Cutting Off Your Nose to…
“And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.” Psalm 78:17
A few years ago, my Sunday School class was studying the Psalms. I decided to write in a notebook the thoughts that came to me as I read each Psalm. The following is what I wrote about Psalm 78:1-17.
–How important it is to listen, heed, and obey God’s Word. We have the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, filled with the accounts of God’s people from Abraham to John the Revelator. It is our privileged duty and honor to leave our children and grandchildren a godly heritage. How else will they know the truth about God? How else can they believe in Him, glorify, and obey Him? Without God’s Word, they become a stubborn and rebellious generation and so begin a cycle of unrighteousness and misery. We are seeing the results of generations whose parents neglected their spiritual teaching, and the world is suffering the consequences. Those without a strong, spiritual foundation have no courage and will succumb to the enemy’s attack. They do not walk in the ways of God, and He has no obligation to protect them. Even though they have seen His mighty works among men and have heard of God’s mighty works of old, they still turn their back on Him, provoking Him, and then expect Him to bless them.–
I am not sure when this Psalm was written, perhaps 3,000 or more years ago. It was written to admonish the people of Israel to live righteously and teach their children to grow in the LORD. But, as those of us who have studied the Old Testament books concerning Israel’s history, we know that they would live for God for a while, then fall back into sin and idolatry, receive punishment, repent, come back to the LORD, and then repeat the cycle over and over again. This Psalm could have been written and published on line today for all the world to read because we are just as disobedient, rebellious, and idolatrous as Israel was thousands of years ago. We know right from wrong, yet many times choose wrong over right because it’s easier, or more fun, or too much effort is required to do the right thing. We don’t worry about the consequences, but there are always consequences–for every action there is a reaction. It is sort of like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Sin may be fun today, but it will be very painful later on.
I know that I am preaching to the choir, since the few of you all who read my blog are already acutely aware of how sin has so invaded the hearts of so many and how our world is definitely experiencing the consequences. I just wish that folks would heed God’s Word, but I am not optimistic that things will get better before they get worse.