Walk Humbly with Your God

But with a sanctified swag

There’s no end to bad news, and I was primed to post some content which might have you buying land, guns, and gold. But I’ll save that for another day! Today I simply want to encourage you.

As you know, the first sixty psalms contain a lot of cries for deliverance from enemies. Sometimes they are pleas, sometimes petitions, and sometimes laments. David and others model for us how to take our prayers to God when feeling under attack.

But Psalm 11 is different. There’s astounding confidence. It’s not written in a rose garden while sipping chamomile tea. Far from it. Enemies were very near, but David models an attitude of spiritual swag.

One of his friends was apparently panicked, urging David to buy land, guns, and gold . . . sort of.

1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me,
    “Flee like a bird to the mountains;
2 for look, the wicked bend the bow,
    they have fitted their arrow to the string,
    to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

Look! Flee! The foundations are crumbling! What can we do?

Depending upon what you read, watch, or listen to, you can easily pick up this vibe. Woke ideology is infecting and infesting Ivy League institutions, branches of the government, the military, etc. Law schools are now flooded with students passionate about social justice and all too anxious to scrap the Constitution.

One day this will likely come crashing in upon pastors and counselors with a traditional view of sexuality.

This calls for wisdom and planning. But not for fleeing to the mountains. The next few verses point the way:

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
    His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.
5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
    and his soul hates the lover of violence.

The Lord is in his temple and on his throne. That is our source of confidence. His eyes see. He is very much aware. And this God who hates violence is the one who tests both the righteous and the wicked.

We are being tested. But he is with us and will execute justice.

Another cause for confidence is in the final line of the last verse:

7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face. Psalm 11:1-7 NRSV

We will see his face. Not just by and by, but here and now. That’s the thrust of the following verse from Psalm 44 where the writer looks longingly at the history of Israel’s past triumphs in the Promised Land:

It was not by their sword that they won the land,
    nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
    and the light of your face, for you loved them.  Psalm 44:3 NIV

The light of God’s face came against their enemies. Why? Because he loved them.

I believe that with the current challenges we will see miracles. Maybe you are experiencing them in your ministries even now.

Jessica LaGrone, ordained pastor and Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary has made the point on many occasions: Desperation precedes miracles. We certainly see this principle playing out in sacred text, and most evidently in the ministry of Jesus. Desperate people were drawn to the Light of the World, eliciting his love and healing power.

Paid Subscribers recently joined me on a Zoom call to hear the testimony of someone dramatically, and I mean dramatically, healed of same-sex attraction. His heart’s desire is to see another Jesus People movement in our generation—not of 70’s hippies but of today’s sexually broken. It will take many miracles and a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. Even so, “Come Holy Spirit!”

Yes, God has clearly told his people “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [their] God” (Micah 6:8 NRSV). But within us can be a faith-filled confidence which takes us into our ministry battles with heads held high. The light of his face will go before us, healing those he loves.