It's easy to think that life, right here and now, is as bad as it can get. That the politicians are more corrupt than ever; that all they care about is their own welfare. Wall Street is a bunch of greedy crooks. Big business is out for itself and the little guy suffers. The environment is being destroyed by our demand for oil. We are signing away our children's prosperity and burdening them with debt. Godlessness and licentiousness have become rampant. Nothing has ever been or will ever be worse than these times.
Then we hear the Psalmist's lament:
Help, LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception. - Ps. 12:1-2 NIV
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. - Ps 14:1 NIV
But before he decries it as being hopeless, he gives it over to God.
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men
to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. - Ps. 14:2 NIV
And puts his trust in God alone, not in government or commerce or money.
I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." - Ps. 16:2 NIV
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
- Ps 16:6 NIV
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. - Ps 16:11 NIV
So in the end, the Psalmist asks for nothing more than to be with God.
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings - Ps. 17:8 NIV
And I—in righteousness I will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness. - Ps. 17:15 NIV
Can we be satisfied with that, with being the apple of His eye, with hiding in the shadow of His wing, with seeing His face?
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