That was the trend in this new century: throw away whatever was old and traditional, grasp whatever was regarded as modern…”
–Elmer Kelton (The Smiling Country)
“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”
“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”
–3 John 11 (NKJV)
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Boy, howdy, if Psalm 69 isn’t for us today, I don’t know what is. Just look at the first few verses.
1 — Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 — I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 — I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. (NKJV)
Maybe we could read it this way. “For the virus has come and overflowed me.” We worry about this, we worry about that. We are perplexed–one shot, then two, and now maybe three or more. What is the answer? Oh, help me, the world has gone crazy and I am in the muck, stuck with no help in sight.
Then David goes on to write about other problems and issues. His problems are beyond just the issues of the day, they are personal. His enemies are attacking him, and he bemoans his own mistakes and sins.
4 — Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully; though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.
5 — O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You.
6 — Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 — Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. (NKJV)
Perhaps people don’t understand you and, therefore, they persecute you. You try to do right and they attack. You do wrong and they mock and ridicule saying, “he says he’s a Christian, but look at him.” Jeremiah was hated because of his prophecies regarding Jerusalem. The religious leaders and pseudo-prophets told him he was wrong. Jeremiah had to listen to their taunting and ridicule–until that day.
The same was true of Jesus. He was attacked by the religious leaders of His day because He wasn’t “religious” enough. “He was seen as a Sabbath breaker, a Temple defamer, and ultimately a blasphemer.” (Peterson). Eugene Peterson goes on to say, “Closeness to God sometimes means alienation from men.” There is more truth to this than you might think. As you get close to God you begin to alienate yourself from the culture of this crazy, mixed up world. Tozer writes, “All of the Christians I meet who are amounting to anything much for God are Christians who are very much out of key with their age—very, very much out of tune with their generation.”
“On the light of God’s own presence
O’er his ransomed people shed,
Chasing far the gloom and terror,
Brightening all the path we tread.”
–Bernhardt Severin Ingemann
————————————–
Boy, howdy, if Psalm 69 isn’t for us today, I don’t know what is. Just look at the first few verses.
1 — Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 — I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 — I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. (NKJV)
Maybe we could read it this way. “For the virus has come and overflowed me.” We worry about this, we worry about that. We are perplexed–one shot, then two, and now maybe three or more. What is the answer? Oh, help me, the world has gone crazy and I am in the muck, stuck with no help in sight.
Then David goes on to write about other problems and issues. His problems are beyond just the issues of the day, they are personal. His enemies are attacking him, and he bemoans his own mistakes and sins.
4 — Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully; though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.
5 — O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You.
6 — Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 — Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. (NKJV)
Perhaps people don’t understand you and, therefore, they persecute you. You try to do right and they attack. You do wrong and they mock and ridicule saying, “he says he’s a Christian, but look at him.” Jeremiah was hated because of his prophecies regarding Jerusalem. The religious leaders and pseudo-prophets told him he was wrong. Jeremiah had to listen to their taunting and ridicule–until that day.
The same was true of Jesus. He was attacked by the religious leaders of His day because He wasn’t “religious” enough. “He was seen as a Sabbath breaker, a Temple defamer, and ultimately a blasphemer.” (Peterson). Eugene Peterson goes on to say, “Closeness to God sometimes means alienation from men.” There is more truth to this than you might think. As you get close to God you begin to alienate yourself from the culture of this crazy, mixed up world. Tozer writes, “All of the Christians I meet who are amounting to anything much for God are Christians who are very much out of key with their age—very, very much out of tune with their generation.”
“On the light of God’s own presence
O’er his ransomed people shed,
Chasing far the gloom and terror,
Brightening all the path we tread.”
–Bernhardt Severin Ingemann