I find it ironic that the below post comes with a language warning for those who might be triggered by such things. Take care as you read.
Righteousness and justice are the foundations of Your throne;
From Psalm 89:14, ESV
Benchmarks For The Kingdom, The Roots of the L-rd’s Habitat
Gang, I have read this passage from Psalm 89 before. And it was not until I heard Arthur Burk teach on the Psalms that some things clicked for me in the arena of reading Scripture. I will explain.
“It’s Just Symbolic…”. Well, Okay. Symbolic of What?
I have frequently heard that, because the Psalms are poetry, they are to be read with a mindset of “it’s just a figure of speech.”
“It does not really mean what it says.”
This remains a frequent response to those insatiably curious learners. As children, we are largely designed by Father with a curious bent to hunger and thirst. We yearn to seek and understand. We were made to pose the question, “What does this phrase mean?” To go beyond the horizon, in the words of Megan Caldecourt. And, sadly, it becomes a too-often safe mechanism to deflect inquisitive minds who are naturally hardwired to become factories that think deeply about problems in order to manufacture and engineer solutions to those complex problems.
As a result of this dismissive mindset, we have a segment of the tribe of Scholars and Teachers that is largely peopled by intellectual cowards. The very class of tribesmen that G-d designed to instruct us and strengthen us by pouring concrete and iron rebar into already-unstable youngsters who are made to soak up tons of raw data and concepts…..
These destabilize that plumb-line, keel, and constantly redirect the engine that naturally fosters learning. They redirect our engine because they think the drive in us is immaturity or not in alignment with their status quo. They turn the helm of our self-guided course in accordance with their futile demands.
In turn, this destabilizes us by their several attempts to beat the creativity out of us, in favor of beating conformity to their agenda into us. Then, these clowns move to their vain task of extruding our spirits and souls through their mold. Some survive this spiritual raping, barely, while others are completely shattered from the assault.
The living and breathing dangerous and fiery text of the Holy Writ becomes a mechanical set of dead hermeneutics.
When all is said and done, we are left with the end product of a bunch of the spiritual proletariat that parrots every G-d-damned religious triteism in brainwashed staccato, reciting along with our equally dead teachers of the law.
And, “it just becomes a symbol or a figure of speech.”
Before you get offended at my usage of “G-d-damned”, read the context. That word refers to things that G-d has not designed, and therefore are not redemptive in nature. Rather, these things are condemned by G-d to hell precisely because they twist, maim, and shatter spirit and soul.
And when the institutional church is done, what remains is a group of people who does not take Scripture at its word. And we wonder why people are not passionate about uniformity to our vision of what Christ is supposed to look like for them.
Our job was never to assault people with this sort of concentration camp mindset. And for those of us who survived and learned how to cast off that decrepit mindset, we were able to point out its execution.
When we have been freed and healed of this lightweight mindset, the Scripture can hit us with its full weight.
Psalm 89:14
The throne of G-d is a real thing that occupies a real place in real time and real space. And its foundations are righteousness and justice. That is, apart from the presence of righteousness and justice in a situation or in a reality, the full weight of the L-rd’s authority will not be brought to bear in a situation.
I like to think of divine Righteousness as the quality about G-d that enables him to bring His reality to bear on a situation, while Justice is the action of G-d whereby He executes with action based on his decision concerning a situation.
Our desire and willingness to submit to reality as G-d sees it brings these foundations into a situation, and with it, His throne, which is His presence, and His capacity, willingness, and acting to execute.
And when He executes, He does not miss a beat, He creates perfect alignment and fulfillment, and everything is set into a sustainable and life-giving synergy.
Gang, if you are in a situation where you need His intervention, I would counsel you to do two things. Focus on the right stewardship of cause-and-effect and walk in the things you know you must walk in. Bring honor and truth into every situation you encounter. Truth as HE knows it. Truth as HE sees it. Truth as HE experiencies.
Honor those people in your life that encourage you to ask the questions that no one is asking. Press for the why of a situation. Do not allow yourself to buckle and bend your knees to submit to the mob that would seek to shut you up as you pursue truth and the righteous understanding.
Bring realignment to unjust situations and call out injustice and unrighteousness.
For example, this election in the U.S. is not about making sure your candidate wins. It is about making sure the elections are conducted with integrity, consistency, and justice. Proper treatment of the principles that govern constitutional republican (given we are not a democracy in the U.S., but a republic) elections. This is not about your personal bias, but it is about engaging in the actions of seeing the L-rd deal with the Mesmerizing Spirit the way HE wants to.
Justice is hard, and REAL social justice (bringing justice to structures in society that perpetuate injustice) is unpopular. Righting wrongs when the majority would have you just shut up because you will upset their precious idolatrous structure will not net you friends, but it will dangerously make you enemies.
Gang, with that, I bless you to yearn for righteousness and justice. I bless your spirit to cry out to Him in praise because He inhabits the place where you praise Him. And when He comes to dwell, because you cry out to Him for a righteous execution of His decision-making process, he will bring Righteousness and Justice, which will precede the implanting of His throne in a situation.
Be at peace, spirits of my tribesmen, and may you make war against the Phillistine enemies that would seek to reject the enthronement of Jesus on the land of a situation.
I bless you with those things in the name of Yeshua ha-Mashiach.