STAND! Occasionally, my daily Bible readings combine together to increase my trust in God. Today, for instance, I read in the final chapter of Micah: The godly man is perished out of the earth, And the upright among men is no more; They all lie in wait for blood; They hunt every man his brother with a net. Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; The prince asks, and the judge is ready for a reward; And the great man, he utters the evil desire of his soul; Thus they weave it together. The best of them is as a brier; The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge; The day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; Now shall be their perplexity. - Micah 7:2-4 By itself this seems to describe our contemporary situation with all the deceits and oppression being administered by our governments and corporate leaders. Then, turning to Psalm 149, I see the righteous response to this very situation: Let the saints exult in glory; Let them sing for joy upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the nations, And chastisements upon the peoples; To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written; He is the glory of all His saints. - Psalm 149:5-9 Of particular note, in that second stanza is wielding of a double-edged sword, for which I recall from reading last night, is not a sword of steel which will be overcome with rust and decay, but of the Word of God. Look a moment at the armor of God which Paul described to the Ephesians: Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace; above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; - Ephesians 6:13-17 This is clarified in Hebrews, speaking of the day of rest enjoined by God at the completing His creation: For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12 Here we find the strength of the only offensive weapon in our armory: The TRUTH. We have also been instructed as to our action in this cosmic battle: to stand. Look again at our call to arms: Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, - Ephesians 6:12-13a The battle is far greater than any of us can imagine. Yet we have chosen to join God in His plans. He gives us no challenge beyond our capacity. So when called to Stand, armed with His Word, the adversary is overcome. STAND, children, STAND! To wrap this up let us return to where we began: The nations shall see and be put to shame for all their might; They shall lay their hand upon their mouth, Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent; Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; They shall come with fear unto the Lord our God, And shall be afraid because of Thee. Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardons the iniquity, And passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, Because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; And .. wilt cast all ... sins into the depths of the sea. - Micah 7:15-19 Not only is the enemy vanquished, but we are exonerated, glorified in and by God for our absolute trust in Him.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:02:46 +0000
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