LONGING FOR PEACE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me. Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.

What will He do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush.

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 120

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

A quick look at the headlines today offered the following:

- South Korea, United States Begin Drills as North Korea Threatens War

- Saudis may carry out executions by firing squad

- Philippines, Clan Discuss Ways to End Sabah Crisis

- Western governments struggle with Syria

- Dozen U.S. Troops Shot on Joint Base

- Eleven people shot on DC street corner overnight

- Man accused of killing grandparents in Washington

- Visions of Drones Swarming U.S. Skies Hit Bipartisan Nerve

The sad part of all this is that it seems like we’re reading about similar news every day.

Whether it’s a battle being waged between nations or even within a nation, whether it’s violence on our own streets in America and sometimes within a family, or whether it’s political battles being waged daily over the direction our country needs to go in, there is no shortage of conflict that we read or hear about.

I don’t know about you but it can really get discouraging for me sometimes and I find myself longing for peace.

I get a sense the psalmist was feeling the same way when he penned the 120th Psalm. Take a look for a moment at his words:

I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me. Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.

What will He do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush.

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

It’s obvious that the psalmist was living in some hard times, times that left him in distress. As we read his account, we can see that he faced internal and external conflicts.

Internally, he faced people who were liars and deceitful. Maybe you have been in that kind of environment too. I know I have and it’s extremely difficult. It seems some people enjoy stirring up strife in whatever way they can, even if it means lying or deceiving people to do so.

Externally, there was discord as well.

The psalmist shared that he lived in Meshek, among the tents of Kedar, and he obviously wasn’t pleased with the people he lived around, mostly because they did not share his view on peace. We know this because we read that the psalmist was for peace where the people he lived among hated it. And no matter how much the psalmist spoke of living in peace, the others he lived with endorsed war. It obviously was very hard for him.

So what was the psalmist to do in the middle of an environment where peace seemed absent?

He turned to the only One who had the power to bring peace, not only to his heart but also to the place where he lived. Look again at his words:

I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me. Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.

The word of God speaks powerfully to us here in offering us guidance in handling conflict. When we are going through strife, we should call on the Lord and do so expecting that He will answer and save us from our adversity. Turning to the New Testament and Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, we find the following additional guidance that reinforces the actions of the psalmist:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Note the key here. We are to trust in God, remembering that there is nothing beyond the work of His almighty hands. The God who fashioned everything we are and everything we see in creation is the God who is for us. So ask yourself this: Is there anything that God can’t take care of?

This is how we can find peace no matter what our world might be like, either internally or externally. When we feel our sense of inner peace disrupted by anxiety or stress or worry or fear, we need only do as the psalmist did, call on the Lord in our distress and bring our concerns to Him. When we do this, when we leave our inner conflicts and concerns at the throne of the One all powerful enough to deal with them, then and only then can we experience the peace that transcends understanding, the kind of peace that no one on earth can give you. It’s that simple.

But the good news doesn’t end there for look at what happens after we receive God’s peace.

We will have our hearts and minds guarded in Christ Jesus, our Savior who came to us as our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Through Him, we have received a hope that secures us not just now but forever, an assurance that life will not end at death but continue eternally.

Is there any better sense of peace than that, a peace that meets us wherever we are today when we long for it and a peace that will envelop us and completely dominate our life after death, the life we will live with God the Father and Jesus His Son forever?

My prayer is that this peace, promised in the word of God, will be yours. It’s only a prayer away.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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