January 20, 2009
Restored
Psalm 14
Kay Wyma
Central Truth
We cannot avoid or ignore the wicked ways of the world or the trials and pain that surround us. Yet, because of Christ, we don't have to look to the future. We can rejoice and be happy today.
Key Verse | Psalm 14:7
When the Lord restores the well-being of his people, may Jacob rejoice, may Israel be happy! (Psalm 14:7b)
Psalm 14
The Fool Says, There Is No God
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
2
The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
1
14:2
Or that act wisely
who seek after God.
3
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4
Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
who eat up my people as they eat bread
and do not call upon the LORD?
5
There they are in great terror,
for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6
You would shame the plans of the poor,
but
2
14:6
Or for
the LORD is his refuge.
7
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Dive Deeper | Psalm 14
Today, our new president will be sworn into office. Sixteen years ago on January 20th, I stood on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base saying tearful good-byes and watching a plane take off. Only hours earlier, the plane would have been labeled Air Force Two; but now it was just a military vehicle transporting a former Vice President to his home in Indiana.
It was difficult to allow reality to sink in. Our staff had fought a hard fight for almost a year. The countless hours in airplanes weaving across the country, the hundreds of thousands of faces, the motorcades, the volunteers, the issues, the spin . . . all for what I believed was the moral high ground. As an insider, I was privy to information I knew would catapult our team to victory. But it didn't. We lost.
The words of David's prayer in Psalm 14 echo my thoughts from that day. "Everyone rejects God; they are all morally corrupt. None of them does what is right." (Psalm 14:3) I don't know if that was true of our successors, but it was how I felt. Some of us might cry out similar prayers as the struggles of life close in.
But what about the bold truth at the end of this psalm? "When the Lord restores the well-being of his people . . . ." (Psalm 14:7) David certainly didn't question if, but he rested in when. And here I sit, thousands of years later, realizing that the tense of the verb has changed. With one little sentence spoken by our Lord on the cross ("It is finished"), "restores" changed to "restored." The Lord's people can rejoice because we have been RESTORED. The questions for me today are, Do I live like I'm restored? Do I live in the reality of my inheritance? Do I live believing the victory? Or, do I sit in the mire, longing for salvation, consumed by the "wicked," wallowing in the way of the world.
May the reality of His victory and all that comes with it transform me.
Discussion Questions
1. What issues are bearing down on you that appear to be winning the battle?
2. Have you given thought to what Jesus meant by "It is finished"? How have you let that truth become a reality in your life?
3. How does living in His victory change your approach to trials, sickness, and even success?