Worship: Truth

Fools

Sometimes they make us laugh. Sometimes they bring us to tears. Some of them are harmless and others are deadly. The one thing all fools have in common is this: they look for a response from us.

If fools set out to amuse us, they succeed only if they get a laugh. If, on the other hand, they set out to deceive us, they succeed when we are distracted by their skills and take their lies to be truth. Entertaining fools are dangerous when deception is their goal. They make us laugh while they make us listen. They fascinate us with their antics while they demonstrate the wisdom of their foolishness and the folly of our wisdom.

The Poet identifies these dangerous fools for us. They hold a common theology.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

These are fools on a mission—to convince created beings that there is no Creator. They peddle the preposterous notion that this is a universe of chance. Their faith is in the idea that absolutely everything came from absolutely nothing. They strive to convince us that there is no God, no afterlife and no Judge to whom we must give an account.

To these jesters:

• Human life has no intrinsic value beyond that of insects and plants.
• Life only has a meaning when we give it one.
• Humans only have the rights granted by the state and none “endowed by their Creator.”
• The human soul is destined to perish with the body and the human spirit is a persistent fiction.
• There is no such thing as talent—environment is the source of all abilities. (No one can be called “gifted” if there is no “Giver!”)
• Human behavior is raw instinct, like that of migrating beasts.
• Young men and women cannot control their impulses and neither can adults—urges, no matter how degrading, are not to be mastered by the will—they are to be obeyed as self-actualization.
• The mind of man is the greatest intelligence available. Truth is whatever we need it to be at the moment.

Fools seem to be in charge everywhere. We need to be wary of their shows and systems, their games and gambits, and their lessons and lies. If we are not careful we can laugh our way into tragic error as their performances pollute our thinking.

What to do?
Don’t be a fool.

• Open your eyes to their charade.
• Tune your ears to their dissonance.
• Think through the hidden messages in the movies,
• the content of the concert, and
• the idolatry of the images.

Fill your heart and mind with the truth so that lies are easily seen.

Fools: sometimes they make us laugh. Sometimes they bring us to tears. Some of them are harmless and others are deadly. The one thing all fools have in common is this: they look for a response from us.

Scriptures:
Psalm 14
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God. Every one has proved faithless; all alike have turned bad; there is none who does good; no, not one. Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers who eat up my people like bread and do not call upon the Lord? See how they tremble with fear, because God is in the company of the righteous. Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, but the Lord is their refuge. Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

Proverbs 10:14; 23; 11:29; 15:2 NIV
Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.
He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

Isaiah 59:9-16; 20-21 NIV
So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. …”The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Song of Wisdom
Be Thou My Vision
Ancient Irish Hymn

1.Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
Be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;
Be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

2.Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,
Be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;
Be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;
Be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

3.Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be thou my whole armor, be thou my true might;
Be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my strong tower:
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

4.Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise:
Be thou mine inheritance now and always;
Be thou and thou only the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.

5.High King of heaven, thou heaven’s bright sun,
O grant me its joys after victory is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer

© 2016 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved