“Guess who’s in charge”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, June 17, 2023
Psalm 76 (Forward, p. 50) CEV p. 600
We feeble humans, especially those who rule countries, companies and institutions, often have the mistaken notion that they are in charge. Certainly, the tyrants of the world, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seem to think along these lines. In the short term, this may well seem to be the case, but in the long term, it is not. Ultimately, it is God who is in charge and no one else.
This is the theme of today’s psalm, Psalm 76. In it, our psalmist gives three ways in which God is ultimately in charge:
-He wipes out armies and weapons of war and stops them in their
tracks. Furthermore, it is He who establishes peace;
-He is the judge of all the earth, including its leaders, and He rules
with justice and compassion, with a special regard for those in need;
-He is therefore to be honoured, and obeyed, and when we made
promises to Him, we should most certainly carry them out.
And lest we think that this applies only to military or national or local leaders, this applies to each of us as well. All of us, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, are all too prone, to standing on our own two legs and declaring that we are in charge. We are all too prone to make plans and decisions without reference to God and what He wants. As the James says in his letter, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:13-15). And so, to make such plans without consulting God is both arrogance and folly, and yet—if you’re like me--do we not do this all the time? Let us then be all the more deliberate, and intentional, in seeking His will—and doing it. Amen.
Forward notes: “From heaven you pronounced judgment; the earth was afraid and was still” (verse 8).
“When I was a kid, sometimes I would get in trouble and be punished immediately. Other times, my mom or dad would say, ‘I’ll deal with you later.’ Or, even worse, ‘We’ll discuss this with your father when he gets home.’
“You could hear a pin drop in my room during those elongated, eerie hours. Not a peep from me! If I wasn’t sitting in a corner trying to fade into the carpet, I was reading or listening to the David Crowder Band on my portable CD player at the lowest volume possible.
“That time of stillness was often just as instructive as the eventual judgment that was levied. It gave me time to reflect, find my way to remorse, and decide to confess and offer to make reparation.
“I’ve always wondered about the idea of final judgment. Will there be a line of billions waiting to enter the courtroom, present their case, and receive their evaluation? Will there be a jury made up of prophets and martyrs? Will Jesus be both judge and defense lawyer? Whatever it is, I hope the earth—I hope we—respond first with stillness.”
Moving Forward: “Set aside 10 minutes for quiet time to reflect and pray.”