Day 184 - Psalm 106-107

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 184 - Psalm 106-107 (Envy's Poison)
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       ^"When they envied Moses in the camp, 
        And Aaron the saint of the LORD, 
        The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, 
        And covered the faction of Abiram."
        (Psalm 106:16-17)

The Psalmist in our text above recounts God's works in the past as lessons and warnings for the present. Speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the author cites the reason for the destruction of the two most notorious characters of the Old Testament, Dathan and Abiram.

In the book of Numbers, several leaders of Israel including Dathan and Abiram along with Korah decided that they have had enough of Moses' autocratic leadership and wanted to take over.  But God showed everyone who His man was and makes the earth swallow up the families of all those who rebelled against Moses because envy.

Herein lies a powerful lesson and warning about envy: it can destroy the person who harbors it.  I have personally witnessed the ugliness caused by envy in people's lives.  Siblings are pulled further apart because of it.  Parishioners ruin their congregation because they want to bring down their leader.  Couples bury themselves into debt due to keeping up with their neighbors' lifestyle out of envy.  The list of envy's victims continue but you understand. 

The antidote to the poison of envy is to be able to genuinely rejoice for other people's successes and blessings.  Whenever I catch the dark shadow of envy rising within me, I try to immediately tell myself, "I'm glad for him."  I found that being happy for someone's good fortune or blessing is the most powerful weapon against envy.  Try it next time you get envious of another; you cannot afford not to because allowing envy to grow within you will destroy you.