Nov 10 - Psalm 12:7

You, O Lord, will protect us;

you will guard us from

this generation forever.

Psalm 12:7

Last Friday, I started by confessing that I sound like an old guy who longs for a simpler time. I lamented that it sometimes seems like "1 there is no longer anyone who is godly."

I'm not alone in my lament over culture. David lamented his generation -- hence this Psalm. Even Jesus – the Christ -- lamented his era, saying, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I ... put up with you?" (Matthew 17:17).

But sad laments are a hopeless place to leave things, aren’t they?

So today, let’s focus on the hopeful side of this equation, based on today's verse: How will God guard and protect us from this (and any) generations lies, temptations, and evils?

·       Wisdom: Major portions of the Old Testament are called Wisdom Literature. Wisdom flows throughout the New Testament too. Wisdom sets our feet on a solid, safe path, even when the world wants to tempt us down dark detours.

·       The Law: Similarly the law can guide us and convict us and channel us again down the right path.

·       The Armor of God: When we put on God's protection, clothing ourselves in things like his truth and his brand of righteousness, we again are safer. And the helmet of salvation might be the most important of all. When we're absolutely confident of our eternal destination, we're much less worried about what this world can do to us. ("What's the worst you can do? Send me to heaven a day early? Ha!")

·       Jesus: Jesus is, of course, the best answer. Not only does he forgive our sins and give us life (life eternally ... and life for today), but part of his reason for coming was to model a way of living and success, even in a corrupt, perverse, and murderous (toward him) generation.

·       Prayer: If God -- the Capital King of creation -- gave us dominion over the earth (He did in Genesis 1) ... and if we gave authority of this world over to Satan (we did in Genesis 3, which is why Satan is called, in scripture, the lower-case ruler of this world) ... then prayer is us inviting God back into our world and into our lives. Yes, God is the Capital King. He can do whatever he wants. But generally he waits for us to invite him into our situations -- including to "guard us from this generation."

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's

engraving invitations