News Alert (3 of 3)

Current Headlines

• Israel has warned that Hamas in Palestinian territories, as well as Iran, is likely to take advantage of the Ramadan season to start another violent uprising. 
• Senate passes $460 billion package to fund the government
• Putin warns the West that Russia is ready for nuclear war
• FBI director warns of ‘very dangerous threats’ at border, smuggling network with ‘ISIS ties’
• US-funded report issues urgent AI warning of ‘uncontrollable’ systems turning on humans

How do these headlines make you feel? Worried? Anxious? Powerless?

The God who is all-powerful is not wringing His hands or searching for plan B. Psalm 2 tells us He sees nations conspiring and people plotting but is neither worried nor anxious. Actually,

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them (verse 4).

If we are impressed by weapons and armies, stymied by governmental decisions, frustrated by our inability to change things, we are looking for power in the wrong places. Psalm 33 corrects our vision:

No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.

It is not a vast military or strong defenders or powerful weapons that give us hope. It is confidence in the God who is over all and controls all—read verse 18:

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.

When the psalmist asks, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” (Psalm 2:1) God’s answer reverberates above the tumultuous earth,

“I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain” (verse 6).

Fear not. Focus above. Feed on the Psalms.

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixaby