Law Breakers

Proverbs 13:13-14

Today laws are often scorned. We see it in the recent spike of mob violence, sweeping through a store or a shopping area stealing and vandalizing. Anarchy is no way to live. Society cannot continue to exist if we allow anarchy to grow.

It seems that we are raising a generation who are so spoiled that they think they can do what they want with no consequences for either themselves or society. Their parents have shielded them for responsibility and consequences. They are so concerned that their kids won’t like them that they have failed to teach basic decency. Their kids run the house.

And now with the invention of the credit card and instant approval, adults can push off the consequences of their own inability to pay. They hold at bay the rule, if you buy it you have to pay for it.

And now there is a growing segment who think, why should I work for it when it will just be given to me! They have lost the value of work. I’m not saying that everyone who isn’t working falls into this trap, but it can be easy to give up looking for work the longer you are unsuccessful. Discouragement can take over. It is almost a slow death of the self.

Anarchy leads to death, death of individuals and death of a society. People need to be in societies where just laws exist and they are enforced. We as human beings need limits to our behaviors. We need fences, not so much to keep others out, but to keep ourselves restrained.

The 1960’s were a time when restraints were lifted and we are paying the consequences of two generations of children raised by those who dropped all boundaries. The professors in our universities embraced this crazy philosophy and have been teaching all our young people this very lesson. They teach that there are no rights and wrongs except what you place on yourself. Everyone has the right to live any way they choose, except of course if it steps on their freedom to do whatever they want to do.

We need to bring back respect for the rule of law. Those who break the law need to pay for it. Those who keep the law need to be rewarded.

The Ten’s

Psalm 10, 40, 70, 100, 130

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wonder why some people seem to get all the breaks in life (Ps 10:5). In those times it can seem as though the LORD is far away from you (v1). Arrogance and evil permeate our society more and more. According to recent news reports the flash mobs in NYC are to the point that the police are unable to do anything to stop them. Anarchy has begun in small ways. In moments like this we want the LORD to get involved immediately (v12 & 15). Notice that those who are on the sidelines and who are victims especially turn to the LORD for help and support (vv14, 17-18). So even when evil men seem to get away with it, God uses the evil to draw people to Himself.

When relief comes, Oh what a feeling! Psalm 40 records the aftermath of just such a moment. The LORD has intervened and rescued (v1). The writer is drawn into worship (vv2-5). Then he tells what the LORD really desires (vv6-8), our hearts. And after that he tells others about God’s goodness (vv9-10). The psalm continues with themes of humility and confession, as well as a dose of justice.

Psalm 70 is a short psalm written in a time of intense need. The writer feels under personal attack and desperately needs the LORD’s intervention. I like the contrast between his expectation of the LORD’s ability to help and his own inability (v5). He is poor and needy. I am poor and needy. He doesn’t want delay. Neither do I.

Psalm 100 is a jubilant song of worship. There is no shame in exuberant expressions in worship. We don’t need to be constrained in our outward demonstrations of joy. The LORD made us. We are His. He will take care of us. He is faithful.

Have you ever cried out to the LORD “out of the depths”? (Ps 130:1) I know I have. In those moments of desperation, every fiber of our being is brought into God’s presence. Nothing is held back (v5). In those moments there is a joining of the knowledge of our own brokenness and lack, and God’s fullness and provision. Forgiveness makes it possible for us to stand before Him (v4). So when you get desperate for the LORD, that is a good thing!