Skip to main content

When The Foundations Are Being Destroyed

             “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face. (Psalm 11:3-7)

We live in a world in which the question of the first paragraph is being asked. The truth is that we always live in a world where it’s asked. Every generation, every society, more often than not asks that question. What does your answer look like? Two automatic and ineffective reactions are war and withdraw, also known as fight or flight.

Someone asked this on Facebook this morning. I said that I tend to withdraw. I argue (on line or in my mind) but I withdraw. I’ve joked that when others get angry, their vocabulary reduces to four-letter words. Mine tends to extend to four syllables, but at the same time, I’m raising the drawbridge. Part of homesteading/prepping is the notion of being ready for when “it” hits the fan. Being ready to withdraw. Those who do this want nothing to do with “them.”

On the other side, there are those who attack. When the foundations are being destroyed, go to war. Get in people’s faces. Take it to the courts. Get the government to move in and “do something.” These are the folks who blame, shame, name (label), and game.

This isn’t what Scripture suggests. The clearest thing today’s passage tells us is to remember. Remember that God is in control. Remember also the fate that awaits those who stand against God. The other side of that is to remind. Remind those who are doing evil that they will be judged, not by us, but by God. The question that comes to mind is to ask them “What if you’re wrong?”

When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? We can lean into God and we can engage others and encourage them to do the same.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more