"For the foundations will be destroyed. What has the righteous done?" (Psalm 11:3)
When, not if, "the foundations will be destroyed," the Lord Jesus Christ will ask us, "What has the righteous done?"
Because I do not wish to come up with some eccentric, shocking, etc., translation, I include below some comments on our text by various "divines" over the centuries:
* "that the condition of affairs was as if the very foundations were destroyed; that there was nothing to rest on; and that all his hopes, in his present condition, must be swept away." (Barnes Notes)
* "What has the righteous done?" (Calvin)
* "of the impotence of efforts to check the general anarchy." (Expositor's Bible)
When, not if, "the foundations will be destroyed," the Lord Jesus Christ will ask us, "What has the righteous done?"
Because I do not wish to come up with some eccentric, shocking, etc., translation, I include below some comments on our text by various "divines" over the centuries:
* "that the condition of affairs was as if the very foundations were destroyed; that there was nothing to rest on; and that all his hopes, in his present condition, must be swept away." (Barnes Notes)
* "What has the righteous done?" (Calvin)
* "of the impotence of efforts to check the general anarchy." (Expositor's Bible)
* "....the form of the question in the original seems to be intended to exclude the possibility of an encouraging answer." (Cambridge Bible)
* "The priests are destroyed, the preservers of knowledge and truth; the Divine worship is overthrown; and what can the righteous man work?" (Clarke's Commentary-- he describes this in context, viz., the priests being murder by Doeg on Saul's orders)
* "literally, 'The foundations (that is, of good order and law) will be destroyed, what has the righteous done to sustain them?' All his efforts have failed." (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Comm)
* " All hope of help is taken away" (Geneva Study Bible)
* "Foundations, Piety, justice, fidelity, and mercy, which are the pillars or foundations of state or kingdom. -- the condition of all righteous men will be desperate." (Wesley's notes)
* "all things are out of order and course both in church and state; the laws, which are the foundations of government, are despised and disregarded; judgment is perverted, and justice stands afar off; the doctrines and principles of religion are derided and subverted; so that there is no standing, either in a political or religious sense." (Gill's Exposition)
It is obvious that our text, and the "new," at least to me, translation, has impacted me greatly. I, as the majority of us, have for years quoted and thought of our text in the traditional words, "If..," and, "what can...?" That translation is, excuse the pun, iffy. What most who know the Hebrew text seem to concur is the certainty of destroyed foundations, and the accompanying question, "What has the righteous done?" I do not want to write depressing devotionals, but I do want to write of and face the reality of human existence, not some religious cliche-filled gobbledegook. I want you and me to, "walk in the light as He (Jesus) is in the light." Personally, I believe the translation of our text to be such, "light." These "God-Breathed" Words are great preparation for what is yet to come.
I repeat again what Billy Graham said so many years ago: "History is headed toward a dramatic climax." And no matter what you and I and all the "declarers" do, nothing will change that. Jesus will return, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him...." Moreover, there will be a great battle in the plains of Meggido, a place where Napoleon exclaimed when he saw it, "All the armies of the world could maneuver their forces on this vast plain." They will. The Bible is full of "future" references, prophetic utterances which speak of things yet to come. And the Bible teaches that the foundations of all the kingdoms of the world, The United States of America, Russia, China, et. al., will, "be destroyed." What is destined to replace them? "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.'" This for me is the opposite of "depressing ." I think I'll call it "WHOOPEE theology."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that those who are founded on You will never be destroyed. Amen.
*********************************
* I will be preaching in this Sunday's gathering of Quest Church, Greensburg.
* I will be participating in the Pittsburgh National Day of Prayer observance, May 7, from 12:00-14:00.
* "The priests are destroyed, the preservers of knowledge and truth; the Divine worship is overthrown; and what can the righteous man work?" (Clarke's Commentary-- he describes this in context, viz., the priests being murder by Doeg on Saul's orders)
* "literally, 'The foundations (that is, of good order and law) will be destroyed, what has the righteous done to sustain them?' All his efforts have failed." (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Comm)
* " All hope of help is taken away" (Geneva Study Bible)
* "Foundations, Piety, justice, fidelity, and mercy, which are the pillars or foundations of state or kingdom. -- the condition of all righteous men will be desperate." (Wesley's notes)
* "all things are out of order and course both in church and state; the laws, which are the foundations of government, are despised and disregarded; judgment is perverted, and justice stands afar off; the doctrines and principles of religion are derided and subverted; so that there is no standing, either in a political or religious sense." (Gill's Exposition)
It is obvious that our text, and the "new," at least to me, translation, has impacted me greatly. I, as the majority of us, have for years quoted and thought of our text in the traditional words, "If..," and, "what can...?" That translation is, excuse the pun, iffy. What most who know the Hebrew text seem to concur is the certainty of destroyed foundations, and the accompanying question, "What has the righteous done?" I do not want to write depressing devotionals, but I do want to write of and face the reality of human existence, not some religious cliche-filled gobbledegook. I want you and me to, "walk in the light as He (Jesus) is in the light." Personally, I believe the translation of our text to be such, "light." These "God-Breathed" Words are great preparation for what is yet to come.
I repeat again what Billy Graham said so many years ago: "History is headed toward a dramatic climax." And no matter what you and I and all the "declarers" do, nothing will change that. Jesus will return, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him...." Moreover, there will be a great battle in the plains of Meggido, a place where Napoleon exclaimed when he saw it, "All the armies of the world could maneuver their forces on this vast plain." They will. The Bible is full of "future" references, prophetic utterances which speak of things yet to come. And the Bible teaches that the foundations of all the kingdoms of the world, The United States of America, Russia, China, et. al., will, "be destroyed." What is destined to replace them? "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.'" This for me is the opposite of "depressing ." I think I'll call it "WHOOPEE theology."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that those who are founded on You will never be destroyed. Amen.
*********************************
* I will be preaching in this Sunday's gathering of Quest Church, Greensburg.
* I will be participating in the Pittsburgh National Day of Prayer observance, May 7, from 12:00-14:00.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
