Control The Uncontrollable
What a time to live…
I truly believe that everyone in every generation has had a moment when you, the well-respected society (well-respected from a biblical standpoint rather than a sociological standpoint), look around and say ‘What a time to live…’ I’m saying it now, as I truly believe we live in a time that is like no other. With policy changes happening left and right we need to adjust to this new way of life, no matter if you think it’s a good thing or not, times are changing and will continue to do so. Is our moment coming again; there are rumors that COVID is making a comeback. Furthermore, this has the potential to reignite family feuds that have just had a chance to settle.
Biblical or Worldy View?
Times have changed, both bluntly, but also slowly. I pray that reading the following assists with going through hard times, not that this is the answer, but another point of view regarding Psalms 55.
Times will always change. That old statement, that history repeats itself, will come into effect before we know it. To be as prepared as possible, one needs to look back at history, and where to better start, but the Bible? As it will be quoted later, and as opposed to me just copy-pasting the chapter, I suggest that you take the time and read Psalms 55.
What is going to be this generation’s thing that we don’t think will happen, but will end up happening? We are already seeing gender transitions becoming normal, if not encouraged, by our political leaders, teachers, and society in general. What is next?
Science is always changing. Look at coffee for example. A few studies say that coffee is bad for you then in a quick turn, they say it’s not that bad for you. Let’s make this more personal. The aforementioned, COVID. At the beginning of the pandemic, we did not know what COVID was. Therefore, we took many precautions. Additionally, I recall a time when we were told that wearing masks was not necessary, and we were even told to not wear them and save them for medical professionals. Some may argue that this was because we had a shortage of masks, but that aside, this is what we were told. Notwithstanding, we then were told that the best method of attack is to wear two masks at all times unless you’re eating. Science changes and that’s honestly the beauty of it, they are trying to find the truth behind what they are studying. This ever-changing stance, political motivation, and undisclosed agenda, however, makes it hard to believe sometimes. I am here to look at the one Truth: The Bible – the Good News – the Gospel.
Now, let’s take the side of worldly science. “They” have said that science has proven evolution. I disagree but for the sake of an argument let’s say this is true. Now if you believe that, you would say that mankind not only went through a process of natural selection but is still going through natural selection, where the weak die and the strong prevail(ed). You would also say that natural disasters are a way for the world to select who gets to live and who gets to die, who’s strong, and who is weak. You, a believer in evolution, would believe that this is best for mankind, it is what is supposed to happen; after all, that is how we were created. The weak must be killed off so that the strong can prevail. Evolutionists would not phrase it like this, but that boiled down is what they believe.
Furthermore, in the former mindset, if you were to ever help someone, you are living life as a hypocrite; you are in contrast to your worldview.
Additionally, what we are seeing right now can be described as the transverse of what the Nazis did. They were attempting to accelerate evolution by getting rid of the Jews, a people whom they felt were weak.
A tangent yes but hear me out. It’s a trivial example I know but think about it. This is a depressing life to live. Living day by day, believing that if someone dies, they are weak, and natural selection has, for a lack of better words, won.
The Bible takes a specific side on a few things, what it does tell us though is that God is with us, and a host of verses tells us this. We are not given specific answers to these specific worldly problems, we are given, however, how to live a Godly life. We can take how we are to live and apply, using biblical knowledge, these commandments to our everyday lives.
I truthfully cannot think living this way, the way of an evolutionist as described at the beginning would be very comfortable or fulfilling. This is a way of life that would consist of when everything is looking down, and not feeling loved or cared about, you have nothing or no one to turn to. When life takes a turn, in the evolutionist mindset, you are the weakest link and must go – this is not a comfortable way of living.
Think about it. Would you want to live in a story where people who are deemed to be weaker by society die? How does that story end? Nothing? That’s not cool.
I know the end of the story when everything is going downhill, I know how this Story ends.
As Christians, we can take comfort in the fact when reading Psalms 55:22 we know that we can “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”
I am not one to just quote a verse without context. The context of Psalms 55:22 is important; therefore, a quick distraction as I provide some context to Psalms 55:22.
Psalms 55
1 Listen to my prayer, O God.
Do not ignore my cry for help!
2 Please listen and answer me,
for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.
3 My enemies shout at me,
making loud and wicked threats.
They bring trouble on me
and angrily hunt me down.
This is a prayer; David is calling out to God. We can pull from the context of the Psalm that David has the feeling that God is distant. David asks God to hear and answer him. Simply put, David feels God is distant and is asking for help. Diving into verse three, we see that David is having trouble with what appears to be multiple enemies; David outlines his fears in the following verses.
4 My heart pounds in my chest.
The terror of death assaults me.
5 Fear and trembling overwhelm me,
and I can’t stop shaking.
6 Oh, that I had wings like a dove;
then I would fly away and rest!
7 I would fly far away
to the quiet of the wilderness.
8 How quickly I would escape—
far from this wild storm of hatred.
Two things, we finally have context as to why David is praying this prayer. He is afraid and overwhelmed. David is walking us through his reaction to his fear. His reaction is much like everyone else’s reaction to any fear, or anguish. He is in expectation to be massacred. His heart pounds, fear, and trembling have overtaken him; he is shaking continually – David is describing a broken heart. David makes a shift in verse six, where David starts to yearn for the times when he was able to be in a quiet wilderness, where he was able to clearly hear God. David is saying if he was able to escape he would, however, the psalmist was unable to do so and had to endure the broken heart and fear he had just described.
9 Confuse them, Lord, and frustrate their plans,
for I see violence and conflict in the city.
10 Its walls are patrolled day and night against invaders,
but the real danger is wickedness within the city.
11 Everything is falling apart;
threats and cheating are rampant in the streets.
There are many references to words and speech in this Psalm thus far. Therefore, we can make the leap that David heard word of people speaking against him. Verse nine, in other translations, can read: “Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, For I have seen violence and strife in the city.” David lays it out frankly; everything is falling apart. The crisis that is in the city is not only a problem for David but a problem for God’s people.
12 It is not an enemy who taunts me—
I could bear that.
It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me—
I could have hidden from them.
13 Instead, it is you—my equal,
my companion and close friend.
14 What good fellowship we once enjoyed
as we walked together to the house of God.
In verse 12 we see two specific things that are important to take note of. First, we note that it is not an enemy of David; he states that if this were the case, he would be able to handle this himself. Interestingly though, the way that he writes he would have handled that situation was that he would have just hidden from his enemy. Secondly, we have a turn in direction regarding who David is talking to/about. David calls out an unnamed person, someone he considers a companion and close friend. David implies that this individual was once someone who David walked into the house of God with. I take this as meaning one of two different things. First, this is someone who was once someone who frequented the house of God and does not do so anymore. Or, someone who once, as the text states walked with David, but does not do so anymore; the unnamed individual goes to the house of God but does not do so with David, but either with someone else or by himself.
15 Let death stalk my enemies;
let the grave swallow them alive,
for evil makes its home within them.
This is a strong call/prayer from David. In this prayer, David is asking God to take vengeance on this individual. David has been hurt deeply but still is not taking vengeance himself but trusting in God.
16 But I will call on God,
and the Lord will rescue me.
17 Morning, noon, and night
I cry out in my distress,
and the Lord hears my voice.
18 He ransoms me and keeps me safe
from the battle waged against me,
though many still oppose me.
19 God, who has ruled forever,
will hear me and humble them.
For my enemies refuse to change their ways;
they do not fear God.
But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me. This is a sharp transition from the previous verses where he was calling for destruction and vengeance. We have a total tone shift, again. Even though he has people talking bad about him and he fears for his life, David still falls back on his calm confidence in God. Morning, noon, and night David prays and calls out to God. David is confident that the Lord will answer his prayer. At the end of this section, David states that his enemies refuse to change. It is unclear exactly what the root meaning of this section is, but contextually I believe that we are able to conclude that Daivd is sure that those who ignore God, God will humble them.
20 As for my companion, he betrayed his friends;
he broke his promises.
21 His words are as smooth as butter,
but in his heart is war.
His words are as soothing as lotion,
but underneath are daggers!
We see here that David calls out the unnamed person for breaking peaceful friendships and crushing agreements with others. David uses vivid imagery to show how unhonorable the unnamed enemy is. In contrast, we are able to see how honorable David is by not naming this individual. Although those of us sit here reading this Psalm wishing we knew, we cannot not respect the fact that David chose to not name this enemy.
22 Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
23 But you, O God, will send the wicked
down to the pit of destruction.
Murderers and liars will die young,
but I am trusting you to save me.
Now we come to the verse that I quoted. Furthermore, this is the verse that we see quoted all over the place.
Verse 22 advises that we should trust in the Lord and place all our worries unto Him. Furthermore, David maintains that those that are righteous, shall not be shaken. David ends this Psalm in a fiery manner; God will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay. David, still finally finishes with “But as for me, I trust in You to save me.”
Although that was a long tangent, it is important to understand the context that surrounds a verse. Psalms 55 is a whirlwind of a Psalms. With unexpected turns that lead to an understanding of calm Godly confidence, we can take David’s circumstance and his reaction to these circumstances and apply them to our current day situations.
Sadly, I feel the need to use the COVID-19 situation as an example that everyone is familiar with. I know that I am not the only one with family or friends who was on the opposite side of the situation. Some wore masks in the car while they were by themselves, and others did not even touch a mask. I knew people on either side and many that floated in the middle. I am not here to debate what the ‘right’ thing was/is to do. Regardless this is a fresh example of close friends going against their close friends, similar to what David had experienced. The situation is wholly different, however, the outcome is similar.
As I sit here nearing the end of this, I am trying to figure out how David would have lived this experience without leaning on God. An evolutionist would say that someone in David’s situation would have nothing or no one to lean on and that David's feeling of these things is a part of natural selection – David was becoming weaker, and the unnamed individual was potentially becoming stronger.
Evolutionists who help people, so effectively everyone who believes in evolution, have a, as cliché as it sounds, God-shaped hole in their heart. Many doctors who are assisting people through what very well could be the darkest moment in their lives preach evolution. Hypocritical as it might be, this tells us something important. Have you ever heard someone say that it is human nature to help others? Well, helping others, not only helps the person(s) you are helping, but it helps us as well. How can this be true if natural selection is a part of our nature?
Again, I am not here to point in a direction; I am simply putting the context of our lives into a biblical example. David was going through a hard time when he had a close friend turning against him. He turned to God and relied on him to provide the “revenge”, to put it in worldly terms.
It is my hope that those who are able to comprehend this story, and my quick, and inherent analysis of Psalms 55, take a moment, and recognize that, God does not allow the Godly to slip and fall. Rather this is the beginning of creating a rock to stand on, or if this is the continuation of that process, I pray that this is a quick reminder, that when our friends/family are turning against us, or even talking bad about us, we are to give our troubles to the Lord, and trust in Him to control what we perceive to be uncontrollable.
