Would you be willing to let your enemies be
your judge, jury and executioner? The psalmist in Psalm 7 tells the LORD that
if he has done evil, to let his enemies carry out judgment on him. He is so
certain of his innocence that he is willing to lay it on the line before the
LORD. He wants the LORD to stop his enemies in their tracks. I love the image
of being pregnant with evil, conceiving trouble and giving birth to
disillusionment. That really is the process of evil. It begins, grows and then
comes to fruition.
Class warfare is nothing new. The labeling
of our opponents as doing something wrong didn’t start with the 2008
presidential campaign. Psalm 37 shows that God’s people, as do most humans,
look at the temporary gains of wickedness and question. We ask if serving the
LORD is worth it. Sometimes wickedness has short term gains and righteousness
doesn’t. But in the end, judgment comes and the righteous are vindicated. We
must be patient and trust in the LORD’s provision. It may appear that evil pays
off, but only for the moment. Righteousness pays eternal dividends.
Psalm 67 begins with a blessing pronounced
on God’s people. The writer prays that God’s grace and blessing would be on us,
that when we look at His face we would see a smile of pleasure. And he wants
this so that God’s message of hope and salvation would be welcomed all over the
world. This really is the reason God blesses us. He wants the blessing that He
pours into our lives to be an enticement for the rest of the world to come and
partake in His grace as well. He gives it to us to pass along to others, so
those others might likewise pass it along after having come to a full knowledge
of the Giver of the grace.
In contrast to the idols of the world, the
LORD has no equal. It is like someone with a AAA battery flashlight compared to
the brilliance of the sun. There is no comparison. Psalm 97:7 says that
everyone who trusts in someone or something other than the LORD (an idol) are
put to shame. Even the idols (little “g” gods) will worship the LORD! We have
much to worship. The LORD’s character and being are so great that to do
otherwise would be folly.
“Unless the LORD builds the house”, Psalm
127 begins. And yet how many of us build our lives apart from the LORD’s
design. All the work and effort mean nothing if the LORD is not directing. One
of those designs is for family. Even in the era of “birth control” children are
a reward! If we don’t have children, who will?