On The Journey--TSADDE!

Righteous are You, O LORD,
And upright are Your judgments.
Your testimonies, which You have commanded,
Are righteous and very faithful.
My zeal has consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words
Your word is very pure;
Therefore Your servant loves it.
I am small and despised,
Yet I do not forget Your precepts.
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your law is truth.
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me,
Yet Your commandments are my delights.
The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting;
Give me understanding, and I shall live

The 18th letter and stanza of this acrostic expression of the writers deep-seated emotions about their circumstances.

When we do everything we can to do what is right, do we get tired when we see our efforts fall short?

This is what I'm getting out of this stanza--the writer knows that God's laws are right, he's trying to live by them, but all around them, people are living by their own standards and codes of righteousness. He's getting tired--of being harassed because of his zeal to do things God's way, instead of the way people consider to be just.

I've often felt that way myself. Not that I'm so perfect, but when I try to live according to God's Word and then watch all those who don't--appear to prosper--my flesh gets weak and I want to angry and want to tell people off. However, when Holy Spirit speaks to my heart, I calm down and continue to seek God's Word, with my mind made up to do things God's Way.

I know many Believers who have encountered some of the same things I have in this regard--we are criticized, ridiculed, and persecuted because we refuse to go along with the status quo--accept everything everyone does and ignore God. We won't do it.

Our opposition--or at least mine--has come from two primary sources--those who don't believe in God and those who promote living in opposition to God's Word because it is politically expedient.

Though I get weary and spiritually weak in this continuing fight, I won't give up. I won't allow those who choose not to Believe, to deter me or dissuade me. They have a right to believe or not believe just as I do. When they choose to cite science as a standard, I know they have forgotten--if they ever knew--that God created all that was ever created and the goal of science is to try to explain--why--science does not create anything from nothing, which is why scientists are yet puzzled by Creation and are forever trying to discover--the how and why. That's what they do--discover--not create.

On the other hand, I am appalled at Believers--those who proclaim to be Christians or at least know something about The Word--those who encourage living in opposition to God's Word and promote ungodliness. It is this group that has the most to worry about when they stand before God on That Day. It is because of sin running rampant and approved by Supreme Court Justices and any other legislative body or persons--who refuse to see the benefit of God's Word as His intent for mankind that the world is in the shape it is.

We must call sin--sin! Liars (and this covers most politicians) are sinners! Thieves--in high places and low places are sinners! All sexual behavior outside the parameters of marriage as God defines it--is sin! Having respect of person (giving people advantages over others for no reason other than association)--is sin! Allowing self-pride--in thinking we know more than we do to reign--is sin and usually leads to problems! When we don't know something, we should own it, and seek to learn it.

This is what the writer has concluded--without God's Word to guide him, there can be nothing but chaos and destruction. Have we reached that conclusion? Are we going with the status quo--anything goes? Are we cementing our relationship with the God of Heaven or the god of this world?

We have choices to make--if we haven't already made them--and I choose to Believe God and live according to His Word--not the dictates of man. What about you?