–Louis L’Amour  (We Shaped the Land With Our Guns)

       “Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.”

                    –Psalm 6:2 (NKJV)
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Do you get as upset as I do about the wickedness in government and the perversion of justice by politicians and those seemingly in power?  I use “seemingly” because it is God who is the ultimate power.  It is God who will take care of the evildoers.  That is what Psalm 94 is about.  Let’s look at the last portion of that Psalm.

          16 — Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?  Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
          17 — Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence.
          18 — If I say, “My foot slips,” your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.
          19 — In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.
          20 — Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?
          21 — They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.
          22 — But the LORD has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge.
          23 — He has brought on them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; the LORD our God shall cut them off.    (NKJV)

       It sometimes seems that the whole world is against the truth, and maybe sometimes you feel that it is a personal attack against you.  No one it seems can deliver, where is my help?  Ever feel that way?  Watch the news and listen to the stupidity that abounds.  Is there no sane person who can take a stand against evil.
       We have a president who says that he is a Christian (a good Catholic Christian).  The former Speaker said she was a devout Catholic.  Don’t they get it?  Don’t they understand?  It is not a title it is a heart relationship.  Look at verse 20, leadership which devises evil by law.  Look at that–abortion, sanctuary cities for evildoers, gay rights, transgenders, and so on–the devising of evil by law.  They cannot think that God is on their side.  “A holy God cannot approve human corruption.” (Steven Lawson)  Even when the evildoers that pervert justice band together they are not in alliance with God, nor is God with them.
       In these times of distress remember that God is your fortress; He is the “rock of my refuge.”  God will repay, but in the meantime He is our protector.  I like the way George Wood put it, “the Lord himself has the last slap.”  It is up to us to choose the right response.  Call upon the name of the Lord who is the vindicator.  “God has proven himself equal to anything the enemy can send.”  (Derek Kidner)  Notice how emphatic the Lord is in verse 23.  The NLT translates it this way, “God will make the sins of evil people fall back upon them.  He will destroy them for their sins.  He LORD our God will destroy them.”

               “I know that my Redeemer lives.
               What joy this blest assurance gives!
               He lives, my hungry soul to feed;
               He lives, to help in time of need.”
                         –Samuel Medley

                    –Ron Schwab  (Old Dogs)

       “In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility.”

                    –Titus 2:7 (NKJV)
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Are you ready?  I’ll make it more clear, are you ready for the Lord to call upon you?  “The need is the call.” (Bill Wilson), so have you seen a need?  Are you answering the call?
I want to point to probably the most famous verse in the Book of Esther for a moment.  

          “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.  Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
                    –Esther 4:14 (NKJV)

People have asked if I was a Calvinist or an Arminian.  I usually reply I’m both Calvinist and Arminian or neither Calvinist or Arminian.  The other day I read an article by Ken Ham who agreed with me, or maybe I agreed with him.  Let me point out something from this verse.  “Come to the kingdom for such a time as this…” is where we see Calvinism.  There was a point in Esther’s life where she was designated to be the “called one.”  (Calvinism if you like).  However, she had to make a decision, she had free-will in regard to the situation (Arminian).  My purpose today is not to discuss Calvinism versus Arminianism, but to show that God had placed Esther in a role where she could be a deliverer.
       Look at the words from Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…I ordained you a prophet to the nations…  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jeremiah 1:5; 29:11, NKJV)  Jeremiah, called to be a prophet while in the womb.  God had plans for Jeremiah, however, Jeremiah did not have to go God’s way.  He could have refused.
       Man will have the Gospel presented to them, then it is up to man to do something with it.  What will you do with the message?  What will you do with the call of God?  He is beckoning, will you accept?  The situation is right.  Now, I ask how did the situation occur?  Was it just happenstance?  “As it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this service, I’ll hope that my undertaking is designed to answer some good purpose… I’ll rely, therefore, confidently on Providence, which has preserved and been bountiful to me.” (George W. Bush)  Was it for this hour that George W. Bush was our President?  He was a party-guy until he had an encounter with Christ.  That encounter was not happenstance, but a time of choosing.  Now, the hour was upon us with 9/11 — happenstance or the decisions made in the eons of time.  Can we just say it just so happened, or can we point to the sovereignty of God?
       It is vital for everyone, but especially those of the household of faith that they prepare themselves.  What happens if God has chosen you for some particular assignment such as Esther’s, but you were not prepared to take it on?  What happens if you refuse the call, the mantle that has fallen on you?  Elisha followed Elijah watching him, working with him.  Joshua spent hours with Moses ready to take on the call of God when it came time.  Both men could have refused when time came.  I think of a Lieutenant Colonel who had diligently prepared himself in his training and education.  The call came forth and he was promoted of scores of others to full general to become the Commander of Allied Forces in Europe against Fascism–Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The world situation would certainly be different if he had not accepted the call and prepared himself along the way.
       Paul admonished Timothy, “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, Amplified)  He also told him to “Guard what was committed to your trust…” (1 Timothy 6:20, NKJV)  You are at a place in life; it may not be a profound place, but a place where you have been placed:  school, job, social circle (including social media), church.  They have been placed in your trust–make the decision to heed the call and come into the place realizing that this one hour will never come again.  This hour, this opportunity is yours to use for the kingdom of God.

                    –2 Timothy 3:1 (Amplified)
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I used a quotation earlier in the week by Ernest Haycox and I want to look at it again lest there be any misleading thoughts.  “Times change.  I guess we ain’t got any right to stick to the old, familiar things.  But it goes hard–it goes hard.”  Now get this, some things change, due to technology, fads, vocations and the such, however, morals and values do not change.  
       Some things drive me batty such as females wearing holes in their jeans.  Why?  Growing up, Grandma wouldn’t allow a hole to last long, she’d put a patch on it, and if necessary a patch on the patch.  I still grin thinking of coming home from college.  Grandpa would come by the house and give me two dollars–to get a haircut.  It’s wasn’t that I liked long hair, I just didn’t have the money to get a haircut.  He took care of that problem.  Oh, there was no discussion of my hair color so when I see hair from chartreuse to scarlet to whatever, I cringe.  Piercings, tattoos, while they may show a condition of the heart, give me the willies.
       But in terms of change, morals do not.  God’s word is true today, the same as it was yesterday.  Morals may have fallen out of fashion with the woke society, but they are still important to God, and therefore to man.  Some terms have become old-fashioned.  Holiness, wisdom, integrity, honesty, justice, to name a few.  Oh, they may still be used, but because of the deconstruction by the postmodernists they can have myriad meanings.  Today’s society thinks they are more enlightened and have more information, therefore more intelligence and insight than previous generations.  Look at those terms again, they are not mental, but moral!
       People may hear the words of the Bible, but only a few put them into practice.  Truth is truth, and right is right–it is not what you think, what you make it, or what society says it is.  When society or a culture begins to attempt to change the truth of God’s Word they are in danger of losing their moral compass.  Evil will never be good, lies will never be truth.  A man is a man, a woman is a woman, and even in the midst of so-called change, progress, and the like it is still true.  Deception brings about confusion and that is the work of the devil.
       James writes, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”  (1:16-17, NKJV)  No matter what the postmodernists say, what the progressives say, what the woke crowd says, God is still the same, He never changes–there is not even a “shadow of turning.”  He is faithful, He is true, He is sure and we can trust Him no matter the situation of life.  The writer of Hebrews says succinctly, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (13:8, NKJV)
       The words of the hymn by Jennie Bain Wilson come to mind,

               “Time is filled with swift transition,
               Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
               Build your hopes on things eternal,
               Hold to God’s unchanging hand.”

Life changes quickly and it goes hard–it goes hard.  The thing is to hold onto the things that are eternal–God’s unchanging hand.  Values are sure if they are based in the Word of God–hold on to that truth.  Craziness of the times, evil seems to flourish, but we have a Friend who is there all the time–hold to His unchanging hand.