For the director of music. Of David.
1 In the LORD I take refuge.
How then can you say to me:
“Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
1. God hates things that hurt the ones He loves.
2. God hates worship that destroys human potential.
3. God hates so we can love
David begins with his own plight-he is facing difficulty, His enemies are aiming their arrows at him, and he has friends who are advising him to run away. But David can’t run away because the LORD is his refuge.
But still, the situation is dire.
He (or his friends) describes it like this:
“When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
Recently I was asked to post in a forum of classmates in the doctoral program at USC.
I was a bit frustrated because the subject was ethics and it was handled in a way that was disturbing. The articles we were asked to read on the subject offered methods of looking at ethical issues. One of the articles split the process into five approaches: Utilitarian, Rights, Fairness/Justice, Common-good, and Virtue (you can see the article here https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/thinking-ethically/). What was completely lacking in the presentation was a definition of what constitutes good, what is meant by justice, where ‘rights’ come from, and how Virtue is defined. The authors quoted great philosophers like Aristotle, Mill, and Kant, but misquoted them-leaving out the most important part of their enterprise. Each one of those philosophers was interested in defining what was good and true, and building an ethical system on that foundation. Instead of following in the footsteps of these great thinkers, we were invited to come up with our own answers to what is right and wrong, simply based on a few “approaches” to the issues-not based on any foundation of right and wrong.
In the forum I said this (forgive me for quoting myself):
“ . . . I think we as a species need to return to the fundamental question of whether there is such a thing as right and wrong, truth and falsehood. If there isn't, there may be no reason to bother with these forums and discussions. If there is, I would hope we can come to some consensus concerning it. What is most frightening to me about recent events of shootings and violence against innocents is that the perpetrators of these crimes not only feel they are right, they are proud to proclaim responsibility. It seems to me evil to take pleasure or satisfaction or gratification in the pain and suffering of another. Can we all agree on that? Maybe that is one place to begin the discussion.”
One of my classmates, Emmanuel Bonin, responded:
““can we agree that it is evil to take satisfaction or gratification in the pain and suffering of another?” If we were to do that, imagine all the things that would have to disappear, from violent sports to conscious exploitation of other human beings, and therefore the whole capitalistic society built on making profit from others' work. I agree that is where the discussion should start. But I am note sure many have the courage to follow it to its logical end and consequences.”
My friend echoes the concern we all have in society throughout the world. If we live according to absolute values, how much of our society will have to be changed and abandoned in order to build a better world? Our world is attempting to build a society without its foundation in truth and right and good. Each individual is invited to invent his or her own standards for what is true.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
Ravi Zacharias describes a visit he made to Ohio State University. On a tour they drove past the Wexner Center for the Arts-a building described as “the first post-modern building”. It was built with “no purpose”. Its architect, Peter Eisenman, believes in deconstructionist philosophy, that there is no meaning in life, and that architecture should reflect this. There are stairs that lead nowhere, and elements of the design that make the building dysfunctional. Ravi Zacharias asked whimsically, “did he use the same philosophy when building the foundation?”
Everyone knows you can’t argue against foundational truths when you’re building a building. If you don’t build the foundation properly, the buidling cannot stand.
In 2009, in Shanghai, the Chinese government built a series of 13-story appartment buildings. One of them did not fare well (pictured). In China, corruption is rampant, and builders were able to ignor the Laws God has built into Nature.
Builders of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge ignored the Law of Harmonics (video). The bridge danced and buckled in the wind and was destroyed by a 40 mph wind.
Isaac Newton discovered the Law of Gravity. Einstein took this further and discovered the Law of Relativity. They didn’t invent these Laws. Laws cannot be invented by humans.
Just as there are physical Laws that govern the function of the universe, there are moral Laws that govern the behavior of humanity. We can discover and learn to live by those laws, or we can ignore them. But we ignore them to our peril.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
Back to our main points:
1. God hates things that hurt the ones He loves.
2. God hates worship that destroys human potential.
3. God hates so we can love
God Hates
Some of us are uncomfortable with this idea. How can a God who is love (1 John 4:7-8) hate? I think before we are finished it may not seem so difficult to understand.
He hates things that hurt the ones He loves. God hates Self-destructive human behavior, including homosexuality and bestiality (Leviticus 18; Malachi 2:14-16; Proverbs 3, 6, 17).
Please think for a moment what would happen if everyone in the world embraced homosexuality as the norm. Homosexuals cannot reproduce naturally. All human life would come to an end in one generation. Even setting aside the fact that a society cannot be built on homosexual structures, it is a self-destructive lifestyle. Research has indicated a male practicing homosexual has a life expectancy roughly 20 years shorter than that of heterosexual men. It might be possible to overcome the destruction caused by this behavior through improved medical treatment, but the evidence that such a lifestyle results in negative outcomes is undeniable (http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/6/1499.full). There are consequences to our choices.
In the August 10 2016 edition of USA Today is a description of something that should be shocking. A woman, whom I will not name, got pregnant and had a son when she was 16 years old. She gave him up for adoption. Her son is now 19 years old and found her on Facebook. They reunited and, according to the story, fell in love and started a sexual relationship. They now face possible imprisonment. I’ll quote from the article:
told the Mail they hope their plight will raise awareness for Genetic Sexual Attraction, or sexual attraction between biological relatives who meet for the first time as adults.
“The couple, who live separately and are under court order not to see each other, told the Mail they hope to reunite after they serve their sentences.
'It is every bit worth it,' Mares told the Mail. 'If they lock me up for love then they lock me up. There is no way anybody could pull us apart, and I really do love him.””
Rather than expressing shame over their shameful and unhealthy acts, the mother seems to think of herself as a hero.
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Look to God for love that does not change.
1. God hates things that hurt the ones He loves. Therefore
2. God Hates Worship that results in the destruction of humans
(Deuteronomy 7, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25; Psalm 5 & 11, Isaiah 1; Revelation 2:6,15)
But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, 30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. Deuteronomy 12
What is described here is worship of Moloch-the worshippers would take their newborn babes and lay them in the red-hot arms of the iron idol to kill them. Today we do this through abortion. Since abortion was legalized around the world in the 1970’s more than 1,500,000,000 abortions have been performed, many of them simply to choose the sex of the child (screenshot from http://www.numberofabortions.com/). God hates this. Do we have to discuss much in order to understand why? How could a God of love not hate such wonton destruction of innocent human life?
1. God hates things that hurt the ones He loves. Therefore
2. God Hates Worship that results in the destruction of humans
And, finally,
3. God hates so we can love.
7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
I’d like to conclude with one of the things in God’s hate list from Proverbs 6
These six things doth the LORD hate:
yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 a proud look, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 a false witness that speaketh lies,
and he that soweth discord among brethren.
First on the list is “a proud look”.
Why would God hate pride?
Maybe because “pride comes before destruction and a haughty spririt before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18)
This takes us back to the beginning of this message. Aristotle wrote his book on Ethics (Nikomachian Ethics). In it he argued we must first understand what is Good, and then we can discuss how to create a society in which Good is made possible and promoted. This would govern all ethical decisions. Arisotle concluded the greatest good was happiness. It seems many people agree with him today.
It’s interesting to me that his system of thinking that taught that happiness is the greatest good lead, i think, inevitably, to two almost opposite philosophical systems, hedonism and asceticism. Hedonism teaches that the chief good is pleasure, therefore we should make all of our decisions in order to maximize our potential for pleasure. This may result in a very disicplined lifestyle, because many self-indulgent pleasures result in long term pain. But it is still a life based on the pleasure principle. The ascetics taught that all suffering comes from indulging in pleasure, and the happiest life is one separated from the distractions of pleasure-seeking. This is a Western version of Gautama Budha’s philosophy that all suffering comes from desire. Both systems may have something to teach us. Self-discipline in pleasure is part of the path to happiness. The problem with both of these systems is that they neglect the fundamental principle of happiness-love.
The Bible teaches that love is the greatest good. If we want to live a happy life we must learn how to love God and love each other. This is the basis of biblical ethics.
God’s hatred for those things that prevent the formation of a loving society is based on His profound love for each of us.
There are two sides to the coin of love:
Mercy (joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc. –Gal. 5) and
Justice (punishment of evil, reward of good)
Without justice it is impossible to form a loving society.
This is why God hates pride. Pride leads us to establish a system of right and wrong based soley on human opinion. Any system based on our opinion is destined to limit human growth and potential. Pride prevents us from embracing the plan of God for our lives. Pride profoundly limits our happiness.
As Billy Graham said:
“The greatest act of humility in the history of the universe was when Jesus Christ stooped to die on the cross of Calvary. And before anyone can get to Heaven, they must kneel at the foot of the cross and acknowledge that they are a sinner, that they have broken the commandments of God and that they need the grace of God in Christ. No one can come proudly to the Savior.” https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/september-2011/things-god-hates/
“Vengeance (Judgment) is mine, says the LORD. I will repay”
“Judge not or you will be judged”.
God judges so we don’t have to.
He hates so we can love.
