Worlds Apart
Psalm 36
1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
5 Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.
7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
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One source says of this Psalm: “The psalm grapples with the power of evil men in light of the truth of God’s great goodness.”
Interestingly, the goodness of God is what drew me to Christ for salvation back in 1973. I had been under conviction for some time until I finally saw myself as a Hell bound sinner looking to the Cross of Christ for deliverance. In a moment of time I knew I had been translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. (Colossians 1:13)
Several months afterwards, while reading in the book of Romans, I saw in a way I hadn’t “seen” before that it was God’s goodness that saved me from Hell and seated me in heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 2:6) I knew the awful truth of Hell but it was the love of God in Christ that drew me out of this world Heavenward.
Romans 2:4: Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
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There are only two realities, two people groups, in the realm of God: The wicked and the upright.
There is no bridge between the two. There is no meshing of the two. There is no mingling of the two. God is a God of separation, not mixture. Revelation tells us that it especially frustrates God when His people become so blended in with the world that they become tepid, a mixture of hot and cold. To the Laodiceans He said: “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)
It’s true we live in the World, but it’s also true we’re supposed to be “unspotted from the world.” That’s what it says in James 1:27 - “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
That’s a hard thing to accomplish and sustain. However, the constant influx of God’s Word into our hearts and minds will constantly refresh our resolve to fight against the pulls on our flesh.
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One of the things that makes it a constant battle for us to keep our spiritual heads and hearts above the world is the constant display of sin that is the natural outpouring of the lost around us. The beginning of this Psalm makes that very evident.
A few of the things we constantly come up against on a daily, unrelenting basis:
*”There is no fear of God before his eyes”
*They are engulfed in sin: “transgression” and “iniquity”
Their lives are self-focused and self-gratifying: “he flattereth himself in his own eyes”
*There is no lasting desire to live under God’s wisdom and do good: “he hath left off to be wise, and to do good”
*”He abhorreth not evil”
A significant part of what makes it so hard to fight against that which is without (in the world) is the desires we still have within (in us). We fight ourselves and we fight the world around us. We are engaged in a war on two fronts and constantly feel the tension — we’re being pulled “apart” in our attempt to not be “a part” of this world.
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So how do we “fight the good fight of faith” unto the end like the Apostle Paul did? I would like to be able to say at the end of my life what Paul was able to say at the end of his. I’m sure you do too.
II Timothy 4 —
“6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Paul fought against the same external and internal foes that we’re called to fight. He, following his Damascus Road salvation, lived the remainder of his life in two worlds just like we do. In essence, his end-of -life testimony is saying by way of encouragement to us: If I, with all I went through, could stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might … you can too. (Ephesians 6:10)
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As I’ve been stating recently, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is having an unexpectedly profound impact on my own journey toward the Celestial City.
Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress emphatically emphasizes that the goal of our Christian existence isn’t to remove ourselves from this world but rather to progress through this world.
Along the way there will be many obstacles and hindrances which will threaten to defeat us. But also along the way there will be many of God’s divine acts of mercy on our behalf to keep us going. During our “pilgrim” journey, we’re constantly reminded that victory comes not through our own means, but rather His. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
Over and over, Pilgrim constantly drew victorious sustenance from the Bible, the Word of God. Through Pilgrim’s failures, and through his victories, it was always the Word of God that was the focal point of his journey. His genuine salvation, constantly nourished by the Word of God, helped him to trek though this world to the next.
Pilgrim came out of the world —Salvation; journeyed though the world — Sanctification; and, departed this world unto — Glorification.
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Those of us that are saved know we don’t belong in this world. We, like Pilgrim, have that eternal pull within us that keeps drawing us ever more towards the Home we long for.
We’re living in times that are preparatory to what lies ahead for God’s people. This is not the end, yet. But, it may just be the beginning of the end. That being the case we, like the ten virgins, need to keep our vessels full of oil and our lamps shining in expectation of our Messiah’s arrival. (Matthew 25)
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The book of Revelation lays out the inevitable: Persecution of God’s people and the purification of the heavens and earth. That will be a “Pilgrim Journey” unlike all others. Some believers will live and die in that time of persecution.
How do those alive at that time remain faithful unto the end? In a word — they draw a line in the sand to live for the next world, not this one.
I’ll close with this, by way of encouragement for us to “come out from among them and be separate.” (II Corinthians 6:17)
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Revelation 12 provides a window of understanding for those that will endure the last 42 months of existence before Christ returns and sets up His Kingdom.
Revelation 12
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Let’s personally practice now becoming “Worlds Apart” unto more Christ-likeness. That will help us to develop the spiritual wherewithal (along with an intense hungering for our heavenly home) that we will need for the coming days ahead.