The Righteous Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence. He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulphur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds. For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.”
Psalm 11:4-7 NLT

We hear much today about the love of God. And after all, this might be the reason why we believers first came to know the Lord. A loving and compassionate God, who sent His Son Jesus to die in our place as a punishment for our sins. What love! But some unbelieving people, with whom we share the Gospel, argue that if God is so loving then why does He allow so many bad things to happen. Such people read John 3:16 and think to themselves that surely a loving God would put a stop to the wars and strife that blights the world He loves. They read verses such as Matthew 13:42 and think surely a loving God would never send anyone to a place called hell, where unbelieving people will spend eternity in torment. And to explain away the scenes of judgement from Genesis, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the devastation of the Flood, such people declare that this was the Old Testament and everything changed after Jesus came. But here in Psalm 11 we read David’s words about a God who punishes people. Just Old Testament? Not if we believe Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

It is unfortunate that so often the presentation of the Gospel from the pulpit lacks the balance about God’s character. Preachers today are perhaps too afraid to upset anyone in case they take the huff and go to another church where God is presented in a way that fits with their own God-is-love ideology. Such “old school” preachers and teachers are often just indulged and ignored, even if they exist today. Quite what modern congregations would make of John Knox is an interesting thought but I know someone who was radically saved in the 1970’s through the ministry of a man, a retired miner, who presented hell in the Gospel context, and it had a lasting impression.

But as well as being a God of love, He is a God of righteousness and justice. David knew that, and he wrote, “[God] hates those who love violence” and “For the righteous Lord loves justice”. David visualised a scene where the wicked found themselves being rained upon by “blazing coals and burning sulphur”. Such a scene would be a nasty shock to those who never thought God would do such a thing. But David ends this Psalm with the thought that the “virtuous [upright] will see His face”. Jesus taught in Matthew 5 about righteousness. We read, “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 5:20). There is only one way in which such righteousness can be achieved and that is through Jesus. By believing in Him and repenting of our sins, we will find that He has given us His perfect righteousness, and that is the only way anyone will ever be able to spend eternity in God’s presence. 

Loving Heavenly Father. We know that You are the beginning and the end and desire that everyone will be saved. We experience Your love and compassion in times of trouble and yet we understand that You hate sin and will judge everyone one day to balance the scales of justice. With that sober thought, we confess our sins before You today, grateful for Your grace and mercy, and forgiveness. Amen.

Trust in the Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“I trust in the Lord for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety! The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right. The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?””
Psalm 11:1-3 NLT

What do people trust in? Their bank balances? Their wage checks? Their homes? Their families? Conversely, there are probably many things in our societies that they don’t trust in, like their governments or tax authorities. Some people are so disillusioned with society that they prefer to live off-grid in some remote part of the world. And as for personal safety, where can that be found, in absolute terms? David, the Psalmist for Psalm 11, was being advised to find safety in the mountains because once again he was being attacked by “the wicked”. But we read that David wasn’t the only target, and he included those “whose hearts are right”. He perceived that “the foundations of law and order have collapsed”, a serious state of affairs for any society. 

The Bible scholars are unsure about the context of this Psalm. It could have been written when David was running and hiding from King Saul, or it could have been at the time of the rebellion by his son, Absolom. But there seems to be a national crisis serious enough for David to consider fleeing to a place of safety. In his day, law and order was very much connected to God and His Law, but if David had doubts about social cohesion, then perhaps even God Himself was being rejected by the wicked people around him.

Here in the UK we have a legal system upheld by a police force largely respected by the population, and that seems to hold society together, at least for most of the time. Of course, our legal system is based on sound Christian and Biblical principles that have stood the test of time, and, although many reject God and Christianity in general, the laws remain, to the benefit of all. So we can enjoy the safety of our homes and we have the freedom to move around in our societies without fear of arrows being shot at us “from the shadows”. 

But back to the opening question – who or what do we pilgrims trust in for protection? David was emphatic that he trusted “in the Lord for protection”. That’s a real place of security because, as children of God, we pilgrims have a wonderful Heavenly Father who cares for us, and guides us in His ways. Of course, we will be familiar with Proverbs 3:3-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”. Those verses were written a very long time ago, and are as true today as they were then. As we follow along God’s paths we will find safety and protection. These paths might not be the ones our sinful natures would like us to follow, but going against God’s way could, and often does, lead to a place of insecurity, a place that lacks the safety our souls yearn for. 

David knew His Lord. He knew that by keeping close to Him, he would be safe. We pilgrims, similarly close to God, will hold fast in a society that panics at the slightest attack. Those around us will lack the safety of a relationship with God, and won’t know which way to turn. While they flap around, “fly[ing] like a bird” to the metaphorical mountains, we stand firm as the Psalmist did when he wrote Psalm 91:2, “This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him”. We, quite simply, trust in the Lord. There is no other way.

Dear Father God. As David wrote, we trust in You for our protection. Thank You for Your salvation. Amen.

King Forever

Posted on by korgrocker

“Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed. The Lord is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land. Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.”
Psalm 10:15-18 NLT

In the middle of another rant about wicked people and what the Psalmist would like God to do to them, we read, “The Lord is king forever and ever”. It is important that in the middle of our frustrations about God’s apparent lack of action with the evil around us, that we don’t lose our perspective. In the end, it’s not about us, or the apparent injustice we see in our nations and societies. We need to look up and see the Lord. In the time of a national crisis, Isaiah looked up. King Uzziah had just died, bringing a fear of political instability to Judah after a long reign of 52 years. Uzziah was one of the good kings and Isaiah, fearful of what the days ahead would bring, went to the Temple and there we read, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple” (Isaiah 6:1). Isaiah looked up beyond the circumstances around him, and, if we read on in Isaiah 6, we find that his encounter with the Lord transformed his life and ministry. 

We pilgrims yearn for the King to return and bring peace and His Kingdom to this war-torn world. We know that the Lord is King. We know that He is coming back to this world again, although we don’t know when. We know that He is the forever King, present since before the world was created. But instead of looking around at the “wicked evil people” as the Psalmist did, we need to look up and see the Lord. Isaiah’s encounter with the Lord in the Temple changed him for the rest of his life. He wrote, “Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”” (Isaiah 6:5). The Lord asked Isaiah, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” and his reply was, “Here I am. Send me”” (Isaiah 6:8). Instead of wallowing in fear and misery, paralysed through the potential instability of his nation, Isaiah became a messenger for the Lord to his people.

There is something significant about having a forever King. We often forget that, although we are living in this world, with all of its sin and evil, we are in all reality citizens of another world, the Kingdom of God. There the Lord is King forever. No evil. No wars and strife. And it is there we run to when we are in danger of being overwhelmed by the worldly events around us. It might be helpful if we stand up and say to ourselves something like “I choose today to step into the kingdom where the Lord is King” and then take a step forwards, looking up as we do. We never know, but we might, like Isaiah, see a vision of the Lord, “high and lifted up”. Where is our faith because with the Lord anything might happen?

When we look up, we find an opportunity to see what the wicked in this world look like to God. When we look up we also find ourselves looking forward to the time when God will bring justice to correct all the injustices that have ever gone unpunished. And when we look up, we see the King and our hearts melt in the warmth of His gaze, flowing with love and compassion. There is no better place to be than in the presence of our forever King.

Father God, please forgive us for our lack of vision and understanding. You are our forever King and we praise and worship You today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Defender of Orphans

Posted on by korgrocker

“Arise, O Lord! Punish the wicked, O God! Do not ignore the helpless! Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, “God will never call us to account.” But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans.”
Psalm 10:12-14 NLT

The Psalmist wrote that wickedness, and wicked people cause “trouble and grief”, a statement that is indisputably true. We look around at the wars taking place in Ukraine and the Middle East and see the extent of misery in ordinary people’s lives reaching far beyond national borders. In our own societies we see the results of crime and violence, or drugs and addictions. Evil and wickedness is rampant. But there is one people group that is especially vulnerable and that is the orphans. There were many in David’s day, children left without parents, due to disease or some other form of premature death. And there are many in the world today. UNICEF estimates that there are over 150 million orphans, children who have lost at least one parent, in the world today but they concede that this is probably an underestimate. There are more children, trafficked, or forced to work in inhospitable places like mines, who swell the total numbers. Throughout history, there have been orphaned children, and societies have had a very poor reputation in how they deal with them. But there are four words of hope for our children in today’s verses – “You defend the orphans”. God is there for them.

But in our societies today, what does God defence of orphans look like? In James 1:27, the Apostle wrote, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”. God’s people have a responsibility to look after orphans, pure and simple. Of course, not every believer has either the capability or resources to do so, but there are many opportunities nevertheless. Organisations such as Compassion run schemes to help child-caring projects in various parts of the world, and need financial support. Here in the UK the state has assumed responsibility for providing foster and children’s homes, as have some Christian denominations. But God, in His Word, said He will defend the orphans, so those who abuse or mistreat orphans will one day have to account for their actions before God.

In Matthew 18, Jesus said some things about children. “Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:3-6 NLT). 

We pilgrims honour and protect our children, parenting them as God desires. God is there helping us. But we also look for opportunities to help children who are not so fortunate, secure in the thought that God is there looking after them. In His heart, God has a special place for children, especially orphans.

Dear Heavenly Father, we were all children once and we can look back and see the ways that You defended us against evil and evil people. Thank You for Your care and love. Please help us too as we care for our little ones everywhere. Amen.

The Helpless

Posted on by korgrocker

“Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats. Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues. They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims. Like lions crouched in hiding, they wait to pounce on the helpless. Like hunters they capture the helpless and drag them away in nets. Their helpless victims are crushed; they fall beneath the strength of the wicked. The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us! He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!””
Psalm 10:7-11 NLT

Who are the “helpless” that the Psalmist was writing about? These were people who were at the mercy of the wicked among them. People who were presumably unable to defend themselves against the murderous intent of their attackers, who, we’re told, had “trouble and evil … on the tips of their tongues”. The wicked attackers looked around for those in their societies who were weaker than them, and they then proceeded to crush them, impervious to the thought that God was looking on.  Mankind has always had a propensity to try and get one over their fellow members of society. That was true in the days when the Psalms were written and it is still true today. 

As I wrote this I immediately thought of the scammers and fraudsters who contact vulnerable people and relieve them of their money. I regularly receive emails from my bank warning me of the tactics that fraudsters use to try and gain access to my bank account. And I think of the “helpless victims” who, nevertheless, are taken in by plausible tales and are soon parted from their savings. I recently heard of someone who had a text from one of their children (or so they thought) using a phone that wasn’t theirs, to say that they were in trouble and needed some funds. It was so convincing that the person concerned was well along the way of arranging a money transfer before something made them think that there was something not quite right here. Fortunately, the scam was stopped before any harm was done. 

The helpless in our societies today are those who are weaker, mentally and physically, because of age or upbringing. Children can be very trusting of the adults around them and can end up abused and manipulated. Older people can find themselves lacking the mental capacity they once had and inadvertently are talked into danger. And in between, there are always “innocent people” who find themselves defenceless in the face of a murderous attack of one kind or another.

In Biblical days, lawlessness made travel between cities fraught with danger, and Jesus even told a parable about a man robbed by bandits, beaten up and left for dead at the side of the road. A story that people in those days would immediately relate to. Travel by anyone of any importance was always accompanied by a contingent of soldiers for protection. But even those in cities were not immune from petty thieves and pickpockets. There was always someone out to prey on “helpless victims”. 

Of course, we pilgrims can look on and wonder where God is during these times of danger and anxiety. We pray, but evil people seem to prevail. Then we turn to Psalm 91 and read, “This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease” (Psalm 91:2-3). We will find a refuge from danger in God. There are no scammers in God’s Kingdom and the wonderful thing is that as we stay close to Him, He will keep us safe. There are many people with testimonies of how God has stopped something bad happening to them. I look back on my own life and see the times when God protected me in a time of danger. And for those who fall victim to an evil person, there is always a way back. He promised to look after us as we ” … live in the shelter of the Most High …” (Psalm 91:1a). 

Dear Father God. Your protection is assured and we are so grateful. Please lead us and guide us in Your ways, in the paths of righteousness. Amen. 

God is Dead?

Posted on by korgrocker

“The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead. Yet they succeed in everything they do. They do not see your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies. They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us! We will be free of trouble forever!””
Psalm 10:4-6 NLT

‭‭The statement “God is dead” is claimed by many for often simplistic reasons, the result of what they call rational thinking, or quoting a lack of scientific evidence to prove His existence. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was famously quoted for making this statement in one of his books, written in the late nineteenth century. But it is the arrogance of man that is really behind statements such as this. Modern thinking is that religion was acceptable for more primitive people, but those who were, and are, more “enlightened” know better, and the arrogant “God is dead” brigade attribute the physical world around us to chance happenings that have taken place over a very long period of time. Such people even concoct their own physical laws to fit their flawed observations.

Of course, once the idea of God has been taken out of people’s lives, then the whole basis of moral behaviour loses its foundations. As David wrote, “The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead” (Psalm 10:4). It was pride in David’s day, but add arrogance into the mix in our 21st Century world. People then, and still do today, believed that because God doesn’t immediately zap them when they do wrong then He cannot exist, and so they carry on in their sinful and evil ways. David was perplexed because such people even seemed to be highly successful in spite of their wickedness. 

Such short term thinking is extremely sad, because once the God-deniers find out that God does exist, they have two problems. The first is that they suddenly realise that they have been living a lie all their earthly lives, giving them a nasty shock now they know differently. Secondly, they find that they won’t have long to mourn over their evil ways and thinking, because as the first shock is still reverberating in their minds, a book will be opened, and their whole lives will be displayed before everyone. A Heavenly video of their every moment will be played, showing wrong thinking, evil behaviour, every wicked occasion, and eventually it will come to end with them standing before God Himself, waiting, but not for long. The judgement will be announced and their eternal sentence in hell commenced. David wrote, “They do not see your punishment awaiting them“.

For those people today who think that there will be just blackness awaiting them when they die, perhaps they should read Philippians 2:10-11, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father“. ‭‭There will not be blackness but, instead, eternal life awaits those who believe God is dead in a place they don’t want to be.

It’s a grim topic, not heard much from the pulpits these days. In fact, when did we last hear a sermon preached about hell? The preachers of old used to dangle their congregants over the fires of hell, frightening them into believing in God. But today? Our churches contain people who believe that God is alive and well, but what then? If we have a God who is alive then this must be transformative for us. If we believe that God is not dead, then there is only one alternative, that He is alive. Can we not get our minds around the thought that the Creator of the Universe is not only alive but He knows you and me personally? Jesus, who died on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary, taking on Himself the punishment for our sins, is the very God that many people say is dead. Helloooo!! …. The fact that God is alive must make us turn our lives around, even if we are believers. We can’t just be pew warmers, thinking nice thoughts about a loving Saviour. He gave up so much for us, that we cannot do anything but respond to Him and say as Isaiah did, “Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8b). Our living God imparts life to His followers – we must never play dead.

Dear Father God. You are the living God, not an idol made of dead objects. We are willing, Lord, to do Your work in this world, as You guide us day by day. We worship You today. Amen.

God Is Hiding

Posted on by korgrocker

“O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble? The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor. Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others. For they brag about their evil desires; they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.”
Psalm 10:1-3 NLT

The Psalmist wasn’t afraid to make his complaint to God. He had no fear of a lightning bolt from Heaven because of his audacity in questioning God’s motives. But he merely expressed what we all do sometimes – where is God when the going gets tough? As we know ourselves, it is easy to praise God when the blessings flow towards us, but not so easy when we are in trouble. 

The Psalmist was reflecting on his own troubles, but he followed his questions with, once again, his observations of wicked people. How do they get away with their evil ways? Asaph, another Psalmist, expressed similar sentiments in Psalm 73. In fact, he writes that the prosperity of the wicked almost caused him to lose his faith. Psalm 73:3-5, “For I envied the proud when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness. They seem to live such painless lives; their bodies are so healthy and strong. They don’t have troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else.” He continued in verse 16, “So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is!”‭‭ In Matthew 5:45b we read a little snippet from Jesus, that perhaps provides a reason. “ …  For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike“. It is a ludicrous thought that God would perhaps stop the sun shining on all those people who ignore Him, coming under the Psalmist’s “wicked” definition. Imagine a largely dark world punctuated by pools of sunlight as Godly people went about their business. God’s blessings of life apply to everyone, wicked or not, but the difficult thought for the Psalmists was that the wicked seem to have more than their fair share.

But back to the times of trouble. We read about what happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi. Through the name of Jesus, they had removed the power of divination from a slave girl, upsetting her masters. A riot ensued and Paul and Silas ended up severely beaten, and imprisoned with their feet in the stocks. They were in trouble, without a doubt. And then we come to Acts 16:25, “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening“.  We would have thought that they would have been crying out to God, wailing their complaints and asking why He hadn’t been there for them when they were in so much trouble. They had been abused and incarcerated in a stinking jail, their backs sore, their movement severely restricted. And yet they were praising God. How could they do that? God wasn’t there for them when they needed Him, some might think. The wicked people in Philippi had imposed their vengeance. But no external act of wicked people was ever going to stop Paul and Silas praising God.

James wrote in his epistle, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3). The sad thing is that becoming a Christian doesn’t mean that we won’t have to experience troubles anymore. In fact, Jesus said, ” …Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). So when the Psalmist questioned God’s motives in times of trouble and questioned why the wicked people got away with their wickedness, and when we do the same, we instead should turn to the Lord, expressing our thanks and praise. God isn’t hiding from us. He is always there when we need Him. But in those dark days when the Heavens seem like brass and our prayers don’t seem to get to God, we need to press in, worshipping and praising. We so often want to hide from God when troubles beset us. So on a Sunday morning we stay at home when we should be at church. We don’t pick up our Bibles and read His words of comfort. We stop praying. God hasn’t gone away but we have. God knows all about the wicked people who seem to prosper. He will deal with them one day if they persist in their sin. But in the mean time He provides an opportunity for them to repent and turn to Him. One day the scales of justice will be balanced but in this life we have a mission and that includes pressing through our troubles and keeping short accounts with God. Oh, and by the way, we tell the wicked about Jesus, and His saving grace.

Dear God. You had a plan for the salvation of mankind. And we deeply thank You for Jesus, Your precious Son, for forgiving us our sins. Amen.

Merely Human

Posted on by korgrocker

“But the needy will not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed. Arise, O Lord! Do not let mere mortals defy you! Judge the nations! Make them tremble in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know they are merely human.”
Psalm 9:18-20 NLT

David brings Psalm 9, what is to many a difficult Psalm, to an end. Its references to wicked people, enemies, judgement, and nations that ignore God, are not uplifting reading. But they are a sobering reminder that we live in an evil and sinful world that, particularly here in the West, and if the news media reports are to be believed, is set on ignoring God. David doesn’t forget the poor and needy in his society however, and he possibly feels despair that poverty is present. But his confidence in God is such that the “hopes of the poor” together with the cries of the needy will “not be ignored forever”. One day the scales of justice will be balanced, as we saw from the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16). 

David looked around his society and the adjacent nations from his kingly perspective and expressed his frustration that God didn’t seem to be doing anything about the injustices of life. The poor continued to be poor. His enemies continued to defy God. And David continued to pray, even cry out, to God for justice. Not some time in the future, but now. 

David ends his Psalm with the request for the nations to be put in their place. Point out to them that they are “merely human” is his request of God. Of course, God will one day answer David’s prayer in every generation, but anyone can compare his status with that of God right now. The evidence is all around us everywhere. Elihu, one of Job’s friends, said the following about God, “He repays people according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve. … He doesn’t care how great a person may be, and he pays no more attention to the rich than to the poor. He made them all. In a moment they die. In the middle of the night they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand” (Job 34:11 19-20). And then, in Job 38:1-7 we read, “Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” 

There is no doubt that human beings are “merely human”. But the arrogance of mankind is endemic. It was in David’s day and it still exists today in 21st Century societies and nations everywhere. People everywhere ignore God and even invent theories that try and explain origins and how the world was formed. Even in the Church, some men and women stand up and in their arrogance they declare the thoughts of the Lord as though they live almost on His plane and have a special hot-line to His very throne. They well might have, but where is the reverence and awe of the One who created the universe? Where is the acknowledgement of the One to whom all glory and honour is due? Where is the humility of those God has created? It is just as well that God has not answered David’s prayers for justice and punishment because there would not be a single human being left on this planet.

But we pilgrims worship at God’s footstool. We are there in awe of the One who gave His life for those who are “merely human”. Let’s not ever forget that.

Dear Father God. Sometimes we assume too much from our relationship. Please forgive us when we step over the mark. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Fate of Nations

Posted on by korgrocker

“The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others. Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set. The Lord is known for his justice. The wicked are trapped by their own deeds. … The wicked will go down to the grave. This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.”
Psalm 9:15-17 NLT

‭It is not just the wicked who end up in a grave, of course. We will all die one day and our physical remains will ultimately end up either in a grave or our ashes scattered where our families decide. Cheery subject to start the day, I know, but one that cannot be avoided, no matter how hard we try. So when David wrote about the “fate of all the nations”, he was stating the obvious. But other Bible versions substitute “grave” for “hell” or “Sheol”, and this makes more sense in the context of these verses. David writes that there are consequences for individuals and nations who “ignore God”, in that they will be trapped by the very tactics they use against others. I suppose the last world war comes to mind, with a militarily-aggressive Germany ultimately ending up as a defeated nation and its evil leader dead. The Nazi programmes against the Jews and others put the German government well into the “wicked” bracket and even those like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who vocally opposed the evil being promoted, failed to turn round the wickedness present in that nation and at that time. The AMP version of Psalm 9:17 reads, “The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), Even all the nations who forget God”. 

But what is this “Sheol” (or “Hades” in the Greek), called the place of the dead? If the wicked nations end up there, will believers join them in the same place? Simplistically, Christian thought is that when we die, our spirits end up either in hell or Heaven. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16 gives some credence to this thought, with Lazarus, the poor man ending up with Abraham eating at the Heavenly banquet, and the Rich Man in a place of torment. Luke 16:23 (AMP), “In Hades (the realm of the dead), being in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom (paradise)”. But whatever we believe, it is inconceivable that a wicked person or nation will ever end up in a place called Heaven or paradise, and that is what David wrote about the “fate of all nations who ignore God”. 

We UK residents are living in an increasingly secular society with Christians being marginalised by legislation at variance with what God has ordained in His Word. But there are also green shoots of a new move of God starting to emerge. In my home town of Dunfermline, in Scotland, there are some exciting things happening with new Christian groups emerging and some existing churches growing almost weekly with new converts and baptisms. And we thank God for His grace and favour, with believers providing a ground-swell of opposition to the ideologies and laws that promote rebellion against God but will not end well for their adherents and promoters. One day they will find themselves in Sheol, in the company of the Rich Man, even desperate, like him, to send a warning back to those they left behind, colleagues or family members living a life ignoring God.

We pilgrims probably will never fully appreciate the impact we have on our societies as we continue as salt and light, beacons of hope in a Godless nation. We look to Jesus, as we read in Hebrews 12:2a, “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith …”. And we extend God’s love and grace to those around us, who are journeying to a lost eternity.

Dear Father God. Not for us to be a part of a Godless people who will end up in a place they don’t want to be. Please encourage and empower us to spread Your Gospel each and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord’s Mercy

Posted on by korgrocker

“Lord, have mercy on me. See how my enemies torment me. Snatch me back from the jaws of death. Save me so I can praise you publicly at Jerusalem’s gates, so I can rejoice that you have rescued me.
Psalm 9:13-14 NLT

The negative words in these two verses – torment, enemies, death – are countered and balanced by three more – mercy, save and praise. And in a nutshell, that sums up the amazing love and grace of our God. Every challenge and fiery dart from our enemy the devil is deflected by the mercy of God. We are not left unprotected on our own, powerless in the face of our enemy’s attacks. David prays for the Lord’s mercy in the face of hostile attacks so that he can once again praise God “publicly at Jerusalem’s gates” and “rejoice that [God] has rescued [him]”. 

David’s picture is perhaps one of a capricious God, to whom a request has to be made to see if He would do something to help him. David appeals to God by presenting to Him his situation (as though God doesn’t already know) in the hope that David praising Him publicly would be enough to get Him to act. Of course, in our season of God’s grace, we know differently. We know a God who is so full of mercy that He wants to act on our behalf in the face of the devil’s attacks, if we let Him. He has provided all the resources we need to protect ourselves from our enemies and has promised to bring us home to Him one day. The rest is up to us.

David’s prayer is one that we would all do well to emulate in our own lives. How did we feel when we woke up this morning? What was on our minds? Were we struggling to get up and face the day, one perhaps we fear will be riddled with difficulties and negatives? Instead, our minds must realign themselves through God’s mercy so that we can praise God for His salvation and for rescuing our thoughts from the attacks of the enemy. 

So as we lay in bed, the alarm having just gone off, the day full of real or imagined terrors, depression lapping at the fringes of our minds, we have a choice. God’s mercy is there for the taking and it will turn us around to start the day with praise and rejoicing, because He has already defeated the enemy that so often torments us. So instead of reaching for the news or social media reports on our phones or tablets, we instead must reach for the Good News that deflects the devil’s attacks. The writer to the Hebrews wrote this, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16). Whatever we have done, there is a place of forgiveness in God’s presence, and, once there, we will find the peace Paul wrote about in Philippians 4:7, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”. 

Dear God. Your mercy knows no bounds and we thank You for Your loving kindness, so freely available to Your children. Amen.