Send The Storm

“So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.” (Ps 83:15 AV)

 

The psalm is a prayer for relief.  In particular, Israel is seeking relief from a world that hates them.  In previous verses, there are ten nation-states named.  These cities or kingdoms neighbor Israel.  There is a reference to Gentile nations invading Israel and Jerusalem in particular.  These haters of God’s people seek to destroy them and the temple in which they worship.  This psalm pleads for the God of Israel to intervene that the sons of men might know themselves to be but men.  Their prayer is for God to come and in no uncertain terms, exercise His mighty power that the hateful workers of iniquity might learn to fear God again.  The prayer is not necessarily for the destruction of the wicked; although that is inevitable.  Rather, the writer first desires for the wicked to fear God.  The hope is they might be converted even though that would be highly unlikely.  In short, the verse above is asking for severe and adverse conditions that might stir the wicked heart of mankind to fear their maker.

We do a lot of door-knocking.  Personally, I spend four to six hours a week knocking on doors and talking to people.  In any given week, the LORD allows me to personally talk to somewhere between 100-150 people about their need to repent and seek God.  Since last March, I have anticipated a drastic change in the hearts of mankind.  Faced with a virus that was touted as the end of the planet as we know it, I was expecting hearts to be softened.  This was the case for the first few months.  As the ‘crisis’ began to settle in as more of an annoyance than a crisis, hearts were hardened again.  This reminds me of Pharaoh.  He was softened as long as the plague directly affected him.  Once it was removed, he became even more hardened against God than he was before the plague. I shouldn’t be surprised.  This is the pattern of men.  They will fear God as long as adversity is too much to bear.  Take the adversity away, and they hate God even more.  The request above is for adverse events to come that the children of men might learn to fear God.

No one likes to see someone go through a really hard time.  Unfortunately, a really hard time might be the only way for them to learn respect for God. There have been times when someone will sit in my office and weep over their life’s condition.  Financial failure; wayward children; a failed marriage; a poor diagnosis.  These things are not necessarily events sent by God because of rebellion in the heart.  But sometimes they are.  There are times when parents will weep over their wayward child and not realize they are the cause of their child’s rebellion.  They point to other factors like friends or influences when all along, Mom and Dad never truly walked with God.  Mom and Dad made sport of belittling the preacher or church and now stand in criminal court as they watch their son or daughter sentenced to jail time.  God sends adversity for the sake of change.  Either humility towards obedience, or surrender towards faith.  We live in a world that hates God and has absolutely no respect for the Creator!  There need be more events like this past year that man might be humbled and turn back towards God.  It may be the only way.