In
my Sunday message of July 7, I read most of Psalm 145, but skipped over vs.
20.
One of you asked why I did so.
Great
question.
I do remember trying to decide whether or not to read it and I decided
not because it rises questions that could have been dealt with in the message
but would have made the message too long.
Furthermore the issues the verse raises will be dealt with directly in
the coming weeks.
The
questions that verse raises for me are the following.
Does God only watch over those who love him?
What about everyone else?
What does it mean that God will destroy all the wicked?
Doesn’t God love everyone?
Furthermore who comprises the wicked?
The line between good and evil in each of, it seems to be at least, is a
very blurry line.
It’s
important to note that the Psalms are poetry, prayer, and songs not doctrinal
statements.
The overall picture is that those who trust in the Lord will find
themselves safe in a dangerous world.
Of course “safe” needs to be defined from and eternal perspective
rather than a temporal one.
Further the big picture here tells us that evil and those who cling to it
rather than God will be destroyed.
Does that mean that they will be experience punishment during their lives
on earth?
Does that mean they they will be judged after death?
Does it mean that they will spend eternity in Hell?
But how could they spend eternity “alive” in hell, when the word used
is “destroyed” which, one would assume, means “cease to exist’.
After
all is said and done, we are often left with a thousand questions.
We are like the fish in the tank who can comprehend neither the world
beyond the actions or provisions of the tank owner and caretaker.
Yet God has given us something we can understand which is this, “one
day this world will have been repaired.
It will have been set right.
One the best and deepest of all human yearning will be met in meeting
God”.
The
psalmist, who lived in a world full of evil, brutality and violence, who a life
which was probably very difficult, painful, and short, this psalmist was about
to look beyond the immediate and revel in the knowledge that God is even now
setting the world to rights.
For
more:
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