100 “If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.”
Psalms 11:3-4 NKJV
When I was a child I enjoyed holding onto an innertube for hours, riding the ocean waves. (I didn’t know how to swim at that point, so I was very motivated to stay holding on to that innertube.) At the end of the day, when I would lay down to go to sleep, I still had the sensation of going over those waves over and over and over again.
Additionally, as a child I enjoyed spinning around on our linoleum kitchen floor. I always wore socks in the house and the socks made it very easy to spin around on my mother’s waxed floor. However, as you know, spinning around makes you dizzy. So, I would spin around and around and then lay down on the floor to enjoy the “spinning room.” Somehow or another this was very enjoyable to me.
The science of detecting and responding to motion is very interesting and complicated. But, as most people know, the balance center for the body is actually in the inner ear.
Therefore, any problems with the inner ear can cause problems with maintaining balance. As I can attest, prolonged spinning or moving up and down can also trigger vertigo.
If you’ve ever experienced vertigo (the body, because of inner ear problems or other issues, over responds to motion or detects motion when it is not present), you know that balance is extremely important.
The shaking and moving going on in our society—and indeed in the world—has left many with the feeling of spiritual vertigo.
Indeed, things we used to be able to count on, commonly shared values and beliefs, seem to be disappearing, replaced by a cacophony of ways of being and doing based on malignant Narcissism. In other words, there is no search or respect for a greater good. People are doing what is right in their own eyes. Now, the cause of the upheaval of our foundations is obvious as this trend has followed a moving away from faith in the Lord.
For me, I no longer enjoy the feeling of being dizzy. And I definitely don’t enjoy the shaking and spinning in the midst of a society cut loose from its Anchor to spin out of control.
I thank God that He is the stability of our times and that—as we put our trust in Him—we do not have to participate in spiritual vertigo.
“The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the Lord is His treasure.”
Isaiah 33:5-6 NKJV
In today’s portion of David’s psalms, we see that David was well aware of the feeling of the foundations being shaken with the resultant potential for spiritual vertigo. But, he also knew the solution. Just as spinning skaters overcome dizziness by focusing their eyes on a fixed object, David turned his eyes to the One Who sits on His throne and is never shaken.
In other psalms, David expresses his confidence in the stability of the Lord, speaking in terms of the Lord being our “Rock.”
“I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalms 18:1-2 NKJV
“Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.”
Psalms 62:1-2 NKJV
No one being honest would be able to deny the instability of the times in which we are living. But, we do not have to participate in the resultant spiritual vertigo. We have a firm foundation. Yes, we have a rock on which to stand. Our Lord is on His throne. And, as we look to Him, He will be the stability we need to avoid becoming so dizzy that we can no longer stand.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
Even though it seems that all the foundations have been shaken, the Lord is still on His throne.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
100 “In the Lord I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your mountain’?”
Psalms 11:1 NKJV
I saw something very interesting on a documentary about the hunting habits of a particular falcon found in the desert areas of the United States of America. Of particular interest is a hunting technique wherein the falcons work together to flush out their prey.
You see, small prey in the desert, have found that going underneath the large thorn bushes, will keep them safe, as no predator wants to meet the business end of some pretty nasty thorns.
Now, falcons hunt by diving and quickly grabbing the prey. Obviously, not being able to dive into a thorn bush, they must do something to force the prey out of the impervious thorn retreat. So, one falcon stands outside the thorn bush and acts menacing. In actuality, the falcon is incapable of catching the prey from the ground. However, thinking that it’s in danger, the small prey will panic and run out into the open where the other falcon (flying high above) swoops down and ends the hunt.
“Flushing out” prey is a ubiquitous hunting technique found in nearly all levels of the animal kingdom. What flushing out your prey involves—as seen in the case of the desert falcon—is doing something to cause the prey to panic, fleeing the safety of their refuge, and running into the open where they become easy pickings.
Sadly, even people, finding themselves in dangerous situations, have made the tragic move of leaving the safety of their hiding place because of panic.
Friend, Satan well knows the flushing out technique. He uses it when trying to attack those who have put their trust in God through Jesus Christ. He knows that he is limited as to what he can do to the child of God. So what he does, is to attempt to make the child of God panic and run out of the shelter of their trust in the Lord.
Sometimes, leaving your place of safety in the Lord is provoked by allowing circumstances to make you begin to walk in fear. In turn, fear can cause panic and the letting down of our confident trust in the Lord, leaving us open to the attack of the enemy.
In today’s portion from David’s psalms, we see that David knew very well that his refuge was the Lord. He also knew that if he was trusting in the Lord, he had no need to walk in fear of men.
“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Psalms 56:11 NKJV
As well, David knew that there would always be someone, or something, provoking him to abandon his trust in the Lord to go it on his own. And—going it on your own—never ends well.
So, no matter what is going on, no matter what others are doing, even if the heavens and earth are shaking, let us know and understand what David knew:
You don’t need to seek another refuge if you are already hiding in the Lord.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Aug 2
- 3 min read
“The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts. His ways are always prospering; Your judgments are far above, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved; I shall never be in adversity.””
Psalms 10:4-6 NKJV
My mother was about four years old. Her mother, having recently given birth to my mother‘s brother, was in bed, recuperating. My mother, being a very hyperactive child, was running amok. At one point, my grandmother (Addie Mae) said, “Myrtle, if you do that again, I’m gonna spank you!” To which my mother replied, “You’re always saying that, but you never do it!” Well, this was before Myrtle knew Addie Mae very well. Addie Mae called to someone in the house and had them bring Myrtle and lay her across her lap. At this point, Addie Mae did the “train up a child in the way he should go” beat on Myrtle’s little behind.
What’s the point here? In this life, it is true that evil often goes seemingly unpunished. As well, it might go unpunished for some great length of time, leading the wicked to believe they will never be punished.
I know of political leaders who—had they been anybody else—would, at the very least, be in jail. Yet, their money and influence buys them a pass.
Incredibly, some of our political leaders seem to believe that everything is right between them and the Lord, although they promote abortion and all other kinds of heinous acts. Though not appointed to be their judge, I will say that their lives, their beliefs, are totally inconsistent with any honest interpretation of the word of God. And yet, they apparently think even God is impressed with them.
I was once talking to the Lord about a religious leader who was living a very duplicitous life and had actually been “caught” several times. Yet, they always seemed to get out of it, only to continue doing the evil things they were doing. In response, the Lord pointed me to this scripture from Ecclesiastes:
“Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
Ecclesiastes 8:11 NKJV
Indeed, because of the fact that the wicked are not immediately punished, or substantially punished, they continue doing evil things.
In some cases there is also a distorted view of the mercy of God. That is, mercy may be interpreted by some as license to do whatever they want. (God have mercy on us all! Our flesh is weak!)
Ultimately, the problem at the root of evil living, is the absence of the fear of the Lord. We have seen—writ large—what happens in a society when criminals are given a pass. Not fearing authority, they become a blight on society.
In this portion from Psalms 49 (attributed to the “Sons of Korah”), we see the arrogance of the wicked who have no fear of the Lord:
“Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names.”
Psalms 49:11 NKJV
In today’s portion of David’s psalms, we see that David is acutely aware of the dynamic of there being no fear of the Lord in the wicked. He notes that they apparently think they will never be called to give an account. Given, a lot of times it does seem that way. But the fact is, God is watching, and they will not escape answering to Him one day.
As we talked earlier in our time with David, the favor of the Lord, and the fear of the Lord, go hand-in-hand. Without fear of the Lord, you cannot, will not, please God.
For our purposes today, I want you to understand that you are wasting your time when you try to figure out why evil people do what they do. The answer is very simple: they have no fear of the Lord; they think they’ll always get by. They are wrong. Just as Addie Mae exacted punishment on disobedient Myrtle, so the judgment of the Lord is inescapable.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The wicked have no fear of the Lord. But they should.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!