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Feeling and Thinking in Psalm 12: Them and Us?!

 Feeling and Thinking in Psalm 12: Them and Us?!

Psalm 12

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.[a]

1 Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!

    The faithful have vanished from the earth!

2 Neighbors lie to each other,

    speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.

3 May the Lord cut off their flattering lips

    and silence their boastful tongues.

4 They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.

    Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”


5 The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,

    and I have heard the groans of the poor.

Now I will rise up to rescue them,

    as they have longed for me to do.”

6 The Lord’s promises are pure,

    like silver refined in a furnace,

    purified seven times over.

7 Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,

    preserving them forever from this lying generation,

8 even though the wicked strut about,

    and evil is praised throughout the land.

I feel like I need to start somewhere other than where David starts. I want to make it completely clear that I don’t feel I am in any place to judge anyone. I am as the Apostle Paul said the worst of sinners. That isn’t false humility, that's just the way I feel about it.


But I too see injustice, I see the lying, cheating stealing world that presses in and heartlessly destroys lives.

So I find myself often in this quandary. On the one hand I feel like the guilty perpetrator and I also feel like I want to save all the people doing evil in this world. If Jesus hadn’t saved me, I know I would be one of the users and abusers.


I have felt like David in Psalm 1. And again I have thought when I have heard such thoughts  from others, “Come on man, don’t be such an alarmist.” I always think of Elijah who said to God, I’m the only one left! to which God replied, I got 7000 others. Have a look for yourself:



1 Kings 19

14 He replied again, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”


15 Then the LORD told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. 16 Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshib to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. 17 Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha! 18 Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”

Romans 11

2 No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you realize what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said, 3 “LORD, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”a


4 And do you remember God’s reply? He said, “No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!”


5 It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them


I admit it, I am angry and a bit afraid of the lies of the evil one in this world. I am very much disturbed by the fact that liars seem to rule the world, get off scot free and walk about spreading lies unabated. It really bothers me, and I feel for all the people who fall prey to them.

Scams are so prevalent, and I don't think it serves my purpose to get sidetracked on explaining this one or that one, but my mind is a flood of the scams and liars that hunt people down to steal their money and hearts. I am beside myself with the flood of realisation that so many liars abound. I hate it. I sometimes fear it and I am really upset about it. Lying lovers, lying companies, lying delivery people, uplying people calling saying your computer needs service from Microsoft, lying car repair people, lying teachers, lying colleagues, lying family members ... .OH OH heart please find rest in the TRUTH. Jesus said He was the truth. 


Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6


So here I am, just as worked up as David and Elijah. Just as disturbed. Oh Lord God, thank you that you are the truth and that you will protect and bring justice and that the father of lies is defeated.

You will win. Lord God of heaven and earth, you will win over the lies and the liars. 


Lie

Lies

Liar

Lying


TRUTH


These days my life seems so busy I don’t have enough time to give to these passages. Please pray with me that I can revisit, sort out my thoughts and respond to these Psalms even more thoughtfully concerning the heavy, feeling full, emotional thoughts and feelings of humanity in these words of yours.



Artist Caravaggio

Year c. 1602

Medium oil on canvas

Dimensions 133.5 cm × 169.5 cm (52.6 in × 66.7 in)

Location National Gallery of Ireland

On loan from the Society of Jesus, Leeson Street., Dublin


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Christ_(Caravaggio)#
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Location: Heverlee, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

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