Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 19:20-21) We have heard quite a bit in the past decade about “checking our privilege” and being humble, mostly from people who think they have the right to dictate to everyone what to believe or do. They’re right, we should check our privilege and be humble. We should consider what others have to say and what they do. We should pray, observe, meditate, and study. We should listen to advice and accept discipline. None of this requires that we do precisely what we’re told because we were told, but those are the activities and practices of a wise person. It’s like being an athlete. There are specific skills and character...
The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror. (Psalm 10:16-18) We’re about a month from the mid-term election, and no matter to whom you listen, the song is about the same. “We have to get out the vote because if the other side wins, it’ll be the end of the world!” And let me just say, “Get out and vote!” because it’s your responsibility as a good Christian and as a good citizen. There are candidates who are likely to cause more harm than good and you should vote for the candidates who will do more good than harm, but the point of the passage above is that it is the Lord who defends the fatherless ...