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Musings on Faith #72 Endurance | |
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My Cousin Charlie sent me an e-mail the other day whose subject title was ‘Psalm 37'. There was no message, no text. So I went to the Bible, to Psalms 37, and read the entire Psalm. It contains a very cogent message for the times we are living in. I am going to quote here just a few ‘stanzas’ of this song of David, but I urge you to stop and read the entire Psalm, just as I did. "Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away...... Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace.... The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him" (Psalm 37:1-2;37;39-40, NIV).
These are uncertain times we are living in, and I believe the feeling of the American people is more fearful and more apprehensive and anxious than at any time in the past several decades - perhaps, even, since the Great Depression. While we who are Christians are in the world, we are not, as Christ taught us, of the world. We are in the world, but we must not place the world, and the things of the world, above our |
relationship with our Lord and our God. It is easy to become anxious in the unstable world we live in. There are those in our own Country who would overturn the Constitution, if they were able. There are terrorists among us with intent to do us great harm, and there are rogue nations which are unstable and brutal, and which might throw the world into the darkness of nuclear war if not soon checked by firm resolve from the democratic nations of the world. All of these things bother us deeply, and as patriotic American citizens we should speak out and let our voices be heard in regard to these things, and others, which do or may impact upon our lives.
But at the same time, we know that ultimately, in this life or the next, all will give account of their lives here on earth, and those who are wicked will be destroyed in eternal hell, their evil works burned in the fire. Therefore, though we may worry or fret, we should have our eyes fixed upon the Lord, who holds us in the palm of His hand, and who protects us from all harm in the spiritual realms, and, if we allow Him, gives us peace beyond all understanding. He is our "stronghold in time of trouble". Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard |
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