Devotion for 31 May 2011 Anno Domini

Devotion for 31 May 2011 Anno Domini

“ 1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. 2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. 3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. 4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah. 5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. 6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. 7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. (Psalms 67:1-7)

Here we have a general prayer for God’s blessing upon the people and, indeed, those such blessings be extended to peoples all over the world. The true natural state of mankind has been abrogated and overturned by sin. The perverse has become the new ‘natural’ to most of the lot of mankind as they wallow and perish in their perversity. But the Psalmist pleads for mercy and blessing. The mercy and blessing of God is not without limit. Love, unreciprocated, ceases.

“God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.” In the presence of the Lord there is mercy and blessing. His face, being made near by His presence, will shine and bring joy and provide blessings untold. So the Psalmist prays for that Presence that His Face may shine upon us. When the Lord is present, the effulgent Light from that presence brings salvation, mercy and grace to the servant of God. “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. “ (Psalms 31:16). If the Lord is not present, due to our sins and rejection of Him, there will be no Shining Face, but only a lingering darkness.

“That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” The Shining Face of the Lord reveals truth, but also exposes sin. The sun may dry the laundered blouse, but it also kills harmful organism that have made their home there. The Face of the Lord is as the Sun upon the nations – to both grant mercy and to eliminate the odors of sin and corruption among them. How beautiful and joyful is the rising sun. How gladdening and full of grace is the shining face of the Lord upon us. The Sun is provided for the purpose of giving light to the lower world, but the Face of God is the Light of all Creation and gives joy and gladness in heavenly places. If it will shine upon the nations, they shall be healed.

“3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.” There is double emphasis here on the Communal significance of thanksgiving and praise. This praise is not the cheap, irreverent, man-pleasing praise we have seen in many modern churches of today; but the jubilant and reverent love and joy expressed among a people assembled for the only purpose of praising God and not man and his arts.

“O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.” There is no happier nation than that which is governed with righteous judgment. The whole nation sings a common song of joy when justice is revered and observed. Though the Psalmist tells us that God ‘shall’- not ‘perhaps – judge the people righteously, that moment has not yet arrived. God is slow to judge and will predictably await the fullness of iniquity prior to lowering His mighty Arm of Justice and Judgment. Our wicked rulers are most often simply the men of our own making. We have given them the power to do wickedly in the first place. We are made to mourn such conditions of our own making and want to blame all else but ourselves. The sin nature is like that! “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Prov 29:2). When Liberty was proclaimed in Philadelphia, the people rejoiced until the Liberty Bell, itself, cracked. It has been a long wait since such rejoicing was witnessed in America.

“Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.” Perfection in the natural state is achieved in being in complete harmony with God and His natural and spiritual laws. But nature has been corrupted, and those governments which man has formed to be the protector of his person and property have assumed the role of the very villains against whom man first formed that government for protection. If our possessions can be taken from us by force and given to a people who have not title to it, which is robbery even if it is given the name of entitlement. Government without God is government which belongs to Satan. Only when nations are in right relations with God can they be blessed, and the people blessed with them. Then ‘shall’ the earth yield her increase!

“God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.” Any nation which recognizes and accepts the sovereignty of God in their establishment and legislature WILL be blessed of God. Need I cite an obvious and glaring example? When the world fears God instead of imagined catastrophic disturbances, blessings can then begin to flow earthward. But absent that fear of the Lord, the world is destined to languish in its own blood. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov 1:7).

The Godly words of a 19th century French economist (Frederic Bastiat) have bearing on these passages: “We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life—physical, intellectual, and moral life. But life cannot maintain itself alone. The Creator of life has entrusted us with the responsibility of preserving, developing, and perfecting it. In order that we may accomplish this, He has provided us with a collection of marvelous faculties. And He has put us in the midst of a variety of natural resources. By the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them into products, and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may run its appointed course. Life, faculties, production—in other words, individuality, liberty, property—this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it.” Keeping God in all things is wise and imperative if we would have joy of life.