When Wickedness Is Established by Law

by Tom Wacaster
  
There is an interesting verse in the 94th Psalm which adequately describes the way a number of people think. The verse reads, "Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by statute?"  (verse 20).  The context of the Psalm is a consideration of the wicked and their foolish opposition to God.   But these were not just your run-of-the-mill participants in evil.  The Psalmist was not writing to the "heathen," but to those who should have known better.  Those to whom the Psalmist wrote were God's chosen people.  They had, somewhere along the way, cast off all restraint, reaching a point in their downward plunge into apostasy that was characteristic of the "nations" about them.  Arrogant and proud, they actually boasted themselves in their iniquity.   There was little regard for life.  They despised their heritage.  The widow and fatherless were a nuisance, so much so that they thought it advantageous to slay and murder those less fortunate than themselves.  Injustice was the order of the day. The widow, sojourner, and the fatherless were imperiled (verse 6).  And just about the time one would think they could go no lower, the writer informs us that "they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it" (verse 12).  Could it be that Israel had arrived at this point in time where they regarded the God of heaven as nothing more than the "God of Jacob."  Was He not their God as well?   Oh, how the mighty had fallen.  According to verse 20, the "throne" itself had become corrupt. The leadership was corrupt from its head to its toe.  The Psalmist seeks to remind the people that God does not have fellowship with such a corrupt nation. But what is shocking about all of this is the fact that this corrupt nation had actually passed certain statutes which "legalized" their mischief.  What a perverse way of thinking. It is the kind of thinking that says human law overrides God's law; that man is in a better position to determine right and wrong than is the Almighty; that a mere stroke of the pen can turn that which is wicked into that which is right!  Israel needed to be reminded that such a "throne of wickedness" stands squarely against God! They will NOT have His blessings!  Oh how our beloved nation needs to hear this lesson.  In the last 100 years we have seen the legalization of drinking, the sale of alcohol, para-mutual betting, abortion on demand, homosexual rights, the lottery, casino halls, houses of ill repute, etc. Now politicians clamor for legalization of drugs, homosexuals in the military and homosexual marriages, and the "Freedom of Choice Act" (making it completely legal to kill children still in the womb).  The philosophy seems to be, "If we can just get it on the books, ratify it by the States, and get it signed by the President, it is right and acceptable."  Have we become so foolish as to think that God does not see or hear?  There is one more verse in this Psalm that gives a clear indication of the fruits of this kind of thinking. The 21st verse reads, "They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood." When enough laws are passed "legalizing" the mischief in which men desire to participate, the righteous element in society will actually become the enemy.   I fear that we may have already arrived at such a point in our nation's trek away from God.  Those who oppose immodesty are labeled "prudish."   Opposition to drinking and/or gambling classifies one as being "judgmental."  If you say anything about the homosexual movement you are a "homophobe."   Anti-abortionists are "radicals."  We could go on, but I think you get the picture.   Liberal lawmakers are doing their best to "frame mischief by a law."  Bills pending, waiting for examination and approval, will move us further and further away from the God of heaven.   When the Psalmist asked the question, "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee...." he was asking a rhetorical question, the answer to which is a resounding "No!"  I do not know how long God will wait before He renders judgment on this nation.  But there is a point in time when His patience will run out, and "he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off."   America, prepare to meet thy God!