Aug 15 - Psalm 2:1

Why do the people

waste their time

with futile plans?

Psalm 2:1

Futile means ineffective and worthless. It implies a lack of success. It means being utterly incapable of producing any positive result.

For example, my running a marathon would be absolutely futile …

… or would it?

In my present condition, coughing up a lung is much more likely than racing twenty-six miles. Nevertheless, with a lot of effort, I suppose I could whip myself into shape. Therefore, a marathon is improbable, but not futile.

Perhaps escaping the laws of nature is futile. Or is it? We cheat gravity (every time a plane takes flight). We breathe underwater (with scuba gear). We project our voice halfway around the world (through telephones). We even try to cheat death and destruction as we fight fires and battle cancer.

What, then, is futile? Utterly futile? Psalm 2 reveals the most futile thing in all the world. It is “plot[ting] against the LORD”!

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never “plotted” against the Lord.

And yet, I do it all the time.

None of us wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror, and says, “I think I’ll be God today!” And yet that’s how we constantly act. We do what we want … when we want to do it. We make our own plans without consulting God (and then blame him when things go wrong). And most of us are just “little people.”

What about kings and business tycoons? The more earthly authority humans wield, the more prone we are to mistake that for real power. But today’s Psalm tells us the truth. It says that great “nations” may “rage,” mighty “rulers” may “plot,” and proud people may be under the illusion that we can “free ourselves,” but “the one who rules in heaven laughs.”

Some find that depressing.

I think it’s hopeful.

I know the trajectory of my life. I may momentarily stall the inevitable for another thirty or forty years, but my future is grayer hair, lesser strength, and weaker heart. If I’m in charge of my destiny, it’s ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Nevertheless, my future is not futile! When I let God be in charge of my destiny, it’s hopeful … and eternal.

Any power that I have is an illusion. It is temporary at best. Even more so, it is a gift.

God has created the circumstances of my birth – rich or poor, slave or free, an age of prosperity or a season of war. He’s breathed every skill – and every limitation – into my life. My health is a gift. My weakness is also a gift (because it encourages me to depend on God). For me to plot against God – and expect to win – is the very definition of futile.

To humble myself and depend on God is the very secret of hope … and peace … and joy.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy with grayer hair

and a brighter life