A Meditation on Psalm 14:
“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.”
I would imagine that much of what the world thinks these days is shocking to those who hear it—heck, it shocks me regularly. Things that wouldn’t be whispered in public 50 years ago, are now screamed out from every media venue, and things once only done under the cover of darkness, are now common in the midday sun. The world is changing, and our cultural perspectives or values are changing right along with it.
But then again, the world is always changing… in the same old ways it always has. One generation will tolerate one kind of evil, and another generation will tolerate something else. 50 years ago, living together before marriage was a horrible taboo, but pumping poisonous chemicals into the local river was barely blinked at. Today, sex any time and any place between almost any persons is generally accepted, while endangering a peculiar toad will stop a major highway building program. The world is always bouncing around in its opinions regarding what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. That’s because the world is running on human wisdom, which in the long run, is pretty dumb. The new atheistic movements of our day are quick to condemn anyone who believes in God, or in the Word He has given to us in the Bible, particularly if we desire to have a public voice or opinion—but they are also very concerned that their own rights to free speech and protection are guarded as holy virtues.
My dear friends, do not be surprised, when the fools around us say in their hearts, that there is no God… or when they discard His Word, and look for something else to entertain themselves with. God said it would be so, because He knows what is in mankind—He knows the depth of our sin, the blindness of our eyes, and the hardness of our hearts. He’s been dealing with us ever since the beginning when He created us, watched us fall into sin and death, and then worked out our salvation through Christ Jesus His only Son. God knows what is in man, and since He loves us so greatly, He did not abandon us to the foolishness we create around us, every day.
For you and I were once dead in our trespasses and sins, but now we live by grace through faith in the Son of God. Rather than marveling at the blindness and foolishness of the world, we should have compassion on them, and pray for them. Remember, that if it were not for the Word of God working on our hearts to create faith, we would be just as blind and just as foolish, casting away God and His Word, and trading it for the foul bowl of soup our human hearts concoct on their own. Living by grace through faith, that same Word which enlivened us, can enliven the whole world. And what a beautiful blessing it is, that God has ordained to have His Word brought out into the darkness of the world, through the saints He has called into His marvelous light!
You are a city on a hill, a light on a lampstand—you are those through whom the Living Lord of Glory shines, that all might be drawn to salvation in Jesus Christ. His Word has washed you, enlivened you, called you to daily faith and daily repentance, Justified you, Sanctified you, and will guard you for eternity. This is the Light which shines in the darkness, which no darkness can overcome. May the Light of Christ so shine through you, that the world may see Jesus in you—that they may hear His Word of redemption, so that they may repent, believe, and live. To God be the glory, in this age, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
