“if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Psalm 11:1-7

“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?”  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 you are a follower of Jesus Christ in heart and deeds, you must ask this question; “if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" You do not have to be the smartest fish in the pond to grasp that the foundations of our society are being destroyed.   

For the last ten years, I've been listening and asking men what can we do to stop this destruction of a nation that is founded on, in man we do not trust, but in God alone.  Our founder, like Jefferson, Adams, and many others had looked at Europe and other parts of the world and had come to understand that only in God and His written word could a country stand and flourish.  They were not perfect men, for only one perfect man has ever walked on planet earth, and jealous religious men had Him killed on a Roman cross, His name is Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah.

 So I listen to special men like James Dobson the founder of Focus on the Family and see the personal cost to his stance by being fired by the handpicked men on His board of directors who betrayed him.  I've watched others; we should call them religious people who keep sending out the hate and unverified emails about how they are different than the wicked.  For a while I also got caught up in that some of it is true, much of it is true but is it changing anything, or have we who do such things become tools of the one who came to kill, steal, and destroy?

 So let us begin with a new start that is what we have as followers of Christ, and ask this question: ^“if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  The Psalmist tells us God is still in charge, so call to Him, look only to Him do not trust in man, God cannot change, He is the same today, yesterday and forever, look at this as a test of your righteousness, how are you doing on the test?  Also, know this that the world and its desires are passing away, but the righteous will not stand in judgment, but are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.  And also remember that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.  You will find that statement in Hebrews 9:22, so take this counsel from the stepbrother of Jesus, who gives this greeting: James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not clear to me at what point James becomes a follower of Jesus but let me share these words to the wise found in James 1:22-27.

^“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.  Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice