Tag Archives: Righteous

Singing with the King (97) – Foundations & Righteousness

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)

When I was younger, many years ago, I heard Billy Graham talk about how he did his devotions. He did 5 Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs a day. So every month, he would go through the entire books of Psalms and Proverbs. When I don’t have time to do my study, that’s when I do this same devotional. But I only do the Psalms. So like today, being the 28^th, I would read Psalms 136-140. The great thing about this approach is that if you miss a day, you just multiply the date x 5, back up five, and start there. No need to make up.

A few years back I started using the NLT. Years and years of the NAS kinda got familiar, so I picked a new translation to stir things up. And it was a great move. As we look at the above verse, which is the NAS, here’s what the NLT has, and it provides, what I think, is some excellent insight:

The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?

So we move from plain old foundations to foundations of law and order. Now if you look up the word foundations in the Hebrew, you don’t find anything in its meanings anywhere that specific. But I think this translation does David justice. And I believe that it has just as much to do with us today as it did King David.

Our foundations have collapsed. I doubt anybody would debate that. We have suffered a collapse, but the opinions surrounding why, are as varied and divisive as our culture. For the sake of moving on, let’s assume David’s description and definition would be best, much of it having to do with a complete lack of understanding of Who God is, what He does, and outright denial of Him having any right in declaring to us how we should live, both as individuals and as a nation.

So the question still stands: What can the righteous do? And the beginning of our answer—we need to be righteous, and proclaim His righteousness.

But the complete answer comes in the next verse:

But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. (vs. 4)

Deny Him, ignore Him, dis-invite Him. He still rules. Remove Him from academia, from the marketplace, from politics, He still shows up in the hearts of the Righteous. And it’s up to us to make Him and His Way plain. Because the day is coming when, as David said:

The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence. He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds. For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face. (vs. 5-7)

Simply put, Jesus tells us that the two greatest commands are: Love God and love people. If the righteous of God we do that, love will go a long way in healing and repairing these foundations.

Singing with the King (72) – Understanding

Leave a reply

When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. (Psalm 73:25)

waiting3 This Psalm was written by Asaph, who was a Levite in the service of King David. He was also a drummer, and spent a lot of time serving before the ark of the LORD.

So the singers, Heman, Asaph and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze. (1 Chronicles 15:19

So he [King David] left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required. (1 Chronicles 16:37)

Let’s face it, life is filled with things we don’t understand. No, I’m not talking about formulae, or equations, or theorems. I’m talking life problems— the kind that cause you anguish, misery, and as Asaph said, trouble.

Now the fact that he was a singer AND a drummer pretty much explains his confusion (oops—sorry). And what he was confused about was that he, as a righteous person, was constantly being punished and under affliction, which he thought, was from the Lord. The other side of this problem was that wicked people flourished, and they never seemed to have any problems. He had wrestled with this long enough to where he wanted to throw up his hands, declare “I don’t care”, and give up. But rather than giving up, he did something important. He entered the sanctuary of God.

Another way I would put it, is that he put himself, his life, and his world, within God’s context. So what’s God’s perspective like?

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”(Isaiah 55:8-9)

Sounds pretty out of reach and inscrutable. Until you read what Paul has to say about it.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned… “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:14,16) You have the mind of Christ!

If you’re facing an unfathomable or agonizing problem, go into the sanctuary of God, and get His perspective.

Singing with the King (51) – Foundations

“The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3 NLT)

Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for formal group photo in the East Conference Room in Washington This is a great question, because it describes with uncanny accuracy what has been going on in our nation: the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same sex marriage; the rush to approve and even applaud transgender procedures; and the tolerance-screamers, who show no resemblance to what the purportedly proclaim. I could go on describing our upside-down culture, but I’ve made my point. The foundations have collapsed.

Now you may ask: “What foundations?” Those which have been laid since the beginning of our country which were based upon biblical principles and God’s law.

And you also may ask: “Who are the righteous?” Am I placing myself above those with whom I do not agree? Do I consider myself better than they?

No. In fact we are told to: Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

“Righteous” here means those who love and obey God’s laws, and are vexed by all the unrighteous laws and decisions which seem to piling higher every day.

Still, the question stands, and needs to be answered. “What can the Righteous do?” The good news is this is not a rhetorical question. The answer actually appears in the very next verse: But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven.

So what should we do? Well, the first thing is to worship, and come before His presence. The second thing is to wait, because the LORD still rules from heaven. The third is to live life in context—in HIS context. Love God, and love your neighbor. Show those who are watching what it means to be a worshiper of God, a follower of Christ, and a keeper of God’s laws. And four, because of all those things, be an influence for righteousness and right-thinking.

Regardless where our country goes or doesn’t go, remember the LORD is in His holy Temple.