AYIN—I have done justice and righteousness; do not leave me to my oppressors. Be surety for Your servant for good; do not let the proud oppress me. My eyes fail from seeking Your salvation and Your righteous word. Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy. And teach me Your statutes. I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies. It is time for You to act, O Lord, for they have regarded Your law as void. Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.

—Psalm 119:121-128

Today we find our psalmist petitioning the Lord for deliverance from his oppressors, and he repeats what he said in verse 82 about his eyes growing weary from searching God’s righteous Word. Pleading for mercy, he states that he under-stands that he is the servant of the Lord, not the other way around. He prays for God to help him to better understand the testimonies of the Lord. What a wonderful, honest prayer!

He makes a statement that we might just as easily make as we look around at conditions on this earth, saying, “It’s time for You to act, O Lord!” Let’s look at Psalm 127:1, where we read, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Our psalmist in today’s reading isn’t saying, “Come on, Lord! It’s time for you to do something. This has gone on long enough!” Instead, he’s saying, “Lord, you’re the only one who can help us now, or this will never end.” That’s also true of our nation. Only God can turn things around. He’s the only one who can reach into the human soul and reveal to us what He wants us to hear. Only He has the power to right the thinking of our immoral nation. Our own efforts to effect change are in vain.

God’s Word is worth far more than gold, and His precepts teach us all things that are right. If God isn’t right about everything, He can’t be God, and if He’s not God, then He can’t forgive and save us, and we’re lost in our sins. When you begin to think deeply about your life and your trials and frustrations and begin to charge God with not acting on your behalf, remember this: God’s plans and will are not subject to human approval. Whether people believe His Word or not has absolutely no effect on God or His plans. He will always prevail.

No matter how hard atheists may try, God cannot be legislated off of His throne. He may allow politicians to have their moment, but they’ll be judged by His righteous Word in the end. Paul wrote to Timothy: “Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves . . . of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1-4). That’s a pretty fitting description of our culture. We feel in our hearts that it’s time for God to act. And He will! He doesn’t just fade into the background because people don’t believe in Him. He doesn’t change His plans or His will because people disagree with Him or dislike what He is doing. Our culture is the way it is today because of one thing,: people regard God’s Word as void, irrelevant, and out of step with our modern culture.

Some may be surprised to learn that God doesn’t arrive at His statutes and precepts by popular vote. He does what is right, and He’ll never be wrong. If you hold a particular opinion on a moral or ethical matter that’s different from what the Bible says about it, you’re the one who’s wrong, not God. God is eternal and omniscient. He’s never out of step or out of touch. He’s so far ahead of us in every way that we should humbly bow before Him, repenting of our arrogance and disdain for His Word. In truth, our God is the only hope not only for America but for any country and for any individual.

Excerpt from “Beside Still Waters” now available on Amazon.

BARRY STAGNER