Psalm 129:8 –
And may those who pass by refuse to give them this blessing: “The LORD bless you; we bless you in the LORD’s name.”
This is one of those verses I took a double take on. I tend to question why someone would refuse to bless anyone, including their enemies. I can understand the context but interestingly thousands of years later the situation has not changed. Israel is surrounded by their enemies and they all wish for their destruction. With all their prayer over the millennia I wonder why things remain relatively unchanged.
This past weekend a “rush” on the border was organized by a radical “anti-Israel” group. I cannot 100% say their motives, but up to 25 people were killed rushing the border. It’s almost like this was the expected result and those dead were “pawns” to be exploited as “martyrs”. Ironically the same government who endorsed this “rush” also killed 70 of their own countrymen wanting democracy. This is an example of the constant struggle Israel faces on a daily basis.
I feel Israel is an example of our daily struggle as Christians. I look at the influences on our lives and can see our faith being tested daily. I hate to admit it, having slammed on George Carlin recently for this “religion” skit, but he has some valid points. Unfortunately he has some very valid points which for some who is weak in faith can be sucked into. The hypocrisy of many so called followers of Christ hurts the church more than science!
WHY?? Science can actually prove God as much as it can disprove God where a hypocrite will have someone questioning religion! CNN did an interesting story on Bible “quotes” that are not in the Bible. It got the non-believers hammering on those who are light in Biblical truth. The story pointed out that many followers choose to believe their preachers without their own study. They point is not to belittle churches for leading their people astray, but to point out the importance of doing independent study. There you can have one on one time with God!
This shows how I ramble …how did I get here from this verse? But then again maybe we should be praying for our enemies like Jesus has told us to do many times!