The Lord is King forever and ever. Destroy from Your land those nations that do not worship You. Lord, You have heard what the poor people want. Do what they ask, and listen to them. Protect the orphans and put an end to suffering so they will no longer be afraid of evil people. (vs. 16-18)
The king rules over his kingdom. That is why he is a king. Our King just happens to rule over all other kingdoms, both physical and metaphysical. He is the King over the air, the oceans, atoms and stars; demons and angels, presidents and tyrants. He is busy. Powerful. Omnipresent. And...He is King forever. So time for Him does not exist as it does for us. He has all of history stretched out before Him to look at from beginning to end. Our God is not worried about tomorrow. Is not cramped into our time and space problems. Maybe this is why when we cry out and He is not on it the moment we get doubtful and full of fear and angry that He waits.
David cannot understand how this King could look on suffering and not just blow up the nations that are against Him. That is what David, as King of Israel, would be about doing if he were God. That is actually what kings do. So where is this King of Righteousness when the orphans and the oppressed are crying out? David, like us, wants an end to all suffering so that our fear of evil people will be vanquished. But God does not seem to have answered that prayer and David is getting antsy for it.
What is the answer to this? It is still our question. Why do people suffer? We could understand the suffering of the evil. Welcome it, even. But the suffering of the poor? Children who wander the streets? Where is God? Why does He not bring down fire from heaven and swoop these evil people up in a great conflagration? Now!
I know I cannot fully answer this age-old question, but I am going to try to shed a little light on it for myself today. 2 Peter 3: It is most important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. They will live doing the evil things they want to do. They will say: "Jesus promised to come again. Where is He? Our fathers have died, but the world continues as it has since the day it was made." But they do not want to remember what happened long ago. By the word of God heaven was made, and the earth was made from water and with water. Then the world was flooded and destroyed with water. And that same Word of God is keeping heaven and earth that we now have in order that it be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the Judgment Day and the destruction of all who are against God. But do not forget this one thing: To the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slow in doing what He promised - the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you.
If God is being patient with me because He is being patient with the whole mess His world has become, then I rejoice that He is also patient with the evil, hoping they will turn and repent and not wanting to incinerate the entire earth because some are evil. He will have enough one day, though. That day will come when evil will be annihilated, reduced to ashes. David's desire to see orphans free to play in the streets will be answered fully. Because we will be adopted into His Kingdom, children of the only lasting royalty, and we will run on pavement of transparent gold, eat from the tree of life and splash in the river that runs from the throne.
The king rules over his kingdom. That is why he is a king. Our King just happens to rule over all other kingdoms, both physical and metaphysical. He is the King over the air, the oceans, atoms and stars; demons and angels, presidents and tyrants. He is busy. Powerful. Omnipresent. And...He is King forever. So time for Him does not exist as it does for us. He has all of history stretched out before Him to look at from beginning to end. Our God is not worried about tomorrow. Is not cramped into our time and space problems. Maybe this is why when we cry out and He is not on it the moment we get doubtful and full of fear and angry that He waits.
David cannot understand how this King could look on suffering and not just blow up the nations that are against Him. That is what David, as King of Israel, would be about doing if he were God. That is actually what kings do. So where is this King of Righteousness when the orphans and the oppressed are crying out? David, like us, wants an end to all suffering so that our fear of evil people will be vanquished. But God does not seem to have answered that prayer and David is getting antsy for it.
What is the answer to this? It is still our question. Why do people suffer? We could understand the suffering of the evil. Welcome it, even. But the suffering of the poor? Children who wander the streets? Where is God? Why does He not bring down fire from heaven and swoop these evil people up in a great conflagration? Now!
I know I cannot fully answer this age-old question, but I am going to try to shed a little light on it for myself today. 2 Peter 3: It is most important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. They will live doing the evil things they want to do. They will say: "Jesus promised to come again. Where is He? Our fathers have died, but the world continues as it has since the day it was made." But they do not want to remember what happened long ago. By the word of God heaven was made, and the earth was made from water and with water. Then the world was flooded and destroyed with water. And that same Word of God is keeping heaven and earth that we now have in order that it be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the Judgment Day and the destruction of all who are against God. But do not forget this one thing: To the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slow in doing what He promised - the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you.
If God is being patient with me because He is being patient with the whole mess His world has become, then I rejoice that He is also patient with the evil, hoping they will turn and repent and not wanting to incinerate the entire earth because some are evil. He will have enough one day, though. That day will come when evil will be annihilated, reduced to ashes. David's desire to see orphans free to play in the streets will be answered fully. Because we will be adopted into His Kingdom, children of the only lasting royalty, and we will run on pavement of transparent gold, eat from the tree of life and splash in the river that runs from the throne.
No comments:
Post a Comment