Foundations
One of the more intriguing
verses in the Bible is Psalm 11:3, “… if the foundations are destroyed, what
can the righteous do?” When I first heard this verse as a young man it gave me
great pause. I began meditating on the implications, which, if taken to the
extreme, could cause fear to rise up in your heart. Other verses came to mind
like, “If God is for us who can be against us?” The inverse of that would be,
“If God is not for you there is no hope.”
It is this type of thing
that causes people to fall into great depression and fear. Others begin to lash
out in anger at what they feel is injustice. They shout, “Who is God that He
would not be for me?!?” First of all, they do not understand the nature and
character of God, and secondly do not understand scripture. Let’s look at this
a little more closely.
I’m 60, but I have never
seen the type of things going on in the world that are happening today. I’m
sure others have, and possibly in history much worse things have transpired.
But in my lifetime this is the most unusual. We have at our disposal the
greatest amount of information ever amassed: the Internet. Just about anything
you can imagine is available at your fingertips via smartphone, tablet, laptop,
or even a watch! Yet, I have never seen such confusion. For most of us, we grew
up with a worldview given to us by our parents, teachers, and preachers. Today,
even from an early age, you can have access to any worldview that exists.
Knowledge can be dangerous.
Knowledge without wisdom is like playing with bullets without a gun. Inside a
gun bullets are safely housed in chambers where accidental firing is a minimal
risk. Outside of a gun they are a danger. Knowledge (bullets) inside a gun
(wisdom) can be fired at a target with great precision and accomplish the
desired result. Outside of wisdom, knowledge may shoot any direction lacking
the barrel to guide it, not only missing the desired target, but also potentially
causing harm to innocents.
For many, knowledge is
considered a “foundation” upon which we can build a structure with little risk
of it ever crumbling. Modern science is this way. The main issue with knowledge
is that it is always changing. We are constantly learning more about our world,
and this new knowledge totally changes our previous understanding. Many
theories have been developed about how earth, and the entire universe for that
matter, came into being. Every day new information is obtained which totally
refutes the knowledge from yesterday.
So, back to the topic at
hand. If you base your life on knowledge alone it will most likely crumble over
time. There has to be an absolute, a bedrock. You have to get beyond the fluff
and hype, especially in today’s world of “fake news” and straight out
propaganda, and find truth. Once found, drive a stake in it so you cannot be
blown from it, and you will not wander from it. Live your life from that place
of truth. Look at the text again, this time in context.
Psalm
11:1-3 (ESV)
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 arrow to
the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are
destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
“In the Lord I take refuge…”
That is this psalmist’s bedrock. Then he continues, “How can you say to my soul
…?” He is refuting others that say, “You better watch out! What if God doesn’t
…?” For the psalmist there is no doubt that the Rock to whom he has attached
himself cannot, and will not, be moved, destroyed, or in any way shaken. When
you find this place in your relationship with God you, too, will be uneasily
moved by anything that someone may say, or any knowledge that may present
itself that is contrary to what you know to be true about God. If you are not
there yet, keep digging. Once you get through the layers of junk, mistruth,
deception, etc. you will find the unshakable Kingdom of Heaven!
Check out the song link
below.
