What Can the Righteous Do?

January 26, 2020                      NOTES NOT EDITED

What Can the Righteous Do?

Psalm 11, esp v. 3 

SIS— As the moral foundations of our country continue to crumble, the Church must rise up and be the solution.

One of the most iconic (or, well-known) buildings in the world is the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. It is actually a “bell tower” for the Cathedral of Pisa.  Construction began in 1172 and took almost 200 years to complete.  History records that it began leaning almost as soon as construction began.  The problem:  a faulty foundation that was too soft to support the Tower’s weight.  It has leaned as much as 5 degrees, reduced by modern engineering to just under 4 degrees. It was closed in the past because of the danger of it falling over.  The reduction in the lean now has engineers confident it is safe and it has reopened.  A major earthquake could bring it down, however.  Enjoy your tour!

The foundations of America’s infrastructure—roads, bridges, ports, aviation, drinking water, and such—also have problems with crumbling foundations.  According to a 2017 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, America’s foundations barely get a passing grade.  The engineers gave America’s infrastructure foundations a “D+.”  Literally, America’s foundations are crumbling.

I’ve thought quite a bit about the cracking and crumbling of America’s foundations for a few years now.  The present fiasco with the impeachment of the president, demonstrates the seriousness of the cracks in our national foundation.  I’m not talking about our brick, mortar, or steel structures, but more the crumbling of our moral and social foundations.

People have varied opinions about this “impeachment.”  Some are for it.  Some are against it.  Many are just tired of hearing about it.  If you disliked Trump before the impeachment, you likely dislike him now.  If you liked Trump before the impeachment, you likely continue to support him now.  Politics used to be about debate, but not anymore, it’s about defending your party at all costs.  Politics is about power—gaining it and keeping it!

So, the “impeachment circus” is not about politics for me.  I see something much more sinister at play.  I see the results of the “crumbling of America’s foundations.”  I see the results the cracking and eroding of America’s moral foundations, for decades. 
 

I’m not that old, just tipping the scale of a half-century by about a decade.  I remember when I was a child, even into my teen years, nobody debated whether or not a baby in the womb was a human being whose life was as sacred as that of any adult.  Now, in just a few decades, we debate whether or not it is “acceptable” to just let a baby die on the delivery room table if they are wanted.  That’s no small change in thinking!  When I was a child, it would have been utterly unthinkable, utterly and totally inconceivable, that the Supreme Court would one day “legalize” the marriage between a man and a man or a woman and a woman!  That’s not small change in the moral and ethical thinking of our collective society.  But, the moral collapse has now gone so far—much further than the stereotypical evils of Sodom and Gomorrah—so far, indeed, that we are now “seriously and politically” debating whether there is a difference between “male and female!”  The moral collapse of our society has pushed us to the very brink of self-annihilating absurdity! 

I think it was Billy Graham who said, “If God does not punish America for her sins, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”  Our moral collapse is more severe and more dangerous the the lean of the Tower of Pisa!  

I could go on at some great length outlining the moral collapse of our country, but if it is not obvious to any thinking person that we have had a serious moral deviation, then I’m not sure that a list of our moral deficits a mile long would likely be anymore persuasive.

Our Founding Fathers knew that America could not survive if we abandoned the Judeo-Christian foundations.  Again, I could quote a litany of sermons and speeches supporting the fact that our Founders realized that faith in God is essentially to freedom.  I’ll quote just one Founding Father—One of the oft-quoted—Thomas Jefferson.  

On Panel 3 of Jefferson’s Memorial we read:  God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.Notice that, like all our 200 Founding Fathers, Jefferson realized that political freedom was built on a moral foundations, and that moral foundation is the God of the Bible.  Ignoring that moral foundation was something that Jefferson said made Him, “tremble.”

I am “trembling” today as I watch our nation’s foundations crumble.  I tremble, but I am not hopeless nor do I feel helpless.  I have a plan.  It is a plan arising out of our text this morning.  In Psalm 11:3 David cried out:  “When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Let’s read this Psalm and see what we can do.  David, the Psalmist was speaking about the moral foundations of the nation of Israel that were crumbling under the rule of Saul (as they had crumbled under many bad leaders).  God had an answer for David when he faced the crumbling foundations of Israel. God has an answer for us today as we face the crumbling foundations of America.  [READ PSALM]

What can we do?  Our godly plan has three parts.

1.  We can WORSHIP (v. 4a)

Here’s a key issue raised by this Psalm.  It will be helpful throughout the coming years to remember it:  “When the outlook is most bleak, the uplook is most essential.”

Worship focuses our attention on our “Solution,” not our “situations.” On Our Christ, not our crisis!

One cannot achieve the level of confidence for the future that David expresses in this Psalm if one does not worship regularly and enthusiastically.  

David was no “Morning Only Believer.” David declared in Ps. 92:

A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

1 It is good to praise Yahweh, to sing praise to Your name, Most High, 2 to declare Your faithful love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night.

Worship for David was not only an attitude (which we see throughout Psalms), but it was an “all day affair” on the Sabbath.  In fact, the ancient title for Psalm 92 is: “A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day.”

Notice it was a “Sabbath DAY,” not a Sabbath hour, or Sabbath morning.  I would venture to say that the weakness displayed in most churches is because we have modeled our worship after “McDonald’s Drive Thru,” instead of the Master’s Word.

McDonald’s keeps a record of how long the average person spends in the drive-through process and they have it down to less than a couple of minutes.  Less time means more money.

But, when it comes to worship, “less time means more struggles.”

One hour once a week will never build the kind of trust in God that will get you through the tough times of life.

As we experience the crumbling of America’s social, economic and moral foundations, what can we, the people of God do?  First and foremost, “we can worship.”  We can enthusiastically praise the one that is “In His Holy temple.”

2.  We can WAIT (vv. 1, 4b-6)

One of the greatest weapons for victory in life that a believer has is “patience”—The ability to “wait” for God to show up with a blessing.

We could learn a lot from a Kindergarten teacher about patience.

A teacher was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his boots one winter? He asked for help and she soon learned why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn't want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet." She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on -- this time on the right feet. He then announced, "These aren't my boots." She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear them." She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I stuffed them in the toes of my boots.”

Patience is essential to gaining victory over difficult circumstances.  In this Psalm, David teaches us that during times of national upheaval, like we see in America and the world today, we need to learn to “WAIT” on God.  David “waited” for God to work out a solution for his situation.  As we experience the crumbling of America’s foundations all around us, we, the people of God can and must, “WAIT.”  We really have no option but to TRUST God.

David didn’t run out ahead of God.  He waited patiently for God.  David stood his ground and said with great confidence:

“In the Lord I take refuge.”

SO OFTEN when we experience difficult circumstances—like the crumbling foundations of American society—we feel the urge to do exactly what David’s counselors (whoever they were) suggested:

“Flee!  Fly away quickly like a frightened little bird.”

That’s our human impulse when faced with difficulty or danger:  flee.  But, David did not give in to his human urge.  Instead, he stayed in the safest place in the universe:  the refuge of the Lord.

[GRAMMAR POWER] The word translated “I take refuge” is in a particularly construction (perfect stem) in Hebrew that means “a completed action with continuing results.”

When we place our lives into God’s care and the Holy Spirit unites with our spirit, nothing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can change our standing with God.  We are absolutely safe and secure no matter what happens around us.  We simply need to WAIT on God to bring about a resolution to our situation.

We can have absolute trust in God because once we step out into His grace—that is receive the free gift of salvation He offers—nothing can ever change our eternal situation. That’s why the Holy Spirit uses the “Hebrew perfect tense” to describe our refuge.

We call this in theology, “eternal security of the believer.”  Notice that the Psalmist emphasizes the “throne” of God.  David, the shepherd king know first-hand what power came from sitting on the throne of Israel.  The throne symbolizes power – a “heavenly throne” symbolizes “absolute power.”

As we WAIT on the Lord, we are not being idle—we are being smart. We may not see how God is working in any given situation, but we can be assured that He is in fact working.

Notice how David, the Psalmist, describes what is taking place as we WAIT on the Lord in vv. 4b-6:

The Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes watch; He examines  everyone. ⁵ The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked. He hates the lover of violence. ⁶ He will rain burning coals  and sulfur on the wicked; a scorching wind will be their portion.

The word, “examine,” is used in both 4b and 5, but in two different ways.  The original word can have a general sense of “testing or trying, as with testing the purity of a metal,” or it can have the positive meaning of “approving.”  

In regard to all men, none escape God’s watchful eyes, but in the case of the righteous, we “pass the test and are approved of God,” whereas the wicked fail God’s test and He pours out His wrath in the most horrible way.

In verse 6, the word for “scorching wind” describes what Middle Easterners call, a “sirocco” (sharab in modern Heb.).  These winds come between the season changes of spring to summer and summer to fall.  They are incredibly devastating to plants.  Over night plants can be scorched and withered as if in a fire during the night. 

As we experience the crumbling foundations of American society as evidenced by the erosion of our Judeo-Christian values, we must not only WORSHIP, but we must WAIT on the Lord.  “God is on his heavenly throne.”  God is the King of Kings.

But, God Almighty, Yahweh, is no mere territorial or provincial king, but Yahweh is the Creator-King, the Sustainer-King.  While earthly kings wield great power, God the King wields absolute power.

As we see our nation crumbling down around our ears in every way possible to measure, we can flee like a bird that has no power, or we can trust in our Heavenly Father who has ultimate, immeasurable, inexhaustible strength.

Trust requires that we inspect God’s Book and see how God has performed in the past.  David’s confidence in the present came from his understanding of how God had worked in the past.

Time and time again throughout the Holy Record, God has demonstrated He is powerful enough to solve our problems, and loving enough to want to solve our problems.  

By every measure, God is fully trustworthy.  In fact, when you feel tempted to give up on God and “flee like a bird,” ask yourself: “To where are you going to flee.”  If God is not trustworthy, who or want can you trust?

Waiting on God is like letting the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit fill the sail of faith and drive us ever forward. Waiting on God is not about shutting down, but about soaring upward.  Isaiah 40:31 says 

But those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.

When we wait upon the Lord we move forward empowered by the Presence of the One Who Sits On the Throne of the Cosmos.

These are desperate times.  It is easy to conclude there is nothing the people of God can do.  We could just throw up our hands and “flee to the mountains” sitting idle and hoping for the rapture.  Or, we can WORSHIP God enthusiastically and WAIT on God patiently.  We can (and should) 

3.  WORK for God diligently (v 7).

⁷ For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.

We do not have the right to simply don our ascension robes, sit cross-legged on a mountain and wait for Jesus to come rescue us. We, as God’s people the church, have a duty to the Sovereign God of Creation to work to build “His Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.”

There is much we can do.  We can WORSHIP.  We can WAIT on God as He fulfills His plan, and we can WORK.  One of my favorite hymns of the church is:

We’ll work ‘til Jesus Comes // We’ll work ‘til Jesus Comes

We’ll work ‘til Jesus Comes // And we’ll be gathered home.

Yes, these are troubled times indeed.  Our nation is in a shambles.  The Christian foundations of our country are crumbling.  Like David we may cry out, “What can the righteous do?”  Well, we can work.

We, the people of God, can work like we have never worked before.

These are days of “golden opportunity” for the church.  The darker the outlook, the brighter the light of the church will shine.  Look at verse 7 where David concludes his answer to the question:  “When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  

7 For the LORD is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.

I’m not a really big fan of the way Robert Schuller goes about church at the Crystal Cathedral down the road a piece in Garden Grove.  But, I do love his basic strategy for how to grow a church Schuller had a simple strategy for successful church growth:

“Find a need and fill it.  Find a hurt and heal it!” [slide]

You can argue with some of Schuller’s theology, and many do, but you cannot question his strategy.  This is the essence of the gospel message:  Jesus came to meet our deepest need—the need for salvation.

Beyond that, Jesus commissioned us to feed the poor, clothe the naked, and visit the lonely.  We are called to “do righteous deeds.”  Jesus echoed these words here in this Psalm when He said,

Mat. 5:16  Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

What can we do church?  We can “work.” We can be like a righteous factory turning out good deed after good deed.  We should not despair in these desperate times, because if we will set our hearts and hands to WORK, God will bring us a great harvest of souls!

If we want to see revival in the midst of the crumbling foundations of America we must WORK!

The situation for David was desperate, our situation is today.  David cried out, “What can the righteous do?”  God answered: WORSHIP.  WAIT.  and WORK.

Bitter days may be ahead for the nation,
but the best days are ahead for the Church, if we will worship, we will wait on God, and we will work!