Psalm 58 ~ Surely there is a reward for the righteous

 

 Psalm 58

A Miktam of David.

58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.

6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!


10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.


11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

So what does your view on the world look like?

Well, in the last few months, this was the view from my window across the back 3 acre pond. My mother's very charming 87 year old boyfriend was worried about the neighbor across the pond. She is in her 8th decade and lost her husband, then had his Azalea bushed taken out because, frankly, they just drink and drink water. So, Jack said he was worried the neighbor was perhaps ill because the house and the yard looked a little forlorn.

And we got out the binoculars and I took a quick look and said she just was older and the house looked pretty much the way it does with one person living there. And... in about 3 weeks time - voila all the, and I mean, all the, windows all over the house were ON. It was night all the blinds are usually up and there were two mature adults running from room to room with hands up.

Well, that got our attention. We don't know our neighbor well. It's too different streets and the pond does not have a gap. We have had a few hollered conversations across the pond in 16 years about things like - wood beetles. And drought resistant Plumbago. And ducks. So, Edward said get the binoculars. Of course, of course, of course we did. And we (I) saw mature people with their hands in the air running from room to room in a fast pace and then we saw they were yelling into the phone. Very agitated. And we worried. Of course we did. So we had to, of course we did, we had to see if we got a glimpse of our 80 year old neighbor. Because, thankfully this was not a burglary, but was a interior flood, or a hospital visit. Something was ON.

And of course, we had to keep checking. You know, if you are not handy with binoculars, probably you should not stand in a lighted room with your elbows out - checking on the neighbors. Because you find out that in the middle of disaster, suddenly the lights go off at the neighbors and they want to know why you thought they were interesting. Which provides you with hilarity and then some embarrassment. But you find you surely are not going to use the binoculars any time soon.


Now the good news is, the 80 year old widow has a boyfriend/perhaps husband and is now using the house as a vacation house and when it is not - then all the lights go on - toddlers run through the unfenced yard and - the boyfriend runs after the toddler. So Rejoice with those who rejoice annnnnnd don't get the binoculars on those who are weep - or are apparently agitated.

So how is your view of the world?

And of course, you were told that story, to tell you the next story.


Social Media. We all have view of the world. It's interesting to see facebook belonging to other people - the view changes. And in your 50s, you see more conservative viewpoints with the young people who reveal all. Om.

And here lately - the world has become Navy Blue. We have opinions on opinions that table to tennis to opinions.

And it looks a lot like anger. The Bible runs to two hundred words on anger in the Old Testament alone. There are not a lot of variables on the word angry. We all basically understand each other when we deal with angry people. Duh. Anger.

However... when you get to "Fear" you have variables. Trembling. Anxiety. Worry. Alarm. Concern. David has arrived at Psalm 58 from - fear. C'mon the man literally lived in a ditch in a place called Ziklag and is as bad as this sounds with kidnapped family (1 Samuel 30).  We seem to have a whole lot of fear. The government changing is like Houston in the middle of a Hurricane. This has Arrived. Changes are - - - wot - wot - wot - Swift. Who said Big Government could make Big Changes? What !


We are the generation when we look at our pictures - no one had ever said cell phone - rotary phone with fire to make the dial work - maybe. PC what's that the Presbyterian Church. Personal Computer was next. Then Politically correct. Which is just a version of my justice looks superior to your justice. Only my opinion matters.


So what are we talking about all this anxiety after people voted and a decision was made.


We are afraid.

Afraid health care won't be there.

Afraid our parents won't be there. Afraid what condition they will be in.

Afraid our children will be conscripted in war.

Afraid a Job won't be available to keep us, our our parents and children alive.

We are afraid at the outrageous cost of education.

We are afraid the specific training or education will mean zero.

We are super concerned with attitudes of unkindness. Fear.

We are afraid of the very loud and weird opinions that suddenly have become paramount.

We are afraid that our life was not posh or important and is ending with not splash.

We are afraid of endless days of the blah.

We are a nation afraid of the "other" opinion. And then we flock in circles were we are comfortable and listen to far out opinions from Hollywood and/or our boss.And are seen as the reverse of this too.

Be clear what the anger is about in "Opinions."

This is plain ol' old fashioned fear.

If Ashton Kutcher stands up and says his America does not have harsh borders at the airport and the diverse communities are welcome - he has some fear. (Ok, I have some concern too - there are 8 countries terror activities never came from on the list ok ok ok.) But you know he is saying this too, "I am reading the polls said Trump would never be elected. And om, he was. And people are saying Hollywood is in a bubble and now people are getting the axe. What if this set of people are the people that would be the unusual ones and like the weird far out from Hollywood. I'm saying that, om, I - Aston Kutcher - have some anxiety that the fringe is going to be cut off and that could mean, Ashton Kutcher isn't loved any more. And, you know, life is so odd right now with facts go this way and that even between news reports, om, maybe you all really do like Trump and the polls are wrong so - I think I will say something about the greater good."


We all might applaud Ashton Kutcher for being in touch the way we all relate to real concerns in a real world.

I personally was told by someone in conservative politics, in 1993,  that the leftist politics planned the bathroom agenda in the year 1993. Now this worries me. I am concerned when I hear that the bathroom has become a think tank.


I think we should avoid think tanks and go with making more Heaven come to earth. And listen beyond the anger to what the fear is. And find consolation. And look at life rejoicing with the fact we can find reason to rejoice with one another. And create some rejoicing.

God. God is not going to desert us when we do find we have anger. In fact one of His best pieces of advice is "Be angry."  He often says, "Fear not!" But when you get to anger - God says - ok be angry - just don't sin. Pretty good advice to keep life running smoothly. God - He is - Good.

Think tanks - any situation in the Bible is going to be found. It's not where Angels fear to tread - this is really - where God - would go - how intricate and messy - He would dwell - to help you up. And that is - Good News. God is Love and you can find all the advice you need to have a hope and a future - In His Word.



Father God, We pray for our Nation and the comfort of the Holy Spirit to surround, enable, help with love and wisdom - the care we need to find within ourselves for God first, ourselves second and others second as well. Knowing God, You Will. In Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves!  †