Psalm 25:1-2 ESV
“To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be
put to shame;
let not my
enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be
ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.”
What does it mean to be “wantonly treacherous”? “Wanton” can
mean “shamelessly,” “maliciously,” and/or “unrestrainedly.” And, “treacherous”
means “traitorous,” “deceitful,” and/or “underhanded.” So, this has to do with
people who covertly deliver others they know over to an enemy, in a deceitful
way which is intentional, and that intends harm to the other people.
Well, Satan is behind such acts of treachery. He is the one
who wants us, our Lord’s beloved, handed over to the enemy, which is Satan, himself.
But we are also being handed over to physical enemies, too. And, so he persuades
certain human beings to be unfaithful to us who may be under their care, or
with whom we have a trusted relationship of some sort, and to plot evil against
us for the purpose to destroy us, because they hate us.
And, now we need to understand here that this is done
secretly, behind our backs. In front of our faces these individuals may give
the appearance of loyalty and devotion, and of caring about us, while behind
closed doors they are plotting our demise. So, unless we are in tune to the
Holy Spirit, seeking daily his guidance and counsel, we may get sideswiped, for
we didn’t see it coming. For, we believed the mirage, and we didn’t see the
lie.
So, this prayer is that we would not be taken for fools. It
is that our eyes and our ears would be open to the truth so that we don’t fall
for the lies. It doesn’t mean that our enemies will not be able to harm us. But
it means that we will have eyes to see the fakery (the mirages; the deceptions)
so that we don’t fall into their traps and end up believing the lie over the
truth.
Well, we live in an age of deception. Pretty much anything
can be faked. Videos can be altered. Scenes in the news can be acted out by paid
actors. Not everything is what it appears to be. Our leaders may not be who
they purport themselves to be, either, including within the church. For,
remember that there are wolves in sheep’s clothing among us, but not just in
the church, but in the government, too, and in the news media, as well.
So, before you just jump on the bandwagon of whatever cause is
being presented to you in the news or on social media, stop and pray. Seek God’s
face. Ask the Lord if what you are seeing is true. Remember that a mirage is
something you see with your physical eyes, and so you think it is real, but it isn’t
really there. It is an optical illusion. And, these people who are wolves in
sheep’s clothing are very clever illusionists (magicians).
Psalm 25:8-10 ESV
“Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he
instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the
humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and
faithfulness,
for those who
keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
I am not saying here that TV is all bad or that social media
is all bad or that the news is all bad. Not all preachers are bad, either. Or,
better I should say that they are not all good. But, if we are going to be
taught by the Lord, to know his ways, so that we can keep his ways, then we
need to be discerning people, and we need to not believe everything we see,
read or hear.
And, I can tell you from experience that TV and the news and
social media can be very hypnotic. They can be very mind controlling and seductive,
too. Think of the sirens from Greek mythology. It is a lot like that. And, the
more you watch TV, or the more time you spend on social media or watching the
news, the more easily it is to get seduced and to fall for the traps.
So, my recommendation here is that we minimize our time on
TV or on watching the news or on social media, and that we spend that time,
instead, in prayer and in God’s Word, seeking his face and his counsel. And,
that whatever we do watch on the internet or on TV that we NOT immediately buy
into everything that we see, but that we pray for discernment.
For, we need the Lord to lead us in the right way and to
help us to not go the wrong way. And, the “wrong way” may not always be
obvious. For, it may not be an obvious contradiction to Scripture. For, it may
just mean that we are believing what people tell us, but that what they are
telling us is not the truth. And, this is why we need to be asking the Lord to
help us to discern truth from lies. For deception is not obvious.
But, if we are going to be able to discern truth from error,
we need to be walking in the ways of the Lord which are written down for us in
his word.
Psalm 25:16-22 ESV
“Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely
and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of
my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all
my sins.
“Consider how many are my foes,
and with what
violent hatred they hate me.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be
put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for
you.
“Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his
troubles.”
Right now, in America and in other nations of the world, we
are going through troubled times. And, some of us are being afflicted by the
things that are going on within our nations. If we are not directly impacted by
the events, we are indirectly being impacted by them. For, many people are
getting angry and bitter and, in some cases, it is even leading to violence.
And, many of us are troubled in our spirits by the things we
are seeing in the news or on social media, whether or not we believe that what
we are seeing is the truth or a lie. And, that is because we are still seeing the
impact that all of this is having on us as the people of this nation, and as
the people of God. And, it is grievous. And, it is very disturbing, especially
if you understand what is going on behind the scenes.
But regarding who our foes are, we must be very discerning.
For, the media may present to us that a certain person or group of people are
our foes, but they may not be. It may be a lie. We do have to believe that
people lie to us or else we are ripe for being deceived. They could be leading
us to assign blame on the innocent while we exalt and honor the guilty and
treacherous.
Do we have foes? Most certainly! And, Satan is the one
behind them all. But they may not be who the media wants us to believe they
are. The media may be leading us astray in order to deceive us. So, again, we
need to stop and pray, and seek God’s face and counsel, and ask for his wisdom
so that we don’t accuse the innocent while allowing the guilty to go free.
So, the ones we think are our friends, and who we believe
are on our side, may be those who are wantonly treacherous. And, they may be
plotting our demise while buddying up to us to make us believe they are our
friends. So, again, we need to be in prayer, and in God’s word, seeking his
face and his counsel so that we don’t end up following the deceivers and the
lies while we reject the truth.
For, Satan’s servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.
And, Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. So, don’t be deceived!
Test everything! Don’t let your enemy trick and trap you. And, take refuge in
the Lord, and not in men.
Eternal Father,
Strong to Save
William Whiting
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm does bind the restless wave,
Who bids the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Savior, whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walked upon the foaming deep,
And calm amid the rage did sleep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Holy Spirit, who did brood
Upon the waters dark and rude,
And bid their angry tumult cease,
And give for wild confusion peace;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Trinity of love and pow'r,
Your children shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire, and foe,
Protect them where-so-e'er they go;
Thus, evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
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