Still Standing

“The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.”  Psalm 11:4

A quick look or listen to media of any sort makes obvious the fact that glorifying God and enjoying Him forever is not the goal of the majority.  Most are focused on self-promotion and self-gratification with little consideration of the One who created and sustains them.  Sadly, the relentless pursuit of power, treasure, and pleasure leads them to not only discard the boundaries God established for our protection and delight but also to disdain those who hold to such unchanging truths.

Ours is not the first generation to face a degenerating social and spiritual culture.   Almost three thousand years ago, David felt the fire of being surrounded by an enemy aiming flaming darts at the very center of who he was and what he believed.  “Look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart”(Ps 11:2).  And David ran—straight to the One who is truth.  “In the Lord I take refuge”(Ps 11:1). 

Traditions, standards, and even laws shift and switch with the whims of man, so much so that we feel (and fear for) the earth trembling beneath our feet.  Sensing this terror in his time, David wondered, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”(Ps 11:3), but he answered his own question with the assurance that the true foundation will never crack or crumble. “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne”(Ps 11:4). He is the same almighty, holy, righteous, compassionate, gracious, and good God—yesterday, today, and forever, and though heaven and earth may pass away, what He has said will remain past time (Matt 24:35).

Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul encouraged his friend, Timothy, that though many around them had twisted the truth of Christ, the basis of their belief was a “bulwark never failing.”  “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription, ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness’”(2 Tim 2:19). The two statements complement and complete each other.  The first declares our salvation—God knows His own.  We need not need fret about our eternal security for our relationship with God depends solely on His righteousness and not ours.  The second denotes our sanctification—God is transforming His own.  The result of that relationship is progress in the process of following Christ daily.

A growing understanding of the grace we’ve been given should encourage us in the power of the gospel to bring about change that is good—one person at a time.  We should be informed and engaged, holding unswervingly to our faithful God and His truth, and knowing without doubt that though the temporary may topple, “I lay in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a  sure foundation; the one who trusts in Him will never be dismayed”(Isa 28:16).

When things seem to be crumbling on earth, look to heaven.

God’s sovereignty and His salvation are (and always will be) still standing.