When the Foundation Crumbles

Monday, August 8, 2022

I trust in the Lord for protection.  So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!  The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings.  They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right.  The foundations of law and order have collapsed.  What can the righteous do?”  But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven.  He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.  He hates those who love violence.  He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds.  For the righteous Lord loves justice.  The virtuous will see his face.  Psalm 11:1-7

The Psalmist, King David, writes of a time when the foundations of civilized behavior, governed by law and order, crumbles, and those who cherish peace in the absence of fear, cannot believe what their eyes are seeing.  What was being seen in that day was weapons drawn, ambush from secret places. 

What David describes is much like our day (and every day when human hearts run amuk), bullets flying, and even when they’re not flying, the threat of violence is enough to unnerve even the John Wayne types among us.  Danger, betrayal, bullying, and destruction are building a legacy of shame on God’s creation, with the collapse of everything that is holy, snatching-away the innocence of complete generations.  The false prophets of our day proclaim peace when there is none.  It's as if Ezekiel’s words are today’s news headlines:

…these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, ‘All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!  Ezekiel 13:10

It’s a simple conclusion about where the building is headed once the foundation starts crumbling; everything fine and beautiful has a date with the executioner. 

You can tell by what David wrote that he wasn’t impressed with a state of lawlessness and its accompanying bleak outlook; he says:  Don’t look at the biggest mountain for me to hide behind.  That’s not my base of faith; I’m trusting in God, Who will eventually vindicate everything He’s declared.  Wicked brutality will have its end in judgment, overcome by the worthy righteousness of the Lord.

For You Today

As you look around at today’s violence in the land, and all the futile attempts to escape the judging hand of God, you will sense the Enemy…Satan and all the forces of Hell and evil…are offering a way to scramble to the top of the heap.  All you have to do is give-in to power plays, and siding with the winning political party, or financial group, or whatever trend of social engineering is popular.

A wee reminder from the preacher:  Don’t worry about the foundation of this world’s systems crumbling – don’t buy into popular trends and promises of peace, security and financial well-being; trust in God.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic explore some of these:  Collapsed Foundations and Violence in the Land  Part 1 and Part 2  

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Collapsed Foundations

[1]

Monday, August 27, 2018

I trust in the Lord for protection.  So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!  The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings.  They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right.  The foundations of law and order have collapsed.  What can the righteous do?”  But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven.  He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.  The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.  He hates those who love violence.  He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds.  For the righteous Lord loves justice.  The virtuous will see his face.  Psalm 11:1-7^(NLT)

What, indeed, can the righteous do when the foundations of righteousness are collapsing all around them?  Our Psalmist, David, knew something about being honest, straightforward, and willing to die rather than betray trust, and despite all that seeing his whole world come unglued.  David had been a loyal servant, but King Saul hunted the boy like a dog, breathing out fire and death to destroy the one God had chosen to replace the king.  What can you do when the very person, country, or cause you have committed to support, defend, and, if necessary die for, becomes the enemy of itself?  What if the foundations of righteousness collapse, and, like the cartoon character, Pogo:  We have met the enemy, and he is us?

Of course, the recent political cauldron of intrigue, courts, he said-she said, malaise of high profile charges, convictions, and collusion investigations are an uncomfortable fit for any peace-loving average citizen.  Turn on either Fox news or CNN, and it won’t be three seconds before you hear about the president’s latest whine on Twitter, or the shots fired back across the White House bow by the opposition.  And the greatest loser here is truth.  It is a strange time to be alive.

So, to beg the question, what can a committed follower of Jesus Christ, who is also a citizen of a nation that demands responsive fidelity actually do when, no matter which way you look, the wheels are falling off the wagon on every side?

Perhaps David’s example is best here; he tried to do right and was rewarded by becoming public enemy #1.  He had to flee for his life, hide in caves, and just survive while the king chased him around the world.  But, even when presented with an opportunity to kill the king while he slept, David remained loyal, true to the faithful oath he’d sworn to serve God and his king.  The cost is incredible to live that way; but the cost of denying truth is so much greater.

John Wesley touched on that when his new movement in the 1740’s came under public attack by the very people he felt compelled to serve.  Methodism was seen as a tool of the devil.  Methodist preachers were beaten, sometimes killed as they attempted to spread spiritual holiness across America.  They meant to serve God, and, in the eyes of those who could not see that benevolence (and some who would not), they were the enemy.  Here is what Mr. Wesley advised those people called Methodist:

“Consider deeply with yourself, Is the God whom I serve able to deliver me?  I am not able to deliver myself out of these difficulties; much less am I able to bear them.  I know not how to give up my reputation, my friends, my substance, my liberty, my life.  Can God give me to rejoice in doing this and may I depend upon him that he will?  Are the hairs of my head all numbered; and does He never fail them that trust in him?”  Weigh this thoroughly; and if you can trust God with your all, then go on in the power of his might….Go on, I would earnestly advise you, Fourthly:  “Keep in the very path wherein you now tread.  Be true to your principles.”[2]

Now, isn’t that just like an Englishman?  Keep Calm and Carry On!

For You Today

Whether you subscribe to the Liberal News media, or the Conservative media, or watch both just to be informed (or confused), make no mistake that the Heavenly media, God’s Word, calls us to live above what the world does. 

It’s a tough day, and that means we have the same kinds of decisions Christians have always had in the face of darkness.  We can, to borrow a phrase from Ben Franklin, either complain about the darkness, or we can light a lamp where we are.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] John Wesley, Advice to a People Called Methodist, October 10, 1745