Why are there two Psalms of David that say the same thing? Maybe because the message is very important, and certainly a message greatly needed in our so called age of reason. Those David called fools have said in their minds that there is no God. They set about to solve the world's problems by education, communication, and something they call love. But they have no comprehension of what love is. They have called feel good foolishness love, and disregarded the sacrifice and moral integrity that enables real love. Demeaning the moral laws handed down by God on Sinai, and laughing at the Biblical principles that have blessed our nation, they have proceeded to dismantle and discredit the moral foundations of our society.
Once we were known as the greatest nation on earth, and perhaps we believed it was all about us. It wasn't about us, it was about respecting God. Now we are faced with the implosion of our society because our foundations have been pulled out by fools.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Psalm 14
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director. Davidic.
1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.
4 Will evildoers never understand?
They consume My people as they consume bread;
they do not call on the Lord.
5 Then they will be filled with terror,
for God is with those who are righteous.
6 You sinners frustrate the plans of the afflicted,
but the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Psalm 14
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director. Davidic.
1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.
4 Will evildoers never understand?
They consume My people as they consume bread;
they do not call on the Lord.
5 Then they will be filled with terror,
for God is with those who are righteous.
6 You sinners frustrate the plans of the afflicted,
but the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.
The message is repeated in Psalms 53.
Psalm 53 English Standard Version (ESV)
There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
53 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.2 God looks down from heaven
To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
53 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Complete Jewish Bible
Matt 23:33-- “You snakes! Sons of snakes! How can you escape being condemned to Gei-Hinnom? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and Torah-teachers — some of them you will kill, indeed, you will have them executed on stakes as criminals; some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so, on you will fall the guilt for all the innocent blood that has ever been shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Hevel to the blood of Z’kharyah Ben-Berekhyah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. 36 Yes! I tell you that all this will fall on this generation!
37 “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! 38 Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate. 39 For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.’”
Him Whom They Have Pierced
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Jesus mourned for Jerusalem, the city chosen by God to establish His power as a sign to all the people of the earth. The most important thing to ever happen at Jerusalem was the resurrection of Yeshua.
Complete Jewish Bible, John 19:31-- It was Preparation Day, and the Judeans did not want the bodies to remain on the stake on Shabbat, since it was an especially important Shabbat. So they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed. 32 The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been put on a stake beside Yeshua, then the legs of the other one; 33 but when they got to Yeshua and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34 However, one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a spear, and at once blood and water flowed out. 35 The man who saw it has testified about it, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, so you too can trust. 36 For these things happened in order to fulfill this passage of the Tanakh:
“Not one of his bones will be broken.”
37 And again, another passage says,
“They will look at him whom they have pierced.”
38 After this, Yosef of Ramatayim, who was a talmid of Yeshua, but a secret one out of fear of the Judeans, asked Pilate if he could have Yeshua’s body. Pilate gave his consent, so Yosef came and took the body away. 39 Also Nakdimon, who at first had gone to see Yeshua by night, came with some seventy pounds of spices — a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40 They took Yeshua’s body and wrapped it up in linen sheets with the spices, in keeping with Judean burial practice. 41 In the vicinity of where he had been executed was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 42 So, because it was Preparation Day for the Judeans, and because the tomb was close by, that is where they buried Yeshua.
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Yeshua, on his way to be crucified, wept over Jerusalem. He condemned those who trusted in themselves, and who rejected God's instructions. He warned about the impending destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and the Roman army, and looked to the future when He would be accepted by His people.
Complete Jewish Bible
37 “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! 38 Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate. 39 For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.’”
The words of the second Psalm, where the nations rage, and leaders conspire together, to throw off the bonds imposed by God, remind us of the age of reason, with all the proclamations that God is dead.
I lived through the 60's, a time of rebellion against authority. Flower children proclaimed that love, joy, and peace can be achieved by folks who practice secular humanism, like George Soros' "open society". If we will just love each other, and talk to each other, all problems will be overcome, and we will have bliss on earth. But a Jordanian Pilot being burned alive in a cage, and video being shown on Youtube, tells a different story. Some people are evil.
Jordanian Pilot
The confrontation between good and evil has once again come front and center. Time to stop the nonsense about solving our problems by talking to each other about Darwin and time and chance. It is back to basics. Evil must be confronted. Evil must be resisted. Evil must be destroyed.
Yes, it matters whether we believe in God. The best way to destroy evil is to convert the hearts of individuals to faith in the Prince of Peace. We must speak up for truth and righteousness, we must show people the salvation that is by faith in Jesus the Christ.
But justice and righteousness must be upheld by the power of law. As Paul said, secular power exists to support righteousness, and the soldier does not bear the sword in vain. Pray that our nation will support righteousness and justice with wisdom, trusting in God.
But justice and righteousness must be upheld by the power of law. As Paul said, secular power exists to support righteousness, and the soldier does not bear the sword in vain. Pray that our nation will support righteousness and justice with wisdom, trusting in God.
It matters whether we trust God by keeping His commandments. The good life depends upon society's support for righteousness.
No, Islam is not a great religion, and neither is godless secular humanism. It is time for believers to stand up and speak up for faith in God, the God revealed in the Bible.
Psalm 2 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Reign of the Lord's Anointed
1 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Yes, we can take refuge in Yeshua. He is the Son of God, and there is no other intercessor between God the Father and mankind. Blessed are all who mourn for Him.
Zech 12:9-11, ESV
The Reign of the Lord's Anointed
1 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Yes, we can take refuge in Yeshua. He is the Son of God, and there is no other intercessor between God the Father and mankind. Blessed are all who mourn for Him.
Zech 12:9-11, ESV
9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Him Whom They Have Pierced
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Jesus mourned for Jerusalem, the city chosen by God to establish His power as a sign to all the people of the earth. The most important thing to ever happen at Jerusalem was the resurrection of Yeshua.
“Not one of his bones will be broken.”
37 And again, another passage says,
“They will look at him whom they have pierced.”
38 After this, Yosef of Ramatayim, who was a talmid of Yeshua, but a secret one out of fear of the Judeans, asked Pilate if he could have Yeshua’s body. Pilate gave his consent, so Yosef came and took the body away. 39 Also Nakdimon, who at first had gone to see Yeshua by night, came with some seventy pounds of spices — a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40 They took Yeshua’s body and wrapped it up in linen sheets with the spices, in keeping with Judean burial practice. 41 In the vicinity of where he had been executed was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 42 So, because it was Preparation Day for the Judeans, and because the tomb was close by, that is where they buried Yeshua.
Yes, He rose from the grave at Jerusalem on Sunday morning, and sent his disciples upon a mission to carry the good news to every person on earth. But within four centuries the good news was subverted by men who loved money and power, and who established organizations and institutions which subjugated mankind to the exercise of power by ruthless men. Throughout the middle ages atrocities upon mankind were practiced by the so called "Christian" church-state monstrosities.
In the middle of the seventh century, another movement developed that exercised the power of religion and state to enslave mankind. This movement, Islam, persecuted all who opposed their rule. They built an empire that reached from India to Spain. Their empire was dismantled in the first and second world wars. But now they are attempting comeback. And they cut off peoples' heads, and burn some people alive.
But they also hate secular humanists. Isn't that interesting? So why do the secular humanists like them (Islam) better than Christians? Maybe because people who do not believe in God are fools, like David said.
Please review this article.
Please review this article.
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