Psalm 37 (Part 15) – Psa 37:27 – Depart From Evil And Do Good

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Psa 37:27 – “Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.”

1. Depart from evil.
2. Depart – II. To go apart or away, with its derived senses. 5. intr. To go asunder; to part or separate from each other, to take leave of each other.  6. intr. To go away (from a person or place); to take one’s leave. (The current sense, but chiefly in literary use; to depart from = to leave.)  11. intr. (transf. and fig. from 6.) To withdraw, turn aside, diverge, deviate; to desist (from a course of action, etc.). to depart from: to leave, abandon; to cease to follow, observe or practise. 1535 Coverdale Prov. iii. 7 Feare ye Lorde and departe from euell.
3. In other words, we need to separate ourselves from evil situations and people.

iii.    We must abandon our old life of sin and forsake it.

1. The motivation for departing from evil is the fear of the LORD (Pro 3:7; Pro 16:6).
2. Wise men fear God and depart from evil; fools confidently rage on toward destruction (Pro 14:16).
3. Fearing the LORD leads to departing from evil which in turn leads to departing from the snares of death which is the result of doing evil (Pro 14:27).
4. The path that righteous men walk is one that leads away from evil (Pro 16:17).
5. It is the strait and narrow way that leadeth unto life (Mat 7:14).
6. All other paths head toward evil (Mat 7:13).
7. We must steer completely clear of them (Pro 4:14-15).
8. Departing from evil is an evidence of one’s election (2Ti 1:19).

vii.  Not only should we depart from evil, but we should also depart from evildoers and tell them to depart from us (Psa 6:8; Psa 101:4; Psa 119:115; Psa 139:19).

1. If we don’t, their wickedness will rub off on us (1Co 15:33; Pro 13:20).
2. Be aware though, that in a wicked generation, those that depart from evil make themselves a prey (Isa 59:15).

viii.Fools will not depart from evil (Pro 13:19).

1. Even when they are punished severely, their foolishness will not depart from them (Pro 27:22).
2. If men don’t depart from evil, they should not be surprised when Jesus tells them on judgment day to “depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat 7:23; Mat 25:41).
3. And do good.
4. It is not enough to depart from evil; we must do good in place of it (Psa 34:14).
5. It has been said that nature hates a vacuum, and so does our human nature.
6. If we merely stop doing evil and don’t replace it with good, we will revert to doing evil.
7. As they say, idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
8. We must put off the old man and put on the new man (Eph 4:22-24). We must replace evil with good.  For instance:
9. We must not only stop lying (depart from evil), but also start being completely honest (do good) (Eph 4:25).
10. We must not only stop stealing (depart from evil), but also start working and giving to those in need (do good) (Eph 4:28).
11. We must not only stop using corrupt language (depart from evil), but also start speaking things that are edifying (do good) (Eph 4:29).

iii.    We should do good to all men when we have opportunity (Gal 6:10).

1. We must do good not only to our friends, but to our foes alike (Mat 5:44).
2. Christians are commanded to do good (1Ti 6:18; Heb 13:16; 1Pe 3:11).
3. If we know to do good and don’t do it, it is sin to us (Jam 4:17).

vii.  Be aware, when you set your heart on doing good, evil will always be present with you because of your carnal nature (Rom 7:21).

viii.God will do good unto those that be good (Psa 125:4).

1. And dwell for evermore.
2. The result of departing from evil and doing good is dwelling for evermore.
3. Those that depart from evil and do good have the evidence in their lives that they will dwell forever with God (Joh 14:1-3; Rev 21:3).

iii.    Those that depart from evil people are promised that God will dwell in them (2Co 6:14-18).

1. Those that are evil shall not dwell with God, for God cannot dwell with evil (Psa 5:4).
2. Those that forsake evil and do good will also be blessed to dwell in the land of the living and not be cut off from the earth (Psa 37:3,29; Pro 2:21-22).