this time between the evildoers of verse 1 and the "good doer" of verse 3.

Trust in the Lord and do good,,,

Psalm 37:3

It might appear that David is presenting an overly simplified contrast in the same tone as Goofus and Gallant. But in the context, David is laying out three possible ways a follower of God might respond when he or she feels like fretting or envying in reaction to evildoers.

One option is to give into your worst inclinations and react with your own bad actions. Allow your anxious fretting to fester and turn into resentment. Let your envious heart take action against the object of your negative thoughts.

This is the route that leads to Christians filling social media with "Christianized" versions of the mean memes, half truths, and politicized spin used by the evildoers of the world.

Another option would be to make a show of doing good. This sort of behavior is the kind that earns the dismissive label of "do-gooder".

The do-gooder constantly reminds people he's the type of person who "doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, and doesn't go with girls who do", as though such elemental morality best represents the heart of God. Evil doers generally react negatively toward such people because they come across as fake and condescending toward people who live differently.

If the only things you can offer to unbelievers is a list of things you don't do, if the primary good thing you lay claim to is going to church, they're probably going to dismiss you as nothing more than a hollow do-gooder.

The third option is to seek constructive and productive ways of doing good. I'm talking about the kind of good things that are out of the ordinary, the sort of lifestyle that strikes people as genuinely sacrificial and loving.

When the evil deeds of the world frustrate you, find a way to help make the world better. Get messily involved in the messy lives of messy people. Help the poor and the homeless, feed the hungry, mentor people who have hit rock bottom, go out of your way to care for the sick and elderly.

Give it a try. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes for you and for others.

Doing practical good can redirect the urge to respond to ungodly people with your own evil actions or self righteous behavior.  It engages the biblical principle of putting off your bad habits and putting on good habits (Ephesians 4:17-32).

Doing good is also the best way to draw people toward the Lord - even the very evildoers who frustrate you. If you can learn to see them not only as people who are doing evil, but also as people whose only hope is to know Jesus, it becomes easier to re-train your "knee jerk" reactions toward productive goodness.

Train your heart away from Goofus, beyond Gallant, and toward Godly.