Today, in my own time of prayer, I was captured by the biblical phrase, “to execute on them the written judgement — this honor have all His saints”. I couldn’t shake it. I remembered that these words are found in Psalm 149, and I went to that passage to meditate on this thought.
So, this is a very interesting story from the Bible. Perhaps it has some relevance to what is happening today. The God of the Bible is referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This particular story is about Jacob. I’ll summarize it and make an application, but you can read the whole story in Genesis 29.
Just to be clear, this is not a religious, right-wing, knee-jerk reaction to the worldliness of the world. I get it. There is light and there is dark, there is music and there is art. Sinners sin, Jesus saves, and God so loved the world. I know. But sometimes, things just need to said.
Perhaps you have heard of the frog and the kettle? Basically, the boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid (lukewarm) water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly.
So, this is a very interesting story from the Bible. Perhaps it has some relevance to what is happening today. The God of the Bible is referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This particular story is about Jacob. I’ll summarize it and make an application, but you can read the whole story in Genesis 29.
Perhaps you have heard of the frog and the kettle? Basically, the boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid (lukewarm) water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly.
Jesus isn’t nervous, and He doesn’t want us to be either. Anxiety, worry and fear are viral spirits behind a global soul pandemic with eternal stakes at play. Sure, there is valid concern over the current corona situation, and the confusing way in which the powers that be are spinning the narrative and pushing short term solutions with no real clarity regarding the long term risks.
I was recently reading in the book of Judges, and focused on chapters 6-8. These few chapters recount the incredible story of Gideon, whom the Lord raised up to deliver the children of Israel from the Midianites, who were severely oppressing them. No doubt that these three chapters would make an exceptional, most definitely R-rated, film, if one was ever produced. There are so many great themes in this short story that inspire such tenable faith in the midst of overwhelming circumstances, but it was this phrase, “the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit,” that really caught my attention.
I’ve always been drawn to the writings of Asaph. He has a panoramic view of Israel’s history, and as an intercessor, he yearns for Israel’s fullness. Like David, Asaph is both poet and prophet. Psalm 50 is one of the twelve psalms that Asaph wrote, his others are Psalm 73-83. There is profound revelation here in Psalm 50. In short, God first establishes Himself as the divine, eternal Judge, then He challenges the righteous and confronts the wicked with the complete sovereignty of His justice system and then clearly expresses what He really desires and requires from us.
King David asked a great question in one of his songs. In Psalm 11:3, he asks, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
This seven verse Psalm begins with David expressing His trust in the Lord. That’s always a good place to start. His current earthly reality, however, is one of an eroding national foundation and the identification of enemies lurking in the darkness with bad intentions. Sound familiar? Instead of looking down and all around, David looks up and sees the Lord in His holy temple and upon His throne in heaven. David knows that the Lord sees, the Lord knows, and the Lord distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked — and both have a day of reckoning coming.
