–1 Timothy 1:8-9 (Phillips)
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     You wouldn’t see Amos driving about Samaria with a bumper-sticker on the back of his chariot reading, “Smile, God loves you.” (Cohen)  True, God loves each one of us enough to call us to repentance.  Following this warning, Amos will then have several visions that he will declare to the people, but first we must look at the second half of chapter six.

          8 — The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of hosts says:  “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
          9 — Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
        10 — And when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?”  Then someone will say, “None.”  And he will say, “Hold your tongue!  For we dare not mention the name of the LORD.”
        11 — For behold the LORD gives a command:  He will break the great house into bits, and the little house into pieces.  (NKJV)

     Right at the start, we see a solemn, divine oath.  God swears by Himself and there is no higher authority.  This oath “puts the sentence past revocation.” (Matthew Henry)  God’s message to those in arrogance is that lowliness is coming.  He tells them that pride leads to collapse.  God does not approve of people just the way they are, be they rich or poor.  Amos’ message was to a sinful, prideful generation.  
     Because of their sin, God says, “He abhors the pride of Jacob” meaning the land, the Promised Land.  The people boasted of their security, wealth, and luxury.  Jesus proclaimed, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15, NKJV)  Lloyd Ogilvie explains, “Like a deadly cancer, pride ate away at the soul of God’s people.  Pride motivated their defection from Him.”  
     Death is on the way.  If not by the hand of the Assyrians, then by a pestilence that follows.  Even in burial, there would not be the name of God mentioned.  They know the pestilence is from God and they do not want to risk getting God’s further attention.  “People who had not believed that God would come in judgment would now be afraid of what further disaster He might bring upon them.” (NKJV Study Bible)  Matthew Henry puts it this way, “The foolishness of men perverts their way, and brings them into distress, and then their heart frets against the Lord.”

          12 — Do horses run on rocks?  Does one plow there with oxen?  Yet you have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.
          13 — You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?”
          14 — “But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” says the LORD God of hosts; “and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the Valley of the Arabah.”  (NKJV)

     Destruction is coming.  The luxurious and elegant houses would soon be nothing but ashes.  “They had perverted just judgment into the bitterness of gall, a thing obnoxious and to be despised, and had twisted the fruit of righteousness into hemlock, moral, ethical, and spiritual poison.” (Albert Garner)  What seems to be foolish questions by Amos is exactly what the people had done–acted foolishly.  “The pure fruit of just had been made into poison.” (Peter C. Craigie)  Look at what the people have done to justice and Amos declares that the Lord will no longer put up with it.  Ogilvie says that it is “folly and obdurate stupidity to go against what God has commanded.”  Foolishness, lack of common sense, and arrogance have been the character of the people.  What the people have done just didn’t make sense.  (hmm, look at the conditions in Los Angeles before the fire–ponder).  The people have mocked true justice.  “The people deranged God’s order and went contrary to His design for humankind.” (Ogilvie)  Is this not what we see in our nation today with the deconstruction of foundational ideas and values?  Instead of justice there is chaos and absurdity.  “If pride leads to arrogance…stupidity is not far behind.” (Ogilvie)
     Warren Wierbe declares that, “Humble dependence on God is the only guarantee of His help and blessing.”  That certainly wasn’t the mindset in Israel.  Amos warns, “Behold, I will bring a nation against you [Assyria]”  The Prophet Jeremiah proclaimed, later using the same words, “Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar [Chaldea].” (5:15, NKJV)  Israel functioned as if God was no longer in control.  With growing apostasy in the country they no longer took Him seriously and were on the threshold of losing their existence and identity.  “Boastful arrogance was changed into baneful anguish.” (Wiersbe)
     It would do us good as a nation and as individuals to check our attitude and our humility before the Lord.  He desires, no, He requires a righteous people.  H. A. Ironside said, “‘The righteous Lord loveth righteousness,’ and will not connect His name with what is contrary to it.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (North to the Rails)

       “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
                    –Matthew 4:16 (ESV)
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       “Shadows tonight have struck more terror than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers.”
                    –William Shakespeare

     My Grandpa was a night watchman for Western Cutlery.  Why is it that companies have to hire someone to be a guard over the premises and the goods at night?  Because, the night is when evil lurks about all the more, when evil is done more frequently.  When you read Psalm 134, ponder the night watches where the shadows move about.

          1 — Behold, bless the LORD, all your servants of the LORD, who by night stand in the house of the LORD!
          2 — Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
          3 — The LORD who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!   (NKJV)

This is the last psalm of ascent.  Perhaps darkness is falling as they finish their climb and see the Temple.  Darkness is falling so they rush to the Temple before the doors close.  Or maybe it is speaking of those who remain in the Temple after the pilgrims have made their sacrifice and are readying themselves to go home.  Who are those who remain in the Temple?  The priests.  They remain, continuing to worship the Lord.  They continue to worship after others have left.
     Steven Lawson states that, “Worship is not to be a performance before men but a proclamation before God.  It is not the entertainment of men but the exaltation of God.”  How many times have I seen people doing “pogo-stick” worship to hype themselves, but also to show how “religious” they are.  True worship must be “built upon the deep exposition of the Word.” (Lawson)  
     If you are in a dark time, or if you see darkness looming ahead, think for a moment not about the situation but about God’s Word.  His Word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. (Psalm 119:105)  If you want to get out of the darkness, get into the Word.  If you want to worship in spirit and truth, get into the Word.  I like what John MacArthur says regarding worship, “You must first take a church down deep in the Word if you would lead them up high in worship.  The depth determines the height.  The depth in the Word determines the height in worship.  Shallowness in the Word leads to shallowness in worship.”  The priests remain, worshiping for what has taken place, and then worshiping as they continue in their faithfulness to God.
     Some of these priests doubtless were on “night guard.”  I remember in basic training that possibly the worst thing that could happen was to fall asleep on guard duty at night.  Woe to that person if caught.  Worship must be a lifestyle; worship during the day, but also worship in the night.  Worship in the good times of celebration, but also worship in times of distress and trouble.  Worship when the house is full, yet continue to worship when you are alone.
     The priests of the night time–what an awesome responsibility.  George O. Wood explains this importance, “It’s the people who kept the night watch of intercession who now make it possible for you to enter:  God’s special priests who do not punch the clock of duty, but who tarry long hours until every last pilgrim coming up the mountainside has had a chance to make it inside the gates of pearl.”  These are those who do not walk off the job.  These are the ones who are faithful in the night watch.   There are those who may say, “that’s not my job,” ahh, but friend, we are to be a holy priesthood, therefore, we must be ready for the night watch when others are sleeping.  
     William J. Petersen relates, “Whether your way is shrouded in shadows, whether your work is completely in the dark, or whether you feel that you’re merely standing and waiting, your task is to bless the Lord anyway.”  Some who are blind, in total darkness, often see more than those with eyes that are not blind.  Read of Fanny Crosby who said, “If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it.”  Another time she stated, “I sometimes think that blind people see more than their friends who have the power of vision.”  Or look at the works of the blind poet John Milton who made this observation when he wrote “On His Blindness.”  “Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve his best… They also serve who only stand and wait.”
   
               “Bless, O my soul!  the living God:
               Call home thy thoughts that rove abroad;
               Let all the powers within me join
               In work and worship so divine.”
                        –Isaac Watts