The sin of trying to make things happen.
by JVS on Jan.03, 2011, under 2011
I’ve never really understood the first few verses of the Bible’s Psalm 2 -
“Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
How is breaking someone’s chains and throwing off their shackles a condemnable thing (which the the psalm goes on to infer)? How is bringing freedom an act of rebellion “against the Lord…”? This morning I clued into a possible “answer”. It lies in the words, “Let us…” Perhaps the problem lies not in the bestowing of freedom, but instead in the claim to be the one who brings it. Echoes of the story of the Tower of Babel come to mind, “Let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens…” Genesis 11:4
To wrest control from God – the only real freedom bringer and city builder – is to sin against Him. To claim to be the one who gets anything done in your life, is to forget that all that you are and accomplish are His, and subject to his holy and divine will. “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (the apostle Paul in Acts 17:28, quoting the Greek Philosopher Epimenides)
Its a good reminder as I start this year. I can’t make any of this happen.
January 5th, 2011 on 10:21 am
Good reminder… thank you.
January 3rd, 2011 on 1:00 pm
Thanks Amber… I love that we’re all reading the same book as well… such a simple way to build community.
January 3rd, 2011 on 12:56 pm
Great insights John! I was puzzling over that verse this morning too, and I think you are right that the “Let us” part is the key. I love this reading the same book together as a church, feels like we’re all much more connected.