Read
(A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune “Mahalath.”)
No One Can Ignore God
1 Only a fool would say,
“There is no God!”
People like that are worthless!
They are heartless and cruel
and never do right.
2From heaven God
looks down to see
if anyone is wise enough
to search for him.
3But all of them
are crooked and corrupt.
Not one of them does right.
4Won't you lawbreakers learn?
You refuse to pray,
and you gobble up
the people of God.
5But you will be terrified
worse than ever before.
God will scatter the bones
of his enemies,
and you will be ashamed
when God rejects you.
6I long for someone from Zion
to come and save Israel!
Our God, when you bless
your people again,
Jacob's family will be glad,
and Israel will celebrate.
Reflect
I often heard it said that, “As we think, so we are.” Basically, our actions are a result of our thoughts. So, what do you think the end result is of us as individuals and a society saying, “There is no God”? And if you think you don’t say it directly, would you agree we certainly live as though we believe it were true?
We all complain that “God” has let us down when things go badly, or we ask, “Where was God when …?” and you fill in the blank for the tragedy that struck you or a loved one. Or perhaps some natural “act of God” disaster rips apart your home or city or country and we are left wondering, “How could a loving God allow this to happen?” Yet we live our lives and govern our countries denying the existence of God and that He is present.
Verse 2 points out that God (the One who exists) is actually looking down from Heaven to see if there is anyone on the lookout for Him. But all He sees is crookedness and corruption. The human condition.
We all like the nice, common sense, reasonable parts of the Bible like Matthew 7:12 “Treat others as you want them to treat you”, the Golden Rule stuff you learned as a child. But what would our lives look like if we treated God that way? What would it be like if we treated Him the way we want to be treated? Just a thought.
Respond
Father, you are God. You who spoke the universe into being and created all there is from nothing. Who am I to deny you? Forgive my arrogance. Strengthen me, by your Holy Spirit, to seek you, so that as you promise I will find you. In Jesus name I pray.
James Paterson
James works as a visual artist. His current body of work is a series of metal wire sculptures called Prayer Machines which are whimsically ambiguous machine-like objects that give expression to mystery. “I love to share the gospel message, using art as a bridge, to encourage people in their relationship with Jesus.” He and Lynn have four young adult children. Publications Jim’s Grandiose Big Bible Picture Book (Bastian Books ,2007)