O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous - you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!
I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. (Verses 1-2,9,17)
Notice that David began with complaining and ended with praise. He did not let dispair win out. "Deep in his soul, David knew that the 'Judge of all the earth will do right' (Genesis 18:25)."
(A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen)
"Images As Idolatry"
Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth.
Here we are forbidden to make any image of God or any other creature for "religious use." For to what shall we liken God?
Matthew Henry carries this even further. "It also forbids us to make images of God in our fancies, as if he were a man as we are. Our religious worship must be governed by the power of faith, not by the power of imagination. The must not make such images or pictures as the heathen worshipped, lest they also should be tempted to worship them. Those who would be kept from sin must keep themselves from the occasions of it. They must not bow down to them occasionally, that is, show any sign of respect or honor to them, much less serve them constantly, by sacrifice or incense, or any other act of religious worship. When they paid their devotion to the true God, they must not have any image before them, for the directing, exciting, or assisting of their devotion."
Note again: "Our religious worship must be governed by the power of faith, not by the power of imagination." That is a very powerful statement!
Based on this reading and that statement, I am drawn to a very hard question. Can our usage of the cross be considered to be an idol?? I don't have an answer just yet to that question, but it is, I believe, extremely worthy of our consideration.
Lord, it is with great solemnity that I approach the question of idolatry. I understand that idolatry is not always something tangible, that we can put our hands on or even see with our eyes. We can create idols in our minds, hence Mr. Henry's comments about worship being powered by faith rather than the imagination. I also realize that there are material things in our lives that can become idols when we give them a place in our lives that should belong to you.
However, it would be tragic if one of the very symbols we revere as it reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ were, in fact, a "graven image." Give us wisdom, Lord. Let us never be guilty of violating that command.
I pray for Christi this morning, Father. She is not well. She was up a good part of the night with upset stomach. I pray that you would touch her and heal her. I also pray that Stephanie would continue to have good days, especially this week, as the schedule is shortened for semester finals.
Grace and peace, friends.