Psalm 21

Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath, And the fire shall devour them.

(Psa 21:8-9)

Normally not the type of verses we focus on in a “devotional” blog like this, but I thought it was worth taking a look at. The context is David praising God for the victory that had been granted to him in battle. Remember yesterdays Psalm? We looked at the verse that says, “some trust in horses, some trust in chariots, but I will trust in the Lord my God”. Today, we see that David putting his trust in the Lord, rather than in the ways of man had paid off. He had received victory, and blessings that exceeded what he had even asked for. As David sings his praise to the Lord, he begins talking about the judgment of God, and he focuses in on this idea that in the end, none will escape it.

The Bible is clear on these things, yet we often bow to the pressure of society around us, and we soft-pedal this truth. If someone is not FOR God, then he is AGAINST Him. If someone rejects Jesus, no matter how good, religious, or kind-hearted that person may seem, they are making themselves the enemy of God. Maybe you have heard people say things like, “It isn’t that I hate Jesus, I just don’t really want to follow Him”. Or maybe you’ve heard one like this, “Christianity is right and good for you, but not for me… I am on another path that is also right and good, and will ultimately lead to God.”

There is a lot of pressure today in the world around us to be “tolerant”. What they mean by this word is we shouldn’t judge the truth of anyone’s religion, and definitely not make any statements about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. The problem with “tolerance” is that it flies in the face of all we believe. Jesus called us to LOVE those around us, even our enemies… and there is nothing loving about lying to a person and telling them they are fine if you KNOW they are headed for hell. We need to be clear, there is no middle ground… it is for or against. May the Lord help us to be bold as we speak these truths in love to the world around us.