–Louis L’Amour  (Kilrone)

        “I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that  you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.”

               –Galatians 5:10(NKJV)
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David is surrounded; he is crying out to God to care of his enemies.  He knows that his enemies are God’s enemies as well.  In the midst of this calamity and seemingly hopeless situation David says that he will sing.  It almost seems he is saying that he will be singing as he goes into battle, and not just any song, or a song of triumph, but a song of praise to the Lord.  Let’s look at the rest of Psalm 59, again from the New Living Translation.

          11 — Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield.
          12 — Because of the sinful things they say, because of the evil that is on their lips, let them be captured by their pride, their curses, and their lies.
          13 — Destroy them in your anger!  Wipe them out completely!  Then the whole world will know that God reigns in Israel.
                                                                                                                                                                                                             Interlude [Selah]
          14 — My enemies come out at night, snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl the streets.
          15 — They scavenge for food but go to sleep unsatisfied.
          16 — But as for me, I will sing about your power.  I will shout with joy each morning because of your unfailing love.  For you have been my refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress.
          17 — O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.

     One of the problems that we most often have is that we tend to look at things with the natural eye.  We focus on the danger rather than God’s deliverance.  Now, I’m not saying we should not be aware of our surroundings and our enemies, but we should even be more aware of the presence of God.  At night David hears the snarling, growling, and howls of the wilds dogs–his enemies, but he does not let them dominate his thoughts.  He will sing praises, and shout in the morning because of God’s unfailing love or as some translations render, His mercy.
     As we look with spiritual eyes (O, Lord, give us the eyes of Elisha) we will see the fate of evil.  The more evil we see the greater our praise should be.  Charles H. Spurgeon said, “The greater our present trials, the louder our future songs be, and the more intense our joyful gratitude.”  Paul says that we are to be thankful in whatever situation we find ourselves.  No matter the circumstance, God is there with us.  I used to say, that God loves to see us in situations where there is no way out, but then He provides a way.  When the solution seems to be impossible, on the scene will arrive the God of the impossible.

          “The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last,
          And hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
          As o’er the golden hills the day advances fast!
          The Comforter has come!”
               –Frank Bottome

Because it ya’ have t’ ask about bein’ a man, then you already said the answer.”

                    –Clair Huffaker  (The Cowboy and the Cossack)

  

      “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.”

                    –James 1:23-24 (NKJV)

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I was doing my morning reading and came across some thoughts from one of the early Church fathers (I’ll share it later) and it caused me to stop and ponder a few things.  My mercy, I thought, we have sure tricked ourselves into foolishness.

       James wrote, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:16, NKJV)  I recall that the definition of a “hypocrite” is someone who pretends.  It came from the early Greek theater when a person pretended to be someone else.  They were to deceive the audience into thinking that they were that person.  It was all part of an act, entertainment, but now when we are deceived by the “hypocrites” who are the bureaucrats, possibly church leaders, phoniness, it becomes dangerous.

       First, it was the “mask will save us,” now it has become the “vaccine will save us,” but in reality neither will.  Have we deceived ourselves?  Have we allowed those in high positions to deceive us?   Deception–hypocrites. . . hmmm.  Let’s look at another passage from James.

 

              “But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].”

                         –James 1:22(Amplfied)

 

There is that term, “deception” or deceivers.  James speaks of those who are self-hypocrites; people who deceive themselves.  They hear what they want to hear.  Their opinion is more valid than the Scripture, or at least their interpretation of it.  Not only do some allow others to deceive them, they deceive themselves.

       This “pandemic” has led many into self-deception.  Whether or not there was an agenda to close the churches (and in many cases it was tried) many have used it to stay away from church.  An excuse–a self-deception.  A case in point follows”

 

               “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

                         –Hebrews 10:25(NLT)

 

Stay at home, don’t go to church; you can get as much from the service by going on-line.  Hmmm, but can you partake of the Lord’s Supper at home?  Can you allow someone to lay hands on you at home?  Can you give a word of encouragement to someone if you stay at home?  Are you shirking your obligation, responsibility, and duty by staying at home?

       Excommunication is a “tool” for the church to use.  I won’t go into details about that now, but all too often the church misused it and today it has a negative context.  However, what I am seeing is that people are self-excommunicating themselves (self-deceiving) from church.  Here is the quotation from one of the early church Fathers.

 

               “Let no one be under any illusion; a man who excludes himself from the sanctuary is depriving himself of the bread of God…  Anyone who absents himself from the congregation convicts himself and becomes self-excommunicate.”

                         –Ignatius of Antioch

 

He also mentions that if the prayer of one or two people have great effect, then think of the power of the pastor (bishop) together with the church.

       It is time for us to remember who the great deceiver is–Satan, the devil, the enemy of our souls.  He is the wicked one, and he has used deception since the very beginning with Adam and Eve.  What is so shameful is that there are those in the church who are allowing themselves to be deceived.  I do understand that sometimes a person must be at home and miss services.  I understand that a person must do their own Bible study and pray at home (really anywhere), but there is a real place for assembling together.

The thing that shows the man is his willingness to accept responsibility for himself and his actions.  Only a tinhorn blames what he is on his folks or the times or something else besides himself.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (Tucker)

 

       “What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it?  Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?”

                    –Isaiah 5:4 (NKJV)

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The first part of Isaiah 5 gives a dire warning.  It is directed to Israel, but it is important to remember that prophecy is of a local nature, but can also be for other nations in the future, and at times even directed at individuals.  Before looking at the first part of Isaiah 5, I want to give some important principles of interpreting prophecy.  There is so much junk floating around out there that we need some guidance, and I hope these three principles will help.

 

            1)  The historical contemporalnuity–prophecy was for the people of the time.  They knew what the prophets were speaking about.

            2)  The covenant background–we must always keep in mind the covenants of God when looking at prophecy.

            3)  Eschatological arguments–many prophecies were meant for the day in which they were given or in years of the writing of the Bible, but many are also for the last days.

 

It is imperative that you read Isaiah 5:1-7.  It is directed toward Israel, but it is also a summary of what God is saying to all men.  Israel is a type through which God can speak to all of mankind.  As you read the verses, keep the United States in mind; keep yourself in mind and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

       Opinions are rampant out there, some of which are complete foolishness and nonsense.  Progressive culture, woke, cancel culture, critical race, revisionism, and so many others we need to go back and look at the Word of God.  Men and women are in trouble because they do not want to believe the truth.  Man’s truth is relative, therefore, there is no satisfaction, but only frustration and the development of a new “truth.”

       Man is responsible to God.  He may not like this idea, but the truth is there.  Perhaps that is why some choose to say “there is no God,” but there can be no denial.  Man was made to live according to a certain standard but have become unreasonable in their beliefs and actions.  The have mocked Him; they have scorned Him; they have turned their backs on him and gone in the opposite direction.  Because of this rebellion man is no longer reasonable–they are fools!  Instead of good grapes they are wild grapes that set the teeth on edge.  Lloyd-Jones states, “The world is producing nothing that is of ultimate value.  It is producing a sham, an appearance of living that is not living; it is existence, and an evil and finally useless existence.”

       What will happen when God withholds His blessings?  What will life on this planet be like?  God says, “There is no peace…to the wicked (Isaiah 57:21) so what is the outcome?  Desolation…despair…despondency…depression.  God planted, God cultivated, He worked, He removed the stones from the field.  What He planted was the choicest.  Now He is going to break down the hedge (no protection); He is going to let it go to waste (the weeds of anarchy will rise); He will allow briers and thorns to grow (false teachings and ideologies).  Then there will be drought…the drought of God’s Word.

       America has been blessed like no other nation.  But what is now happening to us?  Natural calamities, fools in leadership positions, insolence, arrogance, mockery against the standards of God’s Word, the election of those with “antichrist” beliefs and actions, the acceptance of foolish notions–are we ready, for it could be that God has removed His hand of blessings and is letting the thorns and briars grow.