Abortion: The Innocent Blood of Our Sons and Daughters is an excellent sermon by John Piper on Psalm 106: 32-48.
Idolatry led to a snare and the snare was the sacrificing of their own children in religious rituals and these rituals were spiritually whore-like in God’s sight and the anger of the Lord was kindled and judgment fell.
We need to feel the horror of this language: “sacrifice,” “demons,” “innocent blood,” “polluted,” “whore,” “anger of the Lord,” “the Lord abhorred his heritage.”....
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. So we need to hear the horrible language so that the grace that comes will sound as amazing as it is.
And just like the psalmist looked child sacrifice full in the face, so today we need to study abortion. We need the raw facts—just as raw as the language of this psalm. We need to watch the videos over at Abort73, and we need to look at beautiful pictures of the unborn. We need the statistics of over 40 million babies killed by abortion since 1973 just in our own country, with 90% of the abortion clinics in urban centers, and therefore wiping out massive numbers of minorities (over half of all abortions) with a kind of ethnic cleansing that pro-choice people cannot dare to think about.
If we were made to watch a doctor pull off the little baby’s legs and arms one by one and place them on the table like a dentist removing cotton from your mouth—if all Americans were made to see what it really is, the pro-life goal of abortion being unthinkable (not just illegal) would be much nearer.
Shifting gears, I'd like to take a look at Psalm 106:15
So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them. (NIV)
He gave them exactly what they asked for—but along with it they got an empty heart. (The Message)
So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it (NLT)
And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul. (NKJV)
I like the NKJV - And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
God knows what's best for us. We receive nothing in this life that has not been sifted through His loving hands. But we don't always believe that.
Often we ask for what we want, for what we think is best for us. And sometimes God answers our prayers and we find out that we were wrong. We didn't get what was best for us. We traded the pampering of our bodies for the leanness of our souls and we thought that was a good choice. And we find that we are wrong.
Generally speaking, the soul and body fare inversely. When the body is pampered with every luxury, the soul starves. The soul thrives best when the body cries out. Probably we all have to choose, not once or twice, in life, whether we will have the full satisfaction of our appetites, and lean souls; or be lean as to our circumstances, while the spirit is keen, alert, and full of vigorous life. (FB Meyer)
I don't want to be satisfied with the superficial. I want to go deeper. I want to experience God to the full. I want to desire God's best, to want His will over my own. To truly pray "Thy will be done".
But to be honest, that type of prayer is scary. I've seen the leanness of circumstances some people endure to receive a thriving soul - and it scares me. I know it shouldn't, but it does. I know that's not the Sunday School answer, but it's the truth. And I don't know if that is a reflection of my unbelief, or of my humanity, or of both.
And I know in my head all the right answers. I know that He does not give the strength to endure until it is needed. I know that without Him it is impossible but that with Him nothing is impossible. I know that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. I know that the flesh is nothing compared to the soul. Faith and trust are easy words to say and hard words to live out.
But I do know, as we saw in yesterday's study, that God is good, that He is loving, that He is faithful, and that that lasts forever - and I place my trust, my faith, my unbelief, my life, my soul into His hands.
Tomorrow's passage: Psalm 107, 111-114
1 comment:
I sometimes have trouble honestly praying that God will develop an unquenchable thirst for Himself in my life because I, too, am a little worried about what that all might entail. I know anything that makes me desperate for Him is a blessing, but there are so many horrible things that fit that description!! I guess that's probably why God, in His all-knowing and loving grace, doesn't let us know the future.
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