Notas en inglés y español⬇️
November 7: Keeping the faith in the midst of tyrants.
Psalms 53:1-6:
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God? There they are in great fear where no fear was, for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you; You have put them to shame, because God has despised them.
Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back the captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.
When we were studying Psalm 14, we were comparing this psalm with psalm 53 which is the one we are studying today.
The two have many similarities; they are practically the same throughout the context of the psalm, and the theme is the same about the fool who denies God in his life.
I invite you to look for that devotional on September 29 and listen or read the reflection of that day entitled "The beginning of foolishness".
On that occasion we look at how the human being every time he tries to remove God from his life is really inflicting pain, misery, confusion and death; because the Lord is the source of life and the One who gives us a purpose to exist. It is impossible to remove God from the life of the human being and from society; understanding that God is the center of everything because through Him, from Him and for Him all things were made.
When a society takes God out, chaos, injustices and death are formed. All the countries that declare themselves atheists or anti-theists tried to get God out of society, and what was left were dictator leaders who seized power and stayed there for decades, and everyone who opposed them was sent to jail or killed. They started a political but also religious persecution because those who have biblical values oppose the injustices of the tyrant rulers; in many countries to this day there is persecution against Christians.
A nation or society without principles or values is a society where human life is worth nothing. Examples of these governments that have brought God out are North Korea, China and many more that control their population, not only economically but also ideologically, preventing the people from giving opinions on their own ideas, and it is a crime to protest against the leaders and the government that dominates them.
If you are living in a nation where you can freely express yourself and proclaim your faith without endangering your life, thanks God for the privilege of freely worshiping God; that is a sign that you live in a place where the basic freedoms that a human being should have are still kept in the midst of so much corruption and evil in the world.
But not only do you see the persecution and destruction that comes from leaders of nations and countries, in general, the wicked always have the intention of destroying whoever is in front of their path. The apostle Paul described the attitudes of the wicked in the epistle to the Romans, chapter 3, verse 10 to 18, and mentioned some verses of this psalm and other passages of Scripture: “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “the poison of asps is under their lips”; “whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their...