wow…it’s been a month since i wrote anything here. it’s amazing how it’s so easy to start something, but then so easy to quickly not do it anymore. i stopped on psalm 10, and have still been reading but clearly not writing about it. i’m not going to write about all of them and try to catch up, but i am going to pull out some of the ones that really struck me.
psalm 12.
1 Help, LORD, for the godly are no more;
the faithful have vanished from among men.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbor;
their flattering lips speak with deception.
doesn’t this seem like the world now? it speaks to me so loudly of our world. it seems like the godly are no where to be found sometimes. it seems like everywhere you look there are ungodly things being praised, honored, glorified…while the things of God are nowhere to be found. to someone who is trying to live a godly life, it creates a real sense of not belonging to this world. it reminds me of that old hymn, this world is not my home, i’m just a passin’ through…my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue…
verse 6 says that the wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men. i feel such a sense of caution when i read these verses. the godly and faithful have vanished among men, but what is honored among men is vile and evil in God’s sight. it reminds me that truly, God’s ways are not the ways of men. in isaiah 55:8 God says My ways are not your ways, neither are My thoughts your thoughts.
it reminds me to check myself to see if i’m living among things honored by men or by God. if the things i do and say and watch and listen to and engage in are honored in the world, then i can say pretty confidently that they are not honored in God’s eyes. this scripture speaks to me of God’s holiness and purity. it also reminds me that if i am to be transformed into the image of God (Rom 12:1-2) then i should not conform to the patterns of this world. i shouldn’t allow myself to be enticed by things that the world says are good, when in God’s economy they are evil. hebrews 12:1-2 says that we should throw off every sin that entangles us. i like the world entangles, because it creates a picture in my brain. i am thinking of how cords get all tangled up when they’re thrown into a drawer or something. they get all tangled and are SO hard to untangle. it’s the same with us and our sin. once we engage in things that the world encourages it’s so hard for us to untangle ourselves from them to free us to life in Christ. we’re enticed. our appetites have been encouraged…but our purity and holiness and sanctification have also been compromised.
next…..
seeking His heart 