THE BODYGUARD

The righteous say there is a God and the wicked say that there is not.  Have you ever wondered why that is?  I think it’s because both groups define their respective positions by “approval.”

The sinner wants the judgment of God to be non-existent because then he/she does not have to be held accountable for his/her actions.  These are the people that look for fault in believers so that they can say, “See, it’s all phony”, further attempting to make the case for their own inexcusable behavior. Unfortunately, to their peril, they misunderstand the concept of Christian forgiveness. 

This side of heaven, all are imperfect, while (on this side of heaven) the righteous are righteous--positionally.    The upright believe in the reality of their God, knowing therefore that they’ve made a good choice in pleasing Another rather than self.  They experience consternation in feeling sad for those they were once like, and grieve that, to this point, the wicked have not yet changed. 

The grief experienced by non-believers is much more subliminal.  It is an unconscious warring between what they know to be right—what their spirit longs for—and the hedonism they know to be wrong.

Such people are sometimes referred to as oppressors.

Oppressors do not think they are doing bad when they are doing their bad things.  They just see themselves as more or less successful in their efforts as those of their peers.  It is maddening to the upright, but the aggravation is replaced with joy when they see the Lord’s vengeance exacted.  It’s not that the righteous have peace about vengeance, but that the One they love has been shown to others as the victor over evil.

In the 14^th Psalm (verse 6), David points out that the Lord is a safe place to run for those that are under attack from the enemy.  It brings the movie, “My Bodyguard” to remembrance.

In this film, the main character is being picked on by a school bully.  The picked-on hires a bodyguard to intimidate his intimidator, which works fine until that intimidator hires his own bodyguard to beat up on the one that gave him grief.  In the end, the good guy’s bodyguard wins, along the lines of Psalm 78:65—66 from the NKJV:

      Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
         Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.
     And He beat back His enemies;
         He put them to a perpetual reproach

In other words, God spanked them.

For whom the LORD loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights. (Prov. 3:12—NKJV)—and remember that loving correction ultimately brings peace.

b(Les)sings