Shalom,
Please begin by reading Psalm 53.
There are two great themes in this Psalm. 1) The Spiritual Sickness Rampant in this World. 2) Yahweh’s Seeking Heart for People. David touched on things we’re very familiar with, and he wrote with strong conviction. We also know of the sinfulness of humanity and the great love of our Savior. We know the modern worldview of good-hearted mankind is an illusion, a deception. We know we need the salvation provided through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We know that left to ourselves we’d eventually destroy one another and wipe out the human race.
Let’s look at the spiritual sickness in our world. There’s an epidemic that’s been with us as long as there’s been a mankind. We have diseases that strike fear into the hearts of many people: things like cancer and AIDS. But what about the spiritual sickness that’s ravaged mankind throughout history? We call that disease sin, and it continues to destroy bodies and souls and spirits. Even though there’s been a cure for it throughout time, many continue to fall to its evil. One thing this Psalm clearly points out is that many reject the peace and hope and salvation that Yahweh has provided for all of us.
This Psalm points out that things were bad in David’s day, and it also points prophetically to the future. Men’s hearts have become increasingly harder as the consequences of sin continue to grow. Conditions are worse now than they ever have been. With more people, there’s a greater burden of sin affecting our world. Yahweh is big enough to overcome all of it, but we humans are facing a rise in evil as the devil ramps up the pressure. Time until the end is shorter than it ever has been.
The main symptom of this sickness is foolishness. “The fool says in his heart, There is no God.” The word fool means an empty-headed, wicked person. It’s a person who’s chosen to ignore the Creator God. It’s a person whose life is vile and corrupt because of this omission. A more direct reading of this verse would give us the following: “The fool says in his heart, No God.” Whether you take that to mean there’s no God or that a fool tells God he’s not going to do what he says, it means trouble for the one doing it.
It’s astonishing that very intelligent and clever people ignore the fact that there is a Creator God. When they see all the Lord has made, with all the wonders of nature, how can they not acknowledge Yahweh’s hand in creation? (Check out Rom 1:18-23). Some scientists spend their days examining the intricacies of living things, yet they fail to see the intelligent design of God Almighty. The evidence says there is a God, but fools say no. Many say no because they don’t want there to be a God, a supreme being who’s made rules for living and who expects us to live responsibly. Because of this they will do all they can to find evidence against his existence.
The problems of this world could be solved by the acceptance of one great truth: THERE IS A GOD, and we humans aren’t it. An amazing foolishness abides in the heart of man. He makes his own gods and ignores the One and Only True God. Then after doing this he declares himself intelligent. People seek peace and contentment in all the wrong places, and then tell Christians they’re the foolish ones for trusting in the source of true peace. Many people are crying out for peace, but then are unwilling to turn to the great provider of peace. That’s certainly a great foolishness.
Another symptom of our human foolishness is great fear. “They were overwhelmed with dread, when there was nothing to dread.” Think of it, they’re afraid and don’t really know what they’re afraid of. Look at our world. Part of our world demands “No Weapons of Mass Destruction!” Another part declares, “We need them to keep peace and stop war!” I would love for there to be no need for police forces or armies, but mankind has a bent toward evil that sometimes has to be stopped with force.
1 John 4:18 says, “perfect love drives out fear.” When we get to know the love of God through Jesus we don’t need to fear the foolishness of man. But when people choose not to fear the Creator God they’re left with a great fear of fearful things. Just ask around, people everywhere are afraid of that undetermined danger called “Something.” You’ve heard people speak of fear that “something” might happen. They don’t know what that something is, but fear of it resides deep in our hearts. People’s nerves are shot and digestion disrupted because they have no peace in their hearts to help them overcome their fear.
The condition of our world isn’t good. The diagnosis points out that we’re dying. There’s an awful lot of immoral filth being spread around our world by mankind, while at the same time we complain of the problems. There is an answer. We have a Great God Almighty who’s seeking and searching for those who will believe in him and follow his ways. Too many of the people of this earth desire for any solution other than the God of the Bible. They want education to cause all of mankind to grasp that we can have a Utopia if we’re just educated enough. They want to fight against our inherent greed by making rules and regulations to stop it. But they don’t want the real solution already provided, a changed heart. Seeking peace and salvation in Jesus is foolishness to man, but it’s the wisdom of God. 1 Cor 1:18 describes our problem. “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The second great theme is Yahweh’s seeking heart for the lost. Yes, our loving heavenly Father is looking for something. “Good looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand.” What is it that we need to understand? It’s found in Heb 11:6. “Anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Our Father in Heaven is looking for hearts that are looking for him. There are many promises throughout the Bible about those who hunger and thirst for righteousness or are seeking for truth. But too many are looking for the loopholes or alternatives to biblical truth.
We need to understand that Yahweh isn’t sitting up in Heaven watching for us to do something wrong so he can punish us. That’s not our Creator God’s purpose. He’s seeking to bless those who “earnestly seek him.” If only more people would grasp this truth. It’s our Father’s desire to reward us. It’s his desire that none should die and go to Hell. But he’s given us free will to choose for ourselves. He never forces us to accept his love and grace. If we miss Heaven, it will be because of our own choices.
All have sinned. There’s no righteous person. And yet Yahweh is seeking for those who want him. He knows our need for redemption, and he freely offers it to us. He doesn’t want to destroy anyone. Ezek 18:32 shows us our heavenly Father’s heart. “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone.” Yahweh’s willing to give us all another chance. Nobody’s too far gone. It’s foolish to think this way. He’s given us everything we need to know of his love and grace. We have the Bible, his Word of truth revealed to us. We have the Holy Spirit residing in the hearts of Christians to help them minister the Gospel of the Kingdom to our world.
Verse 6 cries out, “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” Salvation here is plural. There is deliverance in Yahweh’s hands. There is continued deliverance for all those who seek the Lord God Almighty with an honest and open heart. The God that so many choose to ignore is willing to be vulnerable to those same people. He’s willing to appear weak before them so that they may find salvation. Yahweh has offered salvation throughout human history to all who would honor his name and follow his righteous rules.
The main problem with much of the world in this regard is pride. Pride keeps many people from humbling themselves before their Creator God. Three times the Bible states that Yahweh is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. We have to admit that we don’t have all the answers. We have to admit that we need his help to overcome the sin in our lives. We have to surrender our willfulness to him so he can guide us to the way of righteous living.
The only way to get to the truth is for foolish people to throw away their preconceived notions. What if there really is a God, looking down on earth, observing the pride in the hearts of so many people? What if he knows of our general selfishness, our bent to be greedy? What if the creationists are right and there is no evolution or millions and billions of years? What if this God of the Bible has revealed himself to our world? The purpose of the Bible is multi-faceted. It’s a record of experiences people have had with Yahweh. It’s a rulebook for righteous living. It’s a record of how human hearts continue to deny his existence. It’s a record of his grace in touching us despite our sinful hearts.
The main evidence for the God of the Bible is the changed lives of those who have sought him and accepted his pardon for their sins. Nothing but a truly forgiving and loving Creator God could make the amazing changes we see in the lives of so many sinners. I can look at my own life and see that nothing but a supernatural God could make the kind of changes I’ve seen in me. The people who truly surrender to the Lordship of Jesus will find that they are amazingly different. Changed hearts and lives are the very real result of people admitting that they’re sinners and allowing the Father, Son, and Spirit to become a vital part of their lives.
This Psalm points out the ruin and corruption of mankind without God. But it also refers to the salvation and deliverance offered by a truly loving God. Sin has ruined mankind, but the death and resurrection of Jesus offers hope and salvation to all who will seek. We can have wisdom to replace our foolishness. We can have holiness in place of the filth of our sin. We can have joy to replace our fear. All we have to do is admit that our human intelligence and ability is limited and that it can’t solve the problem of our selfishness and sin.
Trust in the Lord God Almighty and receive deliverance from the foolishness we all harbor in our hearts. To reject our Creator based on our human standards is patently ridiculous. Seek the God of the Bible, find the understanding you need and encourage others to do the same. And our loving heavenly Father isn’t very far away. All we have to do is turn around and we’ll find him standing right behind us. He’s been waiting a very long time for many of us to admit our foolishness and receive his wisdom.
Blessings & Peace, Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment
Blessings! I hope that this study has enlightened you or helped you in some way. Please feel free to leave a plain old comment, or a question. Comments are moderated to keep the peace