"Nations" That Forget God Will Be Forgotten

Greetings in the Lord,

It can be said that, "Forgetfulness of God is the cause of all the wickedness of the wicked."  Some may argue, "But 'he, she, I or they never knew God.'"  Yet it is written that God created us in His own likeness, and that we even can see and recognize God in all of creation, His handiwork.  Romans 1:18-23 and 28-32 explains it this way:

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- His eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles."  [could even add robots or other forms of technology!]

"Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity.  They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.  They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding no fidelity, no love, no mercy.  Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."  

Therefore, it can be said, "Forgetfulness of God is the cause of all the wickedness of the wicked."  

Today's word comes from Psalm 9, and it discusses more of this "forgetfulness" concept.  Actually, the psalm is a petition made to God to save the psalmist from wicked persecutors, even from wicked "nations," who have 'forgotten' that God is Ruler over all things, sees all things, and will judge all people.  Yes, it's true that while we all sin, there is a big difference for those who reject God and live lives of unrepentant sin, and those that believe in God, sin and ultimately come to God in repentance for forgiveness.  That is what equity is all about.  God's justice takes into consideration all of our heart and circumstances and renders true judgments about our lives.  We could certainly talk more about the equity of God's righteousness, but I want to go on to discuss other aspects of this psalm that are unique and speak to us today.

First off, the mentioning of wicked "nations" is interesting to me.  Since I teach ESL, I am always working with people who think, act, speak and believe differently than myself.  I like to say that culture itself is just "an agreed-upon set of norms for a region, country or people group."  Likewise, evil behavior or deceitful or corrupt practices can also be a part of that culture, or 'agreed-upon norms.'  Psalm 12:8 says it this way: "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored throughout the land."  Naturally, this applies to some cities and/or neighborhoods, but most certainly for work cultures or entire industries, like Hollywood or Silicon Valley or Wall Street.  And it goes without saying, that if you are counter-cultural in any culture that has acceptable vile practices, you will be persecuted to some degree. 

Herein lies the complaint of the psalmist in Psalm 9.  The psalmist loves God and adheres to His word in a place or around a people group that does not share his beliefs or love of God.  And although they used to know that persecuting him is bad behavior and wrong, they've thrown God behind their backs for so long and dismissed their behavior with erroneous justifications and foolish narratives they've devised themselves that they may not even remember God's word or ways anymore.  They are now an adherent to a completely different belief system or set of ideas that are opposed to God, or even worship a false god altogether!  

When all of these conditions are present in an evil group or culture of wickedness, then Psalm 9 tells us to expect certain things to take place. First, we can and should pray confidently to God that He will hear us when we cry out to Him because in this type of situation your faith shines brighter.  There is a spiritual mystery about being truly persecuted for your faith -- you shine brighter; it's like a sweet aroma that's been released in the air, attracting the faithful, stirring the righteous, and causing a craving for spiritual things in those who were otherwise not "hungry" or interested.  The early Church grew exponentially during the Roman persecutions.  It doesn't mean that you will be saved miraculously like Daniel or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  No, it means that the hand of God will move powerfully because of your ordeal, and whether you live or die, your hope in Jesus is rewarded with eternal life.

In this psalm, the psalmist was confident that his life would be saved from most certain death and that God would avenge any spilt blood of the righteous.  These are things we hope for, but there is more interesting things that can happen.  Verses five and six talk about the ruin of the wicked cities or nations, and that their names will be blotted out from history.  Their cities will be uprooted and even the memory of them will be forgotten.  Just think of all the many people groups, cities and languages even, that disappeared from history.  Even in places like Egypt, one of the earth's oldest countries, it is full of nameless pharaohs and sand-covered cities.  Those ancient bygones serve as examples for what this psalm is talking about, as the rise and fall of kingdoms and leaders is by the hand of God.  

It's kind of an odd judgment of God, but when you think that most wicked people are probably motivated out of greed and thirst for popularity and control, it makes complete sense.  I mean, just think of all the industries that people idolize -- Hollywood is full of nameless actors and actresses, and Silicon Valley overwhelmed by forgotten websites and apps, even certain inventions of technology are a joke by today's mindset.  It all can be best summarized by this bit from Scripture, "What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"  Forgetting God and following the heart's earthly, fleshly and temporal desires is one thing, but to add to it persecution of the godly?  Not too smart!

The last aspect of this psalm that is interesting to me is that it talks about how these wicked "nations" will fall into the pits they have dug for others; they will get caught in their own nets and ensnared by the works of their own hands.  Sometimes people like to hide behind collective but corrupt mindsets that justify their evil behavior.  They commit their wickedness and say, "Everyone does that," or "No one cares," or "They brought that on themselves."  But God cares about the righteous.  He will avenge the blood of the upright and does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.  A day will come when the wicked will get what they deserve -- no one will mock God.  You reap what you sow.  Even if you think you are doing "good" by adopting technology that seeks to marginalize humans or pursue science "advancements" that replace organic or biologic / genetic functionality; you have to ask yourself -- who do I worship?  If it is not God first, even these scientific pursuits could be pushing an antichrist agenda.  (Like, how many sci-fi movies do we need to make that point?  I saw the movie "M3gan" recently.  It is about the AI robotic doll that goes rogue and turns on her creators. Duh! But I digress... )  

Lastly, and probably most importantly, verse 17 says that the wicked and all the "nations" who forget the Lord will go down to the realm of the dead.  This is a big deal, of course, but I think there is another implication.

In my experience, in addition to "nations" using overt violence and deception to persecute the godly and others to get their way, they can (and it is becoming more common) use occult methods as well; more precisely, they partner with demons to further their agendas and eliminate those in their way.  Now there are many flavors of witchcraft and sorcery and some will claim they don't do any thing "bad," but suffice to say that none of it produces godly fruit.  All of it is an abomination to God and practitioners will find themselves going down to the realm of the dead.  This includes governments who want to use witchcraft for espionage and companies who want to use witchcraft for profit.  You may in the short term meet your goals, but in the long run you are sowing seeds of destruction into the organization, and everyone who participates will be going to the realm of the dead, unless there is true heart repentance.  Therefore, it is not smart to let your occupation, work environment, career, neighborhood, or false religion or any thing else entice you to go down that road.  

 So, today's word from Psalm 9 is a good reminder to remain true to God, follow His word and be encouraged if you are going through a time of difficulty because of your faith in God.  The Lord hears and has a perfect plan for your life, even through hardships.  This season He is really going after all those collectives out there who have been actively working against His plans, and against His purposes for His people.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to encourage and strengthen you, and speak His truth to your heart and guide you in the good path of Jesus Christ while the Lord Almighty deals with your enemies in His special way.  

~Be blessed and be a blessing.