The more knowledge, the more grief

I was thinking about things from work, and about the stories my wife and son tell about the kids at school and in an after-school, childcare program.

Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:18, “For much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”

I was more content in my ignorance, about many things.

Solomon was not talking about scientific knowledge, in particular, which is generally rewarding - a blessing from God to know and understand something, to gain an insight into how creation works, and thus get a glimpse of His divine, revealed glory. (Though the abuse of scientific knowledge brings much grief, e.g., weaponry.)

But knowledge, in general, without a frame of reference, without absolutes, brings despair, depression, corruption, hopelessness, ...

And people, caught in the mire ... cause grief, reject knowledge and truth (causing grief and confusion to the thinker/philosopher and the scientist alike).
People hurt each other, use each other, offend each other, ... (and sometimes genuinely love each other.)

Our information culture reveals this in overwhelming measure: We know more about what is going on in the world around us: Wars, rumors of wars, murders, abuses, violence, corruption, vice, ...

Children are not protected from these images in the news, the media, TV, and movies. Many parents abandon their children in their own home: No controls, no limits, the TV and violent video games are the babysitters, the pacifiers. “Reality” game shows pit people against each other in perverted contests, where truth is relative, and reality is obscured, at best, and generally distorted, where popularity rules, where suspicion and paranoia become the theme, and sexuality and (implied, discussed, or open) intercourse are celebrated as the norm (e.g., Sex in the City, Desperate Housewives, etc.)

And society wonders why kindergarten and elementary kids are bipolar. They have no frame of reference, no context in which to process all the destructive images they have seen on TV (and maybe in their own homes). We wonder why first and second grade girls dress to accentuate their sexuality (which they should not have), but they peruse the style magazines their moms read, and watch the aforementioned shows, ...

There are more cases of clinical depression and other personality disorders (e.g., bipolar, etc. ) than ever before. It is true we find what we seek. When doctors and parents are more aware, there will be more diagnosed cases. But I suspect there is a real increase, as well, especially after listening to “teacher talk”, and to my son's childcare stories.

Help us, Jesus.

Help me, Father, to be light and salt in a dark and depraved, bland society.

May, 2009

Perverted prayers

(Scripture references follow text.)

In addition to powerless prayers, there follows another perversion once we recognize God has power: Asking for our benefit, liking asking God for a favor.

Zedekiah was Judah’s  puppet king when Nebuchadnezzar attacked. Zedekiah called Jeremiah and asked for prayer: “Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us ...”

Such an arrogant assumption by a corrupt king demonstrates his complete lack of knowledge of the Lord, and complete concern for himself, not God. God honors those who seek and obey Him, who return to Him. God helps/rescues the oppressed when they cry out to Him.

But He never does this, He never acts, for us. God is not a puppet who performs as directed by his master when someone pulls his strings. He is the Lord God, the exalted Ruler, who reigns in truth.

There is no brokenness, no repentance in Zedekiah’s inquiry, only an admission of inconvenience - we are under attack. There is no recognition that the attack is the result of past and present sins, corrupted, godless kings who encourage the priests and people to forsake the Lord, and who ignore the needs of the people, who oppress the people.

The Lord acts for the sake of His own Name, and His own glory to protect His reputation. Contrast Zedekiah’s inquiry with those of David, Hezekiah, Josiah, and Jehoshaphat, and the prophet's words to Asa . All expressed dependence upon God, humility. Many expressed remorse and repentance of sins of people (and selves). Some expressed shock over blasphemies spoken by enemies. They requested God to work for the sake of His own great Name, not for themselves.

And God answered them with compassion, deliverance, and victory.

Forgive us, Lord, when we look only to our own interests, and fail to recognize Your glory and purpose.

May, 2009

Jeremiah 21

Many examples of leaders oppressing people: Psalm 82, 24:11, Ezekiel 34, et al.

God works for His glory, themes in Isaiah 40-66, and Ezekiel

Humble prayers: 

David - 1 Samuel 17:44-47

Hezekiah - Isaiah 37:4-6

Josiah - 2 Kings 22:13-20

Jehoshaphat - 2 Chronicles 20:5-12; 

Asa -2 Chronicles 15

God, idols and powerless prayers

(To facilitate reading, Scripture references are provided following the text.)

Reading through Jeremiah, I  wrote a few pages of thoughts on God vs. idols. God is real, true, powerful, awesome and majestic (and the list goes on), while idols are man-made, powerless, false, fake (and the list goes on). God made the earth by His power, wisdom, and understanding, while idols can do no harm nor any good. Israel had continually forsaken the Spring of Living Water, and built their own broken cisterns that could not hold water (idols).

Lord, forgive us that so many of our prayers are petty, self-serving, demanding, vengeful, shallow, prideful, yet powerless, much like the Pharisees’ prayer (Luke 18:9-14). Such prayers accomplish nothing, like placing a band-aid on a severed artery or limb. They do not stop the bleeding of our sinful nature and attempts to assuage our corrupted conscience by telling ourselves we are better than we are.

Yet these powerless prayers with no expectations are worse than the idolaters’ prayers - they expected their gods to answer though they had no record of such a thing ever happening. Their gods could do no harm nor any good, since they were made by human hands. Men make idols in their image as a part of the corruption of the original deception: You will be like God (Genesis 3:4). But the corruption is far worse: God will be like you, which eventually becomes, “You are [a ] god”. We deify ourselves and our race, and often our nations. We seek power, life, immortality, and fame ... socially, politically, religiously, ... But praying to an idol we crafted in our image is simply self-talk. The idol has no power to do harm nor good.

There is only one God, who created and sustains everything that is by His powerful word, Who wrought salvation and redemption for us because we could not save or redeem ourselves, Who loves us and desires our lives, Who promises life, both now and in eternity, who worked marvelous deeds on behalf of His people. So, why do we pray as if God is powerless? Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of faith.

May 2009

Psalms 115:2-8; 135:15-18; Isaiah 40, 44:6-23; Jeremiah  2:13; 10:5; John 4:14; 7:37-38; Acts 17:29