What To Do On a Day Like Today
Always Time to Think and Pray
Good Morning,
Well, I was halfway through writing something completely different when news broke last night that there is a good possibility that the Supreme Court has voted, or will vote, to overturn the 1973 decision popularly known as Roe v. Wade. You’d have to be living under a rock to not know that this was the decision which federally legalized abortion in the United States. By the time I wake up and read this again everything may have changed. It is my deepest prayer it does not, for if this is true than praise be upon praise be upon praise. Psalm 118:14-17 says:
The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
There is nothing that comes to mind more than the possibility that many millions of future lives, human beings made in the image of God will be able to now declare the works of the covenant LORD, who has in His blessed providence brought them to be in such a time as this. It would not be prudent to over do it, but in some sense it would be hard not to. More than 65 million innocent children have been killed since 1973. An event of this magnitude is humbling to witness. It would be like sitting there as the Berlin Wall fell, or when Israel awoke to find the armies of Assyria laid waste by the angels of the LORD. So much prayer, labor, and faithful witnessing has gone on in the last 40 years and so many people have died themselves awaiting even an inkling of this dream to come true. Yet, in the midst of it we must remember that this is not the end, but only the beginning of a dangerous time. The Japanese fought harder on Okinawa than at Guadalcanal because they knew the consequences of surrender at that point in the war.
What legally is going to transpire in the coming months and years is that all abortion laws will revert to the state constitutional apparatus. We may be surprised in South Carolina, for example, to know that if Roe is overturned than there is not a “trigger” that automatically makes abortion illegal here (which would of course be wonderful) but our laws would pretty much remain the same. However, it is not that simple, unfortunately. There is a long road ahead which means that the Church cannot take a break in its advocacy for the unborn, nor can it afford to let its guard down in its prayer and support for the many women’s health clinics, like Palmetto Women’s Center, which our local church provides for. In many ways they will need even more help as they likely face more scrutiny from local officials and may or may not see physical altercations of one sort or another. Likewise anything of this magnitude is going to bring with it unforeseen needs and consequences that we must be preparing for in many ways. That means as a congregation we should be keeping our eyes and ears out to hear what it is we can do to help. It will be, as it has been for many years, an all-hands-on-deck situation. We must be pre-planning for needs as far apart as adoption resources, foster care, abortion survivor counseling, daycare, etc… and there is most assuredly a lot more that could go on that list.
While we are currently doing a lot of that, the need will be great, and I am confident we will be ready and willing to meet it.
However, before we get too much more into that lets go back to the passage I posted above from Psalm 118. That psalm is from a series of psalms which are known as the Egyptian Hallels, which were sung around the Passover, and would have been one Christ and His disciples sang as they left the Last Supper. In it we hear David exclaim his thanksgiving for God’s deliverance of him from a number of difficult providences. A key aspect of Psalm 118 for our purposes today is the recognition by David that all these things have taken place in order that the house of the LORD may be made ready for the entrance of the Ark of the Covenant into the place created for it. When we apply these truths to today one of the aspects of it that is so important for us is the idea that as long as we are dwelling in the tabernacles of the LORD than our countenance should be highlighted by joy, by singing, by hearts which not only rest in Christ Jesus for salvation, but which testify to all the benefits that come from such a undeserved and gracious relationship.
Notice what David writes in verse 17, “…I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD!” So much of his life after he became king, some of it his own fault, was taken up with dealing with those who sought to end his earthly time, even from his own house, yet what was it that enabled the king to write and sing these words? It was because he understood, almost as deeply as the Apostle Paul, the nature of the forgiveness of sins. What it meant to be a redeemed man. He deserved death, destruction, and all the bad things that were happening to hin, but why did they ultimately not come, and when they did they were bearable? For the same reason they don’t come for us. David was a sinner saved by grace through faith alone. He knew that this temple made with the hands of men was not his home, and wasn’t meant to be, it was a foretaste of glory divine, but not the divinity itself. That belonged to another, who would be tabernacled among men, and would be the house of safety in the midst of the darkness of this life forever. That’s what makes us rejoice.
So as we close and think some more about the nature of what has taken, or will take place, and even if it doesn’t this time, nothing has really changed in regards to what the LORD has called us to be and to do. Stay vigilant, stay strong. Remember what David says earlier in the psalm, “…The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”. This is what enables us to get up in the morning, and go to bed at night. Let it be our hope regardless of the news of tomorrow, or the difficulties of the months ahead. For we have already won the fight, for Christ has waged it against Death and the Grave, and won the victory for His sheep, in love.
Here is something worthwhile on the bigger picture.
https://www.ligonier.org/posts/sanctity-life
Take Care and God Bless,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church