Psalm 14

14 ¹ לַמְנַצֵּחַ לְדָוִד אָמַר נָבָל בְּלִבֹּו אֵין אֱלֹהִים הִשְׁחִיתוּ הִתְעִיבוּ עֲלִילָה אֵין עֹשֵׂה־טוֹב׃

2     יהוה מִשָּׁמַיִם הִשְׁקִיף עַל־בְּנֵי־אָדָם לִרְאוֹת הֲיֵשׁ מַשְׂכִּיל דֹּרֵשׁ אֶת־אֱלֹהִים׃

3     הַכֹּל סָר יַחְדָּו נֶאֱלָחוּ אֵין עֹשֵׂה־טוֹב אֵין גַּם־אֶחָד׃

4     הֲלֹא יָדְעוּ כָּל־פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן אֹכְלֵי עַמִּי אָכְלוּ לֶחֶם יהוה לֹא קָרָאוּ׃

5     שָׁם פָּחֲדוּ פָחַד כִּי־אֱלֹהִים בְּדוֹר צַדִּיק׃

6     עֲצַת־עָנִי תָבִישׁוּ כִּי יהוה מַחְסֵהוּ׃

7     מִי יִתֵּן מִצִּיּוֹן יְשׁוּעַת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּשׁוּב יהוה שְׁבוּת עַמֹּו יָגֵל יַעֲקֹב יִשְׂמַח יִשְׂרָאֵל׃

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There is a delicate balance, I think, between judging someone and condemning them.  This world that we live in hates to hear us say anything about what they are doing wrong.  The Bible is very clear about homosexuality and human life.  I am not apologetic about this, and feel that we get a bad rap because of it.  Somehow our cursing sin makes us “hateful of others” and “hypocritical.”  Yet this is not true.  I love people, even (though challenging) the tougher people.  I love people, even those that do wrong (read: sin).  I love my daughter, even when she is misbehaving – but I show my disappointment and desire for her better behavior.  This does not make me hateful of her, but loving.  Even if one day a child of mine would have a sexual identity crisis, I would love them while helping them to see the truth of God’s word and what He designed relationships to be.  I also make mistakes, often.  I preach and try to lead others towards the love of God.  This does not make me a hypocrite, but a lover of people who want to see them succeed in this walk with God.  If I was claiming perfection and telling the world not to mess up – “like me” – then I would be a hypocrite.  However, all of this comes back to the beginning of what we were saying.  This is not condemnation – I think only God can do this!  Yet, we are allowed to judge with a humble and discerning heart.  The Paul reminds the Corinthians that they (we) will judge the angels one day (6:3) and have (through the blood, redemption and power of Christ) the power to judge one another.  I think this is to be done in love (1 Cor. 13) and with a humility that shows we are conscience of our imperfections.  How would we ever grow and mature without being disciplined?  This is not condemnation, but judgment.

This is what David is doing in verse 1 of Psalm 14 – he is judging a world that wants to deny the reality of God.  Unfortunately, we have had poor ambassadors of the Lord go before us at times and paint a poor picture of what this faith is.  Now we are gun-shy to tell the world that it is being foolish.  There is a real God, who has made real claims and really is coming again.  He made strong statements through His word about what we are to do in our lives.  Homosexuality is said to be sin – as is sexual immorality (pre-marital sex, porn, etc).  When it comes to sexual sin, we are to judge the world – and hope for its correction.  When it comes to a value on human life, we are to judge the world – and hope for its correction.  When the world tells us “there is no God,” we are to judge the world – and hope for its correction.  Not without love, not without the attitude of a parent that wants the best for its child.  God had/has this attitude towards you and I… but He loves us more than anything.  So should we be.

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^[1]The Hebrew Bible : Andersen-Forbes Analyzed Text; Bible. O.T. Hebrew. Andersen-Forbes. 2006; 2006 (Ps 14:1-7). Logos Bible Software.