Psalm Chapter 12
To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.
When you attend school with, live with, work with unbelievers and those that oppose the gospel, sometimes a Christian may feel how David felt at times. If our surroundings are filled with ungodly people, we will feel that there is no faithful people among us. Even as we watch the news, we see that there is so much ungodliness. There is none righteous. The prophets in the Old Testament felt that way at times when they would be zealous and go forth with the message of God burning in their souls only to find rejection and at times, persecution. Yet we who trust in the Lord, are never alone. Sometimes God will even bring a faithful helper and supporter to give us prayer support. Even if that is not the case, as long as we walk in the Spirit of God, we are never alone. What we must always avoid is the hatred or dislike that may come upon us when we face opposition. This will bring forth bad fruit and cause a spirit of bitterness to come within us instead of the love that comes from God. When we lose our compassion for those who oppose us, it is a sign that we need to pray and ask God for a renewed love for our enemies.
This of course is not easy and does not come to us without the presence of the Lord continually within us. It is His Spirit that abides with us and sheds the love of God within us. Yet we do not lose our free will to choose. We can yield to God's Holy Spirit or yield to our fleshly human traits. This also does not mean that we do not have law, order and justice. Evil doers have to be stopped. Loving their eternal souls and not being filled with hate does not mean that we do not bring evil doers to justice.
Being two-faced is not a good trait and is not like God. God is up front and honest and so we must be. If we are nice to someone's face and are cruel behind their backs, we are two-faced.
Here is that old ugly pride again. Boasting and pride are enemies of a child of God. This causes us to try to get the best of someone else. This makes us want to prove ourselves in the right and they in the wrong. This is not wrong if we are doing this to turn a person to God but if our motive is to exalt ourselves or get the better of a person, it is wrong and is a result of pride. Pride also leads to greed and wanting to get something before someone else gets it. Boasting and bragging is the opposite of being humble before God. Our boasting should be in the Lord, exalting His name and giving Him glory, never in our own works. If we are in a super market and what we are looking for only has one left. We see a little elderly lady seeking the same thing but we get there first. What do we do? If we are walking in perfect love, we would give it to the other person and be happy doing it.
It is so great to be able to find so many answers in the written word God provided for us.
We must not speak evil of our leaders but continually pray for them. If they have a fault, go to them in the spirit of meekness. If this is not possible, then pray for them, placing them in the hands of God, but do not bad mouth them but take all things to the Lord. This does not mean that we can't point out error of false doctrine in the teaching and preaching of God's word. It does not mean that we can't speak out against evil in something the government does that is morally wrong, but we must do so without bad mouthing and spreading rumors about the one that is supposedly teaching or doing wrong. We no longer can trust the news media to get things right. Many are politically biased.
God sees the oppression of the poor. God sees the neglect of the needy. Whether it be religions, governments, nations or any group of people; if the poor and needy are oppressed the ones that do this to them will answer to God.
We can search the scriptures daily but we cannot find one fault with the Lord, who is perfect in every way and His ways are just. We may not understand everything, but with a correct interpretation, and taking the whole passage of the word in context, we cannot find any fault God or His word.
I praise the Lord for this. He has preserved His word through the centuries. The bible has been proven a bulwark, a mainstay, a sold rock, a firm foundation, etc. I could go on and on. God gave us a reference and a guidebook. We don't have to be deceived and in the dark. We can know how God thinks, what God requires and what is and is not sin. We can understand plainly the plan of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. He did not leave us without witness. Many have tried to cut out, add too, steal from and change the words of the Holy bible but the book still has been miraculously preserved for us in this day and age. The bible used to be chained and hidden from the main body of people but not any more. Many tried to burn bibles to keep people in the dark, but the book prevailed. Others have substituted their own book, copying the format and a few verses and made their own book but they are confusing and distortions of the truth. They can't be compared to the original bible that has been preserved through the centuries for our edification. The bible still prevails in today's world. Thank you Lord God for giving that great gift to us. Finding the Dead Sea scrolls have confirmed what the bible already says. I believe they will eventually find more proofs so that we have no excuse not to believe.
We live in a world where evil is called good and good is called evil. The wicked are praised and the good people are thought of as wicked. There was a time when many praised Adolph Hitler and thought he was the answer to all the trouble the Germans suffered after World War 1. He proved to be one of the evilest men ever to exist. This type of deception is caused by spiritual blindness. We look to someone to increase our desire for power and control over those that disagree with us instead of someone to save our souls. Many thought Lenin and Stalin were the answer to the equality. They fell for the line that capitalism was unfair and they needed to have the government control business and distribute to everyone fairly. That did not work. They had to force this on people and take away freedoms to do this. They went so far as to build walls so that people may not escape. Everyone became slaves to the system and lived in constant fear. This too was caused by men envying the rich and seeking wealth instead of seeking God for His riches of salvation and eternal life. If we study history, it may be interesting to discover that many world leaders where followed because the followers were seeking material gain and they envied the rich. Even in America we tend to vote according to our desire for equality but it turns out to be bondage instead. When we do this, we get what we deserve. While we do not vote according to our pocketbooks, we do have to remember that when a nation seeks God and desires to worship God in spirit and in truth, they will prosper financially. Voting for ones that give free handouts though without people wanting to work and make an honest living is not the way to go. That will lead a nation into poverty. It is those that work that pay the taxes. In saying that there are those that really need help like the disabled, single moms that have been abandoned by their provider, and other emergency needs.
We need to be thankful for what we have and seek first the Lord and trust Him to supply our needs. Do not envy those that have more than you do but be thankful for whatever state you are in. If you know the Lord and His spirit is dwelling with you; you have more than the richest man on earth if that rich man does not know God. Actually all that know the Lord are rich already. DC
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