I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I just noticed how my approach to writing these studies changes over time. Sometimes I write about the message I see in the passage. Sometimes I write a summary of what the passage contains. Sometimes I write about how the passage inspires me. And sometimes my writing follows some other line of thought.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 10-17.

    As I read these psalms this morning they struck me as being so apt with what is going on right now. After the shootings in San Bernardino in December, one newspaper had a headline that really hit where all too many people are. It read “God Isn’t Fixing This.” Psalm 10 goes straight to the mindset behind how most people read such a headline.

The wicked are too proud to seek God.
They seem to think that God is dead.
Yet they succeed in everything they do.
They do not see your punishment awaiting them.
They sneer at all their enemies.
They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us!
We will be free of trouble forever!”

Yet, time and again bad things happen. They never see the connection between their failure to honor and fear God and the bad things which happen. God will arise and He will punish the wicked.

    Then Psalms 11 warns us against a response that is always tempting in such a world. The foundations of law and order have collapsed. It is oh so tempting to flea to the mountains to get away from the dangers which arise when that happens. But the psalmist reminds us that God will protect us if we keep our faith in Him. He still rules from heaven and will bring justice. In Psalms 12 I see yet more reflections of our society today. The wicked strut about and evil is praised throughout the land. But even so, God will protect the oppressed. If we trust in God’s unfailing love we will continue to call out to Him in prayer, even as the voices of our society are saying, “What good is prayer? We need action.” While they are not wrong in thinking that prayer is not sufficient, it is the place to start. If we pray and call on God, He will guide us in what action we should take.

    Psalms 14 tells us that only fools say in their heart that there is no God. In this world today I see more and more such fools. So few are truly wise. So few seek God. Even in such a world, I will seek to do God’s will. I will seek to stand up and worship Him. I will sing to the Lord because He is good to me.