Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

 

Psalm 74:1-11

 

7-16-2022

 

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil of Asaph.

O God, why do you cast us off forever?  Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?   Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!   Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.  Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!   Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs.  They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees.    And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.  They set your sanctuary on fire;  they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground.  They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.   We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.  How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?  Is the enemy to revile your name forever?  Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?  Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

 

Asaph is asking God to remember His people, His chosen people, but God has not forgotten them, but have they like the Church today forgotten the precepts and commandments of our God.  Asaph talks about how the enemy of God scoffs, yes mock our Lord, ours, and their Creator, and they revile God’s name.  I have people in my family that will claim to be Christian and use the Lord’s name in vain. If you do not understand what in vain means it is using the name of God in profane expression.  God will not deal kindly with a person that does so, but He will forgive if a person humbles themselves and asks for forgiveness.

 

It is my understanding that HEB, a store I worked for from the age of 12 to 18 and was founded on Christian values, has now sponsored the following.  In June, H-E-B sponsored an LGBT “pride” event in downtown Austin. The event, called Rainbow on the Creek, included a drag queen story hour, a “family-friendly all ages” drag show performed by a group called the Hydrated Queer Kitties, and a pride parade.

 

When I worked at a young age at HEB it was said that Charlie Butt's nickname was Little Red butt, in that he was always in trouble.  Today it is not his parents Charlie needs to worry about, it is his Creator.  If I find this article to be true, it will come with a cost, to no longer do business at HEB, but what can a follower of Christ do, give Charlie Butt more money or find a Walmart or a Costco or one of the small chains to buy your groceries.

 

The sad news is Charlie would never have taken this risk if he believed Christian would say enough, no he calls himself one and goes against the will of God.  He is not fearful of losing you as a customer, he knows you will choose convenience over value.  So one of these days when you are crying out to God, O God, why do you cast us off forever?   Remember it was not God who forgot but His Church.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice