“Frustrating Advances!” – FBC Morning Light (6/19/2024)

Psalm 94 and the Frustration of Watching Wickedness Advance

Well, a good Wednesday morning to you.

Today, we're reading Psalms 92 through 94, and when I read Psalm 94, I was struck with the parallels to our current climate in this world, in our society. Do you get increasingly frustrated to see the advances that the wicked are making in the culture?

I mean, the month of June has been declared Pride Month, and that which is supposed to be the focus of pride is the very stuff that God says is an abomination, and that which people should be ashamed of and should repent of and seek to get deliverance from, but instead our nation has declared that this is a month to be proud of it.

And then you see companies jump on board the bandwagon and promote it, and besides that, there are parades and festivals and all the rest of this kind of stuff, all going along the theme of this Pride Month.

That's just one incident of many, many others that we could look at that could be frustrating the righteous because of the advances of the wicked. And you see this in verses 4 and 5 of Psalm 94. The psalmist says, they utter speech and they speak insolent things.

All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves. There's the pride, proud in their iniquity. They break in pieces your people, O Lord, and afflict your heritage. There's the other side of it. Not only are the wicked making great advances, but they're doing everything in their power to squelch voices of virtue, God's people, to marginalize and make the righteous seem to be wicked, make them out to be wicked.

In our culture, it's becoming increasingly the wicked thing to oppose what God says is wicked. Well, this is the case in Psalm 94, verses 4 and 5. And what's worse is, in verse 7, they, that is the wicked, they say, the Lord does not see, nor does the God of Jacob understand.

So the attitude of the advancing wicked culture is that God doesn't know, God doesn't care, or perhaps even, to be so bold as to say, God is on our side. God wants this. Oh, what brazenness. And of course, this can totally frustrate the people of God, as the psalmist is frustrated.

God Sees, Hears, and Knows the Thoughts of Man

But he gives us some correctives here that help us and encourage us in times like this. He goes on to say in verse 8, understand you senseless among the people and you fools, when will you be wise? You say, God doesn't hear, God doesn't know, God doesn't care.

He goes on to say, he who planted the ear, shall he not hear? He who formed the eye, shall he not see? He who instructs the nations, shall he not correct? He who teaches man knowledge, the Lord, he said, knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

Look, take courage in this, that in these days of advancing cultural wickedness and marginalization of the righteous and vilifying of the righteous, God hears it all, he sees it all, he will hold all accountable, he truly will.

He knows what's going on. He knows what's going on in the thoughts and the hearts of men, and he will hold all accountable. These who are boasting themselves of great evil in this day, their thoughts, verse 11 tells us, are futile.

Those thoughts are not going to stand them in any stead whatsoever in the day of God's judgment. And this is how the psalm ends in verse 23, it says, he has brought on them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness.

The Lord our God shall cut them off. Oh, you know, I would long for there to be such a great awakening in our culture that those who are so proud of their wickedness, that they would be humbled in their heart and repent of their sin and turn wholeheartedly to Christ.

What a great awakening that would be. But barring that, God's people can take comfort in knowing that the advancing forces of wickedness in the end will not prosper. In the end, God will hold all accountable.

Comfort for God's People and a Prayer for Courage

So let's take comfort and encouragement in that today. Our Father and our God, I pray that we would not become so despairing and discouraged and despondent in the current cultural climate. But may we rest in who you are and what you know, what you see, what you hear, and what you will ultimately do.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Wednesday. May the Lord bless you in it. Good day.