Psalm One
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The military academy cadet. His counselor told him it was only a game, he could bow to the homecoming football, it was okay. He dried his tears and the next time the ball, carried on a silk pillow, came down the hallway, he joined the other freshmen and bowed low. Trivial example as it is, and with no real intent to actually worship the football, I suppose it didn’t hurt to go along. Or was there? What’s the difference between bowing to the homecoming football and kissing a rabbit’s foot for good luck? And what of the counselor that spoke to the cadet? Was he a wise counselor? What if a counselor had spoken to Mordecai in the same manner? Is paying homage to the king’s representative, Haman in the Book of Esther, just a game and not serious worship?
What about “Sieg Heil,” the German salute during the Nazi years prior to, and during, WWII? Read what Wikipedea says about this salute:
“Sieg Heil was a ritualistic chant used at mass rallies, where enthusiastic crowds answered Heil to the call of Sieg (“victory”). For example, at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, Rudolf Hess ends his climactic speech with, “The Party is Hitler. But Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler. Hitler! Sieg Heil!” At his total war speech delivered in 1943, audiences shouted Sieg Heil as Joseph Goebbels solicited from them “a kind of plebiscitary ‘Ja’ to self destruction in a war which Germany could by now neither win nor end through negotiated peace”. In correspondence with high-ranking nazi officials, letters were usually signed with “Heil Hitler”.
“On 11 March 1945, less than two months before the capitulation of Nazi Germany, a memorial for the dead of the war was held in Marktschellenberg, a small town near Hitler’s Berghof residence. The historian Ian Kershaw reports, “When the leader of the Wehrmacht unit at the end of his speech called for a Sieg Heil for the Führer, it was returned neither by the Wehrmacht present, nor by the Volkssturm, nor by the spectators of the civilian population who had turned up. This silence of the masses… probably reflects better than anything else, the attitudes of the population.” ”
Perhaps it is harmless to bow to a silly game football, but if we take seriously Psalm One, then by going along on this instance leads down another path, a path that does not lead to the Victory of Y’shuaJesus. Going along with wrongdoing is connivance. Walking with sinners. Sinners. We are now judging people, saying they are sinners? Yes. And no. Yes, we are judging them as sinners if they walk not according to the Word of G-d. No, we are not the judges, but the Word of G-d judges and we are in accord and obedience to the Word of G-d. In fact, Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said All Are Sinners. All Fall Short of the Glory of G-d.
Covered in the Blood. Isn’t that an expression once used in Baptist churches across America? We are covered in the blood of Y’shuaJesus, our sins atoned by His death on the Cross. We are sinners saved by grace. But not all are saved. All are offered redemption, but not all accept it.
C.S. Lewis has some things to say about connivance, too. Let’s take a look on Wednesday.
Until then, Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you and through you to this hurting, challenging world in which we reside as visitors, strangers. . .
JonahzSong 