The Right Confidence

“Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why

do You hide in times of trouble? The wicked

in his pride persecutes the poor; let them be

caught in the plots which they have devised.

“For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;

he blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.

The wicked in his proud countenance does not

Seek God; God is in none of his thoughts."

     Psalm 10:1-4 (NKJV)

The psalmist cries out about the wicked who are prospering. Indeed, the wicked are proud and boastful. They oppress the vulnerable and persecute the poor.  And they seem to commit their evil acts without hindrance or consequence. The psalmist questions (as many others do, even today) why God appears to do nothing about it, why He seems to stand afar off.

“Arise, O Lord!  O God, lift up Your hand!

Do not forget the humble. Why do the

wicked renounce God? He has said in his

heart, ‘You will not require an account.’

“But You have seen, for You observe

trouble and grief to repay it by Your hand.

The helpless commits himself to You;

You are the helper of the fatherless.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evil

man; seek out his wickedness until You

find none."

     Psalm 10:12-15 (NKJV)

The wicked have also renounced God. They think they can get away with their evil, that they will never be held to account. Their confidence is in their pride and arrogance. This folly will be their downfall because God sees everything, including all they do. And although God is longsuffering, one day He will cause an end to oppression and persecution, He will bring judgment to bear on all evil doers.

“The Lord is King forever and ever; the

nations have perished out of His land.

Lord, You have heard the desire of the

humble; You will prepare their heart;

You will cause Your ear to hear; to do

justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

that the man of the earth may oppress

no more.”

     Psalm 10:16-18 (NKJV)

By contrast, the humble commit their cause to the Lord. They know that He is not indifferent to their needs and concerns. The helpless trust that God hears and will answer them. They know that while the wicked may be successful for a time, God ultimately will bring justice and cut them off. God confirms the hearts of His suffering people and He never forsakes them, even in the midst of difficult times.

Make sure your confidence is in the Lord today and every day.

Thursday Devotional - Words and Warnings Ignored

Have you ever felt led to boldly speak up about something, but it didn’t seem to make a difference or have an impact?

I felt like that recently. In an outside organization, we needed to fill a particular position. As I was praying about it one night, God brought someone to mind. I mentioned it at my next meeting, including the reasons why they might be a good fit. However, no one else seemed led in that direction or even willing to consider them.   

I wonder if Paul felt ignored over and over again. Not only did he not seem to get anywhere when he talked in front of the Jews, Felix, Festus and Agrippa, but his warning about sailing to Rome was ignored, too!

Acts 27:1-2a, 8-11   When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. ² We boarded a ship… ⁸ We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

⁹ Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, ¹⁰ “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” ¹¹ But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

As we’ve talked before, we aren’t responsible for convincing people. We are responsible for being obedient to speak when and what God says. The results are left to Him. He may have different purposes for what He leads us to say. If you read the rest of chapter 27, you’ll see how God used Paul’s warning to give him credibility when disaster did strike.   

When have you prayerfully spoken up and seemingly been ignored? Let’s trust the results to God. Instead of throwing our hands up and getting frustrated, lets continue to pray about any future words or actions that would align with His plans and purposes.

Alice

The Downside of Hope

Games of chance, the Lottery, and any casino on the planet, are just a few examples of bad places to set your hope. There are far more options than these, though. In fact, there are many which are deceptively attractive as object of hope in our culture. One of them should have been pretty well shattered by our COVID-19 world-wide pandemic. Where I live, the pandemic hasn't really touched us, so my community thinks they don't have to worry about it. The Bible speaks to that sort of shortsightedness.

Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. (Judges 18:7 NASB)

The life of the people of Laish doesn't sound bad at all, does it? It's the life we want, nice, quiet, peaceful, you can almost hear the idyllic music playing in the background as the camera pans across their fertile valley...And then Dan shows up.

...and came to Laish, to a people quiet and secure, and struck them with the edge of the sword; and they burned the city with fire. And there was no one to deliver them, because it was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the valley which is near Beth-rehob. And they rebuilt the city and lived in it. They called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father who was born in Israel; however, the name of the city formerly was Laish. (Judges 18:27-29 NASB)

The city of Laish is no more, not even the name. The tribe of Dan, possibly an evil people, certainly idolatrous, were their downfall. But only because they had separated themselves from the rest of their people. They made themselves easy prey for one of the smallest tribes in Israel. 

In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, the attitude of the people of Laish is described as having "hope". They dwelt in hope. They lived peaceably in hope. And they lived quietly and confident on hope. Sounds nice, doesn't it? But it was hope placed in the mistaken belief that things would always continue as they are. When is that ever true?

We, as disciples of Jesus, have no security in the consistency of this world. Change is constant in this place, globally. Our hope must be set on another place, a "heavenly city", not made with human hands, where our Savior intercedes for us (Hebrews 9:11,13:14). So, in this world, let us take care, be alert, and represent the Kingdom of our true citizenship.

Hope is vital for our walk as disciples of Jesus, but it is also dangerous when misplaced. Let us focus on the only true object of hope, and be ready to defend it before any who ask us (1 Peter 3:15). The Savior awaits us in a City which is our true home. Let that place be our sustaining hope in this degenerate world, which is passing away.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation