Good morning,
Something old, Something new!
If you are just beginning to read the Bible or if you have been reading the Bible for years and years, it is important for all of us to realize that from the first few pages to the final pages in the Bible, it’s a story of love and hate, war and peace, with eternal consequences. The God who gave us this book did so to alert us to the fact that war and fear was always going to be a part of life for anyone who lived in time. From Genesis on ,we are given stories of love and success and hate and cruelty that happens for each generation of livers. Two people, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament, can help us to understand how this works.
David, the youngest of eight brothers, was anointed as king as a very young man, And the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David from that day on.(1Sam.16:13) From that day on he was hated by people around him. His brothers hated him, the King hated him, his first wife hated him, he collected many others who hated him all his life. What did God do for him? Because he genuinely trusted God he could say, I trust in the LORD for protection. So why do you say to me, "Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!(Ps.11:1) How challenging was the war around him? The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right.(v.2) What was happening to the culture around him like? The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?”(v.3) So what was his response? But the LORD is in his holy Temple; the LORD still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked.(vs.4,5) He trusted God to deal with those who hated him, and he had learned that God genuinely loved him and that some day he would see Him face to face. The Old Testament is full of people like that!
The New Testament is full of people just like that as well. From the beginning of the NewTestament we are told how God the Father sent His Son Jesus to live in a body like ours and then to live perfectly for thirty years being tempted like we are. Jesus was always surrounded by enemies from the time he was a new born. He was hated by kings, the town people, his brothers and almost all of the religious leaders who claimed to love his Heavenly Father. Even the people he healed and taught only loved him to get what they wanted from him. Jesus knew what was going on, so he told his faithful followers, "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.(Jn.15:18) Then Jesus explained, The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.(v.19) He made the situation even clearer when he said, Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.(v.20) he also said, And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.(v.20)
There is a lot more to be said on this matter, but I am running out of space today. For now we need to accept the fact that now our new generations are being surrounded by hate and fear and the attacks that come to each of us from the enemy of our souls. Are we really trusting the Lord of Heaven to take care us of as David did and are we also trusting the Lord of heaven to know what to do with those who hate Him far more than they hate us? Can we honestly say like David,
Psalms 11:4 But the LORD is in his holy Temple; the LORD still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.
Roy Wisner
