“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? 4. The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men.”
David had the same concern that we who believe in God and in the values that are intrinsic to that belief have. We look around and see that the foundations of our country are being destroyed. The “foundations” that are not of God need to be destroyed. We just need to be sure that the foundations that we lament are those that pertain to God and His values. Foundations are always being destroyed, but there are some foundations that we destroy at our own peril. You know, of course, that I am thinking of Christian values, those values that honor God and make people better. It is for sure that atheism does not make people better. It is for sure that the “anything goes” philosophy does not make people better. At any rate, we look around and see foundations being destroyed and we wonder what can the righetous who believe in and love the Lord do? The answer to the question does not lie in our righteousness. The answer does not lie in our fretting and worrying about the situation. In ourselves we have no power to change anything. The answer does not lie in our ceasing to love the people for whom Christ died. We need to put away any thought of our own goodness or our own power. This does not mean that there is nothing that we can do, because we can live lives that will advertise the virtues of the moral foundations of the Bible. But the answer does not lie in our actions alone. David gave us the answer in verse 4. He reminded us that “God is in His holy temple.” What does this mean since we do not have a temple? In the Old Testament the temple, or the tabernacle, was where God came to be among His people in the holy of holies. What David means here is that God is present among His people. This is a teaching that we see throughout the Bible. When David fought Goliath, he believed that God was right there with him. We, too, need to be reminded that when our foundations are crumbling God is not absent. He is present and He knows what is going on. This is a great comfort to me and I hope that it is a comfort for you as well. God is not unaware of what is going on, and He will be with us as we live in the darkness of the world as His lights. He does not want us to throw our hands up and give up because things aren’t going our way. He wants us to remember that He is with us and, because of that, the situation is not hopeless. David also reminds us that “God’s throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men.” This means that God is watching all that is going on, and that He is aware of all of it. The history of mankind shows us that there are always those to whom biblical foundations mean nothing. But this does not mean that the foundations are not real, nor that they will ultimately be destroyed. We do not keep the foundation firm; rather, the foundation keeps us firm. We cannot let those who would destroy all that is holy and good make us judgmental and keep us from realizing that God is ultimately in control. We are alive at a certain time in history because God wills it so, and our task is to witness and minister to the world in which we live. We need to hold firmly to our faith in God, who is present with us, and seek to do His will for our lives. If we want to change society, we can live by the values that we preach and teach and depend on God to make the changes that need to be made. In other words, we do not blandly accept the destruction of the foundations, but we hold to the tenets and precepts of those foundations and trust that God will straighten it all out in His good time. Rejoice!!! God is alive and well and He will be with you and guide you through it all!!! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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