He had lived too long in the wilderness not to know that the human body can survive all manner of hardship and torture.”
–Louis L’Amour (How the West Was Won)
“You shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.”
–Deuteronomy 7:21(NKJV)
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Psalm 97 is such a spectacular, victorious Psalm. In finishing this Psalm I want to relay a story I read. In the third century the bishop of Antioch was martyred and buried on the site of a shrine formerly dedicated to Apollo. For nearly a century persecution had died away, but then Julian became emperor and was determined to restore the old gods. (This is humorous, why couldn’t the “gods” restore themselves?) He ordered the shrine to Apollo to be restored and the body of the bishop moved. The Christians instead of moaning and groaning, griping or complaining, made a celebration of worship out of it. They carried the bishop’s body in a sacred procession to another burial site. As they proceeded, they sang Psalm 97. “You can have your Apollo,” they seemed to be saying. “We have a God who rules over all the earth. You can make us move our bishop’s body, but we know where his soul is. You can make life difficult for us, but we have a source of light and joy you know nothing about. The Lord protects us, and so we are happy in him.” (William J. Petersen)
7 — Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, who boast of idols.
8 — Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments, O LORD.
9 — For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
10 — You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 — Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
12 — Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. (NKJV)
I saw where the Air Force had a special “gay pride” day, and so did Cracker Barrel. One day, all shameful deeds will indeed be put to shame. “Gay” an idol? Yes, and every other thing that lifts itself in the guise of worship, or worldview if you prefer. The NLT is verse 7, says “all who brag about their worthless gods” will be disgraced. We should have righteous anger, yes, but we should also “rejoice because of the Lord’s judgments. God’s judgments in the last days will reveal that He alone is the solitary God.” (Steven Lawson)
Verses 10 and 11, are important for us to consider and contemplate. We are often told that we are not to hate, but here we are emphatically told to “hate evil!” No matter what, we must understand that we are citizens of heaven. Far too many compromise with evil, the idea is to be tolerant. No! “Whenever a person compromises with evil, it is only because he or she has become lukewarm toward God.” (Lawson) Realize that as we grow in Christ, our views of evil might change. Evil that we once thought was alright has had the “Light” shone upon it and we now see it as it is. Light means that we have grown in our understanding of the truth in God’s Word. Lawson writes, “The knowledge of God and the pursuit of holiness produce joy.”
When pain and suffering come your way–rejoice in recognizing who God is. When sorrow comes–rejoice in the knowledge of God, that He is sovereign. When evil abounds, when there seems to be no way to escape it, when its long tendrils reach out to touch all that is around you–rejoice knowing that God is the supreme Judge and will bring justice. In all of this–rejoice knowing that God is causing all things to work together for our good and for his glory (Romans 8:28).
“My God, how wonderful that art,
Thy majesty how bright,
How beautiful thy mercy seat
In depths of burning light!”
–Frederick W. Faber