Psalms 111 – 113
Today’s reading was very short. Verse 111:2 is something we often dismiss as we study:
Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.
Think about science since it attempts to pull the veil off all of God’s works. I say “attempts” because even stuff that is considered “fact” by the scientific community was shrouded in doubt by the founders. I specifically look at Darwin’s theory of evolution. A famous quote against evolution from Darwin is “that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.” He then goes on to explain how it “could” have happened.
It is ironic how a practice that is steeped in fact and proof just blindly follows the most logical explanation with not one iota of proof. I am more inclined to believe Genesis that Darwin, but at the same time when you consider time dilation, God may very well have evolved the soup he created into man. Adam was formed from “dust” and Darwin does imply we came from “dust”. So maybe once again both are right.
Verse 112:9 continues with attributes of righteous people:
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures for ever;
his horn is exalted in honour.
I’m going to go all “government” on us for a bit. Isn’t it ironic how we say we are a nation built on Judeo-Christian values, yet some of the most vocal critics of the “welfare state” are Christians? If we are in fact a nation under God, it’s our responsibility to protect and help the poor “freely.” At the same time I believe the “poor” have the responsibility to not abuse the giver. It’s not the government’s responsibility to support a person’s poor decisions, especially if these decisions enable them to get more money from the government. I think “welfare” needs to be compassionate, yet done to help those in need and not create a structure of those in need.
The difficulty with this is how you determine if one is really in need. The explosion of people on disability is disconcerting and I believe an example of the government enabling the needy. In 1968 we had 51 people working for every 1 person on disability, today the ratio is 13 to 1. Ironically this is the only reason the unemployment figures are not through the roof. Now is this creating a welfare state where people don’t want to work or is it the byproduct of a capitalistic system that has gone awry? Think about how many jobs have been shipped overseas, we have become a nation of consumers, be it “stuff”, our government or even our churches.
JFK said it “ask not what your county can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” We are all consuming and forcing the current state to change. Our insistent desire for stuff at a good price has forced the companies to adjust their manufacturing so they can provide it at a great deal. Thus causing a loss of jobs and moving this mentality to everything from call centers to engineering. Our consumption has created a transferring of jobs that our educational system is training us not to want. Unfortunately there are some who do not want to put in those extra hours in the lab, so since the jobs that were suited for them have left the country, they are forced to consume from the government.
I could go on forever, but we need to shift to helping others and not focusing on ourselves.
Verse 113:9 often times gives hope to those in need:
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
Verses like these give me hope at the same time I know many believers who never have children and cling to these verses. If Jesus can raise the dead and heal the sick, why is this being done today on a selective basis? I don’t understand why God would heal a non-believer yet have a man of faith stuck in a wheel chair. We tend to get false hope sometimes that sends us into a spiral of distancing ourselves from God.
Why? I have no clue and do not claim to have a notion. We need to live in faith that God will take care of all our needs. I believe the world is a Pachinko Machine and God starts us down a path and each peg we hit is a decision. The path taken determines our next peg we hit. Unfortunately the Pachinko Machine of life has many balls going all at the same time and machines that become interconnected for brief moments. This is why someone’s decision to party late and your decision to work late may result in you never walking again. I don’t believe God is manipulating the machine all the time, just some. I only wish that some resulted in MORE healings!!