Psalms
15
– 17
Verse 15:5 talks about living life with God:
The one who does
not lend money with gain in mind
and
cannot be bought to harm an innocent name.
If you live this
way, you will not be shaken and will live together with the Lord.
This
Psalm is a view on how to live together. One could cry “communism” but at the
same time if everyone is working FOR God, then all is in harmony. Communism
unfortunately is derived from the shellfish desires of man. This grows from
peoples jealousy over those with money which grows from the shellfish desire to
gain more than helping the community as a whole. Finally is coopted by peoples
shellfish desires to control the “system”, which if was rooted in God would not
need control.
No,
most of life’s problems would not be if they were rooted in truly following
God. Now I heard a dangerous quote this morning that I needed to comment on.
The cult member said “They were protesting a papacy that burned you at the
stake if you didn’t worship a God who tortured his own son to death to satisfy
his need to punish sinners.” I can’t say enough about this, but it’s an example
on how the Bible is twisted to push an agenda. Yes the church may have gotten
over zealous in pushing the faith, but that in no way is condoned in scripture.
But to twist God sacrificing his son to FORGIVE the sinners to “punish” them is
dangerous “theology” and how people justify death in the name of God.
We
are living in dangerous times where things like this can seem logical to the
uneducated or non-believers. This is the reason it’s IMPORTANT to read
scriptures and follow God closely. That way you can quickly see the fallacy in
statements like this and not let them corrupt the faith. If you are reading
this, understand the importance of reading scriptures first hand and complete.
A snippet here with lies can quickly corrupt your understanding of God to, in
extreme cases, justify murdering others. We MUST be on guard and follow God and
His holy word. I am not saying ignore other people work, but rather to ensure
you can discern what is truth.
The
other two Psalms are prayers of David and it’s interesting to read them in full
context. They both show the concerns and desires of a great leader. Verse 17:3
is one that people need to include more in their prayers:
You have searched
me—my heart and soul—awakened me from dreaming and tested me.
You’ve
found nothing against me.
I
have resolved not to sin in what I say.
Would you ask to be “tested”? I know the
“tests” I have undergone are not fun and to ask God for this is from a person
desiring to be right with Him. Think about David’s life and how his
transgressions are repented and forgiven, but the “consequence” have
ramifications for generations to follow. So ask God to test your heart and for
strength to endure what is in store, you will come out with a better
relationship on the other side.