Tomorrow's newspaper!

Well, the 'moratorium' is over - much sooner than I had expected. However, the previous post was viewed by a considerably larger number than I had seen for some time, while not a great number had indicated that they were reading the last couple of posts on Facebook! So, the next plan is to publish here, on the blog (AussieJohn will be pleased!) and to also publish on Facebook - but not quite the full post! This is because only blogs with a high number of 'hits' are quoted when someone does a search on any of the 'key words' in the blog! So, please keep accessing the blog (non-commercial - I do not receive any pecuniary benefit!), and encourage others to do the same!

I have often heard, and used, the expression that "The Bible is more up-to-date than tomorrow's newspaper". It came to mind, this morning, as I continued in my daily readings in the Book of Psalms, and read Psalm 12. The Psalm begins with a plea to YHWH for help - and the reason why that help is being sought!

"Help, Lord; for there is no longer any that is godly; for the faithful have vanished from among the sons of men. Every one utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak." (vs.1-2; emphasis added).

Now remember, that David, the psalmist-king of Israel, penned those words about 3,000 years ago! Yet, as I read them, I thought of what I had read in yesterday's newspaper - and what I fully expected to read in today's (and tomorrow's!).

My mind raced! I recalled George Orwell's prediction of "newspeak" in his well-known (if not widely read!) novel, 'Nineteen Eighty-four'! Words are important, but vocabulary is constantly changing. When I was a boy, the "bin-men" came around, every week, and emptied the dustbin that my dad had left out at the front of the house. However, the 'bin-man' eventually became the "domestic refuse disposal operative'!

Today, we are used to the expression "fake news" - that, with the assistance of the internet, can span the globe more quickly than I can type this post! Sadly, because education systems have been taken over (it would appear!) by what would be described as "left-leaning" ideologies and their proponents, and dumbed-down to mediocrity, so many do not even question the information, let alone seek to analyse it! I read, this morning, in Warren Wiersbe's comments on this Psalm, that "... in military jargon, 'retreat' is 'back-loading of augmentation personnel'. If, while you're 'back-loading', you get shot, the bullet hole is a 'ballistically induced aperture in the subcutaneous environment'. (Be Worshipful, p.52). That made me think of Gus Hedges, the Chief Executive in "Drop the Dead Donkey" - a UK television satirical sit-com, set in a fictional TV news-room, that was broadcast throughout most of the 1990s - who’s full of appalling management speak. Twenty years later, the situation has, I would contend, deteriorated even further! David wrote about his own situation and circumstances - but wrote, more truly, of the future than he could possibly have realised!

Lies, flattery, 'double-speak' - how much more contemporary could one be? David continues:

"May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, 'With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is our master?'" (vs.3-4). I thought of the majority of politicians! Great boasts; great promises; great oratory! It would appear that many people are, at last, catching on! However, the fact remains that a political manifesto is only as good as the number of votes it garners. 

You may know the story of the man who died, and was informed that he could check out both heaven and hell, before making his choice as to where he would spend eternity. (It is only a story!!!). He was taken in an elevator, first of all to hell. He got out, and was astonished by the beauty of the vista that met him. People were so happy; he saw many of his old friends; there was a marquee with tables laden with the finest, and most exotic, of foods; there was a bar with a banner above it announcing that "All drinks are free"! It certainly wasn't the hell that he had expected from what he had heard preached on the rare occasion on which he had attended a worship service in a Christian church building!

Next, he was taken up, in the elevator, to heaven. He stepped out into a similar scene, but quickly realised that he didn't actually recognise anyone who was there! He made his decision. "I choose hell", he announced to the angel who had been accompanying him. "You're quite certain?" asked the angel. "You do realise that, once you have made your choice, you cannot change your mind!" "No," said the man, "I won't want to change my mind. I mean, this place looks good, but I saw so many of my friends in hell - and it's much nicer than I had been led to expect!"

He was sent down - alone this time - in the elevator to hell. As the doors opened, he was met by a scene of total devastation. Those friends whom he had recognised, and who had looked so happy and contented, were now looking haggard, and obviously in agony. The devil approached him, to welcome him to an eternity in this terrible place. "I don't understand", said the man. When I checked before, this place was wonderful. It had everything that I could want. What has happened?" "Ah," said the devil, "last time we were campaigning. Now you have voted!"

It's only a fictional story - but it does have a clear message!

David ends his Psalm "On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the sons of men." (v.8). As I look around, I see so much of this. In the margin of the copy of the Bible that I use in my devotions, I have noted Is.5:20 - "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Is that not what we see today. The murder of an unborn child in its mother's womb is, according to some, a "human right"! It may be argued that it is for the mother - but hardly for the child! We see criminals receiving three good meals each day; access to educational courses; access to the internet; calls for mobile 'phones to be issued; etc. At the same time, some of our elderly are have to exist on one of the smallest pensions in western Europe, and military veterans are sleeping on the streets. 

However, there is hope! David was not a man to allow despair to totally overcome him. Read these words from the middle of the Psalm: "'Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,

I will now arise,' says the Lord; 'I will place him in the safety for which he longs.' The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. Do thou, O Lord, protect us, guard us ever from this generation." (vs.5-7).

I love that word "safety". It comes from the same root as the name Yeshua - the Hebrew from which we get (via the Greek!), the Name that is above every name, the name Jesus. In the margin I have written this, and added: "The only true safety is in Jesus".

However difficult the times; however low mankind sinks in the mire of his own making; however much we may despair as we see our society and culture crumble before our eyes; we may have hope! God is still on the throne. He is still the Sovereign Lord of the universe. He still controls the affairs of mankind, however much some may think that their Soros-like fortunes mean that they are in charge. Read Psalm 2 for an overview of what is really happening!

Those who are in the Christ; those who are true disciples of Jesus; are assured of His presence in every situation and circumstance. Most of those who read these words will be living relatively comfortable lives. Hundreds of thousands live is situations of severe persecution. But, to each and all, the promise is true: "'I will never fail you nor forsake you.' Hence we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?'" (Heb 13:5-6).

May that be your personal experience, today, and every day.