I Am Not Afraid IV – Save Me From The University of The World

By Martin Morison

If I were to ask you, what are the marks of ungodliness, I wonder what you would say? I guess most of us would immediately think of moral sins like drunkenness, sexual immorality, racism, greed, the second half of the Ten Commandments.

Here in Psalm 27 David addresses three major marks of ungodliness, which we rarely think of. Autonomy, omniscience and control. We normally think of ungodliness in moral categories, not mental categories. These mental categories of ungodliness arise, when we fail to seek God’s face and merely contemplate our own.

Here in Psalm 27:9 – 14 David, corrects our mindset and reminds us of three marks of godliness. Dependence not independence, learners not masters, patience not impatience. In fact these three marks in some way reflects the first half of the Ten Commandments!

DEPENDENCE

In vs. 9 – 12, David, in five negatives, expresses his total dependence on God, by calling on God in prayer:

“Hide not your face”, “Turn not your servant away”, “Cast me not off”, “Forsake me not”, “Give me not up”. There is a clear note of anguished dependence. David feels alone, destitute and forsaken by God. He doesn’t respond in anger or wilful defiance against God, as we often do when we find ourselves up the creek. He doesn’t respond in withdrawal from God, which we also sometimes do, when we feel that God has abandoned us. No, he tells God exactly what he feels and calls on God in total dependence.

One of the tragic results of sin, is to cause us to buy into the delusion of independence. Independence is what the serpent sold Adam and Eve. It’s a lie and it goes like this. You can be whatever you want to be. You can do whatever you want to do. Tragically, the quest for independence never ends in independence. It ends in slavery. It ends in tears. It ends in some kind of addiction or worship disorder. We were not wired to be independent. We are wired to be dependent on God.

David models that dependence by beseeching God not to hide his face, not to turn away from him, not to cast him off, not to forsake him, not to give up on him. In New Testament terms, “Oh God, have mercy on me a sinner”. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”.

LEARNERS

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies”, Psalm 27:11. Everyday, you and I hear a thousand voices at work, on TV, on You Tube, on social media. These voices are telling us who we are, what life is about, how to invest our money, how to invest our lives, how to conduct our relationships, what the good life looks like.

Too easily our affections are drawn to the Gospel of Netflix or Fortune 500. David urges us not to be sucked in by our world, our culture or our own sinful, self-sufficient hearts. Don’t be gullible. Don’t be taken captive. Deregister from the University of the World. You need to go to a different university, the University of God.

Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”. I like John Calvin’s paraphrase of that, “There is no knowing that does not begin with knowing God”. One of the characteristics of being a student in God’s University is a healthy cynicism of our own wisdom and the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world started with the fall of our foreparents, Adam and Eve, which did at least two things. Firstly, it turned us into fools, because only fools think that there is no God. Secondly, it made us think that we were wise.

It’s a kind of double whammy. It is very much like the guy who drinks too much, which not only makes him look stupid and foolish, but he actually thinks he is very smart and funny! No doubt, you have often encountered him. What a joke! What a fool! That is what our self-opinionated learning at the University of the World does to us. That is what sin does to us, it makes us foolish and arrogant at the same time.

True wisdom comes through revelation and relationship. Revelation from God in both the written Word, the Bible, and the Living Word, Jesus Christ. And relationship with God the Father, through God the Son in the power of God the Spirit.

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies”. “Jesus said to him, “I am the Truth”.

PATIENCE

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Verse. 14. I need to tell you that I hate to wait. I have an agenda for the day, things I need to accomplish, things I need do. So, I hate waiting. Ironically, I don’t mind when others have to wait for me from time to time. Obviously, they have no idea how busy I am!!

Behind that kind of attitude is an arrogant self-centered image. A self-image where I am the centre of the universe; where I have a wonderful plan for my life; where I am a legend in my own mind. That’s why I hate waiting.

But David teaches us to “wait for the Lord
”.
Waiting teaches me that I am not King. I am not Sovereign, God is. Waiting teaches me that I am dependent and not independent. I am not in control of either the details or the destiny of my life. It humbles me and makes me rely on God.Waiting teaches me that I am not the main actor in the story, I am not the hero of the book, God is.

I came across this quote, not sure by whom, probably Paul Tripp:

“You are not in control, your story is not ultimate. You have been created to be part of something that is larger than your wants, your needs and your feelings. You are connected to something that is bigger than your relationships, your situations. You are waiting, because God said you are part of his Kingdom”. It is his Kingdom and not your kingdom!