1stBBC
What can the righteous do?
Psa 11:1-7 To the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test, the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
What should he do, knowing it is a test “his eyelids test” ?
1. Love the Truth
Love the truth above all.
Deu 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Love the truth, the condition for blessing.
Deu 11:1,13-16 "You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. "And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them;
You need to love it, to be able to stick to it.
Jos 1:5,7-8 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Jesus asked Peter about his love again before He assigned him the great task.
Joh 21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."
From Hannah’s prayer …
1Sa 2:6-9 The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them he has set the world. "He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.
From God’s message to Eli …
1Sa 2:29-30,35 Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ Therefore the LORD the God of Israel declares: ’I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ’Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.
Love the truth … all will see.
1Sa 3:20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD.
Psa 145:20 The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
2. Fear no man
Pro 29:25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.
John 12:42-43 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Luk 6:26 Woe to you, when all people speak well of you …
1Pe 3:13-16 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
Psa 56:3-6 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life.
Luk 12:4-5,11-12 I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.
3. Trust in God’s justice
1Pe 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
2Co 4:18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Psa 9:7-10,12,18 But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
Psa 10:17-18 O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
Psa 12:5 Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the LORD; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs.
What can the righteous do?
Love the truth, fear no man, trust in God’s justice.
Pastor Tony Skaff
2006
