Verses 1-9, “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah. You love all devouring words, You deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also shall see and fear, And shall laugh at him, saying, 'Here is the man who did not make God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness.' But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever, Because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.”
Boasting is the behavior of the person who is proud, and godless. Those who know who God is, have no reason to boast. We know that any good we have, or that is in us, is only because of Him and His mercy toward us. Furthermore, the pride that the wicked has, blinds them to the truth, so that they arrogantly boast when their demise is right around the corner. Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Consider Satan...who God created beautifully and may have been the highest of all angels. Even with all that he was given, he was not content with his situation, and desired to be God instead of submitting to His plan. Isaiah 14:12-14, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ ” Before you think to yourself that you are nothing like Satan, think about how you react internally when you do not get to have your way. Even the smallest twinge of resistance reveals to us the sin nature that we were born with.
The longer we walk with the Lord, the more time we have to be humbled through trials and persecutions that are allowed to test our faith. God uses these difficult times in our lives to correct our prideful ways, and yield the fruit of humility. Parenting our children is just the start of removing the foolish, prideful thinking we are all born with. Proverbs 22:15, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.” Unrestrained children often grow into unrestrained adults, who like Satan, are destined for a fall. If we think of ourselves as being children of God, we would be wise to yield rather than resist.
Those who aren't saved boast over many things such as how much money or how many posessions they have, how much power they have here on earth, etc. They think they have the freedom to do whatever they want, but one day they will be judged by the Lord. Our focuse here on earth should not be about money or earthly possessions which will all fade away. Matthew 6:19-21- “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
ReplyDeleteThe city of Tyre did a similar thing by storing up gold and silver, etc and God destroyed them! Zechariah 9:3-4- "For Tyre built herself a tower, Heaped up silver like the dust, And gold like the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will cast her out; He will destroy her power in the sea, And she will be devoured by fire."
Those who forsake all in this world and serve the Lord will be saved! We can have joy and peace because we are like green trees planted by the water. Jeremiah 17:7-8- “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord , And whose hope is the Lord . For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit."
This is how you can tell who is truly saved. Those who bear fruit and can show it in their life. Those who have gone theough trials and have persevered. These are true men and women of God. If our life isn't producing fruit, we need to look closely and repent of any sin that is separating us from the Lord! The same thing goes if we are no longer growing in the Lord! We should always be growing and producing fruit in our lives as a Christian!
Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah You love all devouring words, You deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah The righteous also shall see and fear, And shall laugh at him, saying, “Here is the man who did not make God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness.”
ReplyDeletePsalms 52:1-7
It is so common in today's day and age for people to boast in themselves. Whether it be because they think too highly or because they are trying to make themselves feel better, it is an evil thing, that we as christians should not do. We as men are not great and wonderful, nimater what we might think. We should not be going around acting like we are. We as men and women are sinners, and this is not something we should boast in. The only one person, who we should boast in is Jesus Christ. He is perfect and spotless unlike us. If men, who are evil and sinners, boast about themselves, how much more should we boast in Christ, who is spotless and perfect?