Friday, December 6, 2013
Mixed Emotions
Recently I had some good news, and also some news about how certain people were behaving wrongly, using the court system to oppress people. Actually, the news is full of these stories frequently. It left me wondering how we as believers are to respond towards these actions. As I prayed about this and other things in my mind all that kept coming to mind was the head of a large serpent looking at me. I looked up scriptures about serpents and came across two that were interesting.
Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
The psalmist begins by describing the wicked as those that lie. In fact he does not speak in a flattering way at all about these people, showing them to be evil people trying to harm the people of God. Most of the balance of this psalm talks about various harsh experiences that will come upon these evil people.
Psalms 58:10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
In the end these things happen to the evil people and the people of God are lifted up so that everyone knows God delivers His people. There is a similar yet a little less blunt description in another psalm that speaks about evil men as serpents.
Psalms 140:1 Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
2 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.
4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.
Here David is the psalmist and he directly speaks about the evil people that want to cast him down. In David’s time that meant war. Today there are other ways that evil men try to attack God’s people. This psalm is similar to Psalms 58 in the ending of it.
Psalms 140:11 Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
12 I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
Again, the evil people are made to feel their own evil and God’s people are upheld by Him. I noted that the cause of the afflicted and the right of the poor are something that David knew God would stand and defend.
So these are my mixed emotions. These types of psalms that cry out for deliverance and give praise to God for overthrowing evil then raising up His people, they are throughout the Psalms. It seems like David was often singing these types of songs to God. On the one hand I feel sad for the evil people because I know I am not perfect either. On the other hand it appears that this is a pattern for us to fight against the evil that comes in our lives, and that can include people. Paul instructs us to sing psalms to ourselves and others as a means of building them and us up. It appears that this is a part of a believer’s ministry, to sing into existence the judgments of God that all men may know that God alone is King, and that He looks out for the poor and afflicted, and will preserve His people.
Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You today. We are blessed to have You for our King. We want to do the things You are doing and say the things You are saying. Please help us to do those things and say those things. Sometimes we struggle with being a people that take a stand, not because we don’t want to but because we are uncertain what stand You want us to take. Please give us Your wisdom. Please help us have the strength and the courage to stand as You would stand. We ask that You cast down the spiritual darkness and the evil people that come against Your children, and that You raise up Your people that all men may know You are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.