Goodbye Scoundrels
In January of 1964, a young songwriter/poet named Bob Dylan wrote and released a song entitled “The Times They Are A-Changin”. It stands true today. About that same time, he wrote a less famous song, which was also a social commentary entitled “With God On Our Side”, the lyrics for both (which are too lengthy to include here) are a simple search away. The point is that things haven’t really changed much in the last 50 years or for that matter in nearly 3,000 years. The times continue changing and God is still for those on His side. The 8th Century (BC) Prophet Isaiah also wrote (but under God’s guidance or influence) a social commentary, which is one of the more poetic, non-psalm scriptures in the Holy Bible, “See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.” (Isaiah 32:1-5 NIV). Both writers are preoccupied with the unrighteous nature of Humanity and the need or expectation of God’s intervention to right the wrongs. Dylan wrote what he lived and Isaiah wrote what what would be. Both were clear on the need for social reform via spiritual intervention. Our problem has been historically repetitious, without spiritual guidance we are soon wandering and lost again.
In all fairness, there have been some pretty good kings and leaders over the course of human history, but our surplus of ineffective leadership has been even more obvious. When leaders hold the hand of God, righteousness prevails, whenever we let go of that hand, we fall victim to the second most abused force on the planet, self gratification. Isaiah knew that one day a truly righteous King would reign and that King will set in place His rulers who will only be concerned with their King’s justice. These rulers will shelter and nourish their own. The public figures we have sought leadership from will be replaced (with only one vote being cast) by others with a purely righteous nature. It’ll be a great time for those who follow their King but beyond miserable for those who don’t. Opening our eyes and ears will save overdue heartache later.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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