Declare me innocent, O God! Defend me against these ungodly people. Rescue me from these unjust liars. For you are God, my only safe haven. Why have you tossed me aside? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies? Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God! Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! Psalm 43
Sometimes when you read Scripture it’s an
easy mistake to read in a bubble of isolation.
That is, you see the Biblical characters as if their lives are somehow
different from ours. Technology and
science aside, there is not a breathing human living on the planet at this
moment who is any different from those who dwelt in caves or wrote on clay
tablets (as opposed to iPads and PC’s).
King David’s life was not lived in a Wonderland-like
rabbit hole; his ethereal “aura” had real rocks and streams, and the danger of
enemies, both human, as well as ferocious bears and lions. When armies went to war, real men died. Disease took hold in pandemic waves, and the
cancer of lies was just as caustic and devastating as today. And when David (just as you and I) faced those
human conditions he felt helpless and confused at times.
Hence his prayer recorded in the Psalms;
it was the heartfelt cry of a needy, troubled soul, looking for the light of
God’s truth to guide him into a right course of action to deal with the evil oppressors
who lied their way into places of power, and were now unjustly attempting to
overwhelm David’s life with their schemes.
Sometimes we imagine evil in others or
are simply fooled by accusations, fabricated stories to make an evil person
seem better than he is (that should be an easy call in an election year)! But sometimes evil is so great it’s driven
from below the surface, demonic, an evidence of the greater struggle between
God and all that is unholy.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. Isaiah 14:12
The seed of sin spread to Adam and Eve
and multiplied in less than a full generation as one jealous son, Cain, killed
his brother, Abel. And it has been so
ever since.
To listen to the news media,
politicians, and fear mongers, it’s all about racism. The problem with that is an attempt to point
fingers at a single outcropping of an endemic, epic cause, while side-stepping
the long-entrenched human condition, sin.
We look at what’s happening in today’s culture as if it is something new…or
at least an outbreak of a problem about to be dealt a crusade-ish death
blow. Racism did not start in the 1620’s. It is merely an evidence of a deeper human
condition that surfaces in many different ways.
You cannot cure racism or any other social evil with an edict from
Washington, or by building more churches, bigger churches, and more
entertaining, culturally-fashionable churches and worship styles. No politician has a legislative agenda to
stem human evil. And no movement
claiming their space matters, or their 15 minutes of fame will make all the
difference, is going to stem the tide of the pandemic of sin.
For that, there is only one cure, the blood
of Jesus Christ! When received, this
blood works in the human heart as no other force in the universe:
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9
This is the light of God’s truth. It is only the cleansing of the human heart
by the forgiveness of God that leads to what David prayed, that God’s light and
truth would set him on a true course, one that leads to joy.
For You Today
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky
Road; have a blessed day!
Title image: Pixabay.com W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on Truth and Light see: Walk With Integrity and Truth, Whole Truth, Nothing BUT the Truth
No comments:
Post a Comment