Today’s Scripture Reading (March 29,
2016): Psalm 2 & 3
In the wake
of the Belgium attacks, and the waiting for the next attack, the world has been
set on edge. We are waiting for whatever comes next. This is a time when the
nations begin to talk about strengthening borders and walling ourselves in.
Question emerge about the wisdom of accepting refugees into our teetering
political systems for fear that among sheep are wolves intent on destroying us.
Even though most of the attackers have come from within our own national
borders, we fear the outsider. In fact, we are just plain afraid.
And we should
be. Those who would cause terror in our nation's
believe strongly that they come in the name and the power of their God. One of
the suicide bombers in Belgium left a note indicating that he was sure that
there were no other options; that the net was closing in on him and he would rather die serving his God
then to wind up in prison without accomplishing anything. After all, Allah
wills it. That phrase continues to plague us. Originally it wasn’t the Muslim
Allah who willed it, the phrase has been handed down from the Christian Crusades
of almost a thousand years ago. Then it was the Christian God who willed the
destruction. The Christian Church has long since repented of its error and
arrogance in believing that somehow God had commanded wanton destruction. It
wasn’t God. It was our own hubris that caused the destruction. And I believe that
many years from now our Muslim friends will come to the same conclusion. This isn’t
about God, it is about our own egotistical desires and pride, and that is true
on both sides of the fight.
David
reminds his opponents that their plans will ultimately fail because God’s king
reigns on the throne. From David’s point of view,
this was entirely true. He had done very little to secure the throne of Israel.
Although there were popular rumors that condemned David as a power-hungry General thirst for the throne, the
truth was that David had never lifted a finger against Saul. All through Saul’s
reign, David believed that Saul was God’s man, and he would do whatever he
could to protect him; even when Saul was trying to kill David. David had been
anointed as king, but the process of how he would rise to the throne remained
in God’s hands.
But God had
raised him up and placed him on the
throne. And so he was God’s man for this moment. While his opponents would plan
their attacks against him, it was only God who would ultimately be able to
remove him from the throne. So it was God that David intended to place his
focus on, rather than on those who wanted to do him harm.
The Christian
Church has a powerful message for the world. We believe that Jesus is still
king and he still sits on the throne. While our enemies, and sometimes our
friends, might plot against us, our focus should not be on them. It should be
on our king, for he is the only one who can determine our fate. They can plot
and plan, but the ultimate reality is that our king still reigns in Zion. And
there are absolutely no signs that he is planning on leaving that throne.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 4
& 5
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