The Beginning

Psalm 64:1-6 ‘Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers,

Who whet their tongues like swords,

Who aim bitter words like arrows,

Shooting from ambush to the blameless,

Shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

They hold fast to their evil purpose;

They talk of laying snares secretly,

Thinking, “Who can see them?”

They search out injustice saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”

For the inward mind and heart of man are deep.’

You might be wondering why I chose these verses to show you.

You might be wondering why it matters.

We’re going to address your first question before the other.

There are a few reasons for this. A) because to understand the second question, you have to know why I showed you this at all. And B) because if you know why it matters, you might not want to keep reading.

But you should.

So! Why, out of all the 31,102 verses in the ESV Bible (yes, I searched it up, *grins*) would I choose Psalm 64:1-6?

Because it reminds me of Adam and Eve.

What I’m trying to say is it reminds me of the beginning. And in these ways:

1. Adam and Eve are the first people to get blamed for the fall of mankind. They’re blamed for taking and eating from the tree God told them specifically not to eat from. So when I read verses 3 and 4 (tongues as swords, words as arrows, and shooting at the blameless) I think of how much people are hating on this couple for…I’m not going to go any further. Because yes, Eve was deceived. Eve disobeyed God. But do you think she would have done that if the Serpent hadn’t come up and nudged her onto the path of disloyalty? I’ll let you think about that for a while as I move onto my second point.
   

2. When I read ‘(verse 5) “Who can see them?”’ I immediately thought of Adam and Eve. And in this way: These men, these evildoers are hiding their evil works (the snares), hiding them from man. And in Genisis 3:9 it says: ‘And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.’

You might be wondering why I’m telling you this, but it’s really only too tell you that Adam and Eve are not to be entirely blamed for the fall of man. Well… actually, that’s only partially that.

The other half goes a little like: No one entirely likes Adam and Eve. But you can’t start blaming the people who know they did wrong. Look at the people who are setting snares.

The story of Adam and Eve is the first lesson we learn from the Bible.

Obey God.

However, you must remember that God is also the very beginning, being in the past, the present, and the future. So tell me this: should we hide from God or look at His word like He wrote it with His own hands?

Probably the latter.

So let’s look deeper into your second question. ‘Why does any of this matter?’

I have another couple verses to show you before I answer that.

Micah 6:9-16 ‘The voice of the Lord cries to the city — and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: ‘Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!

Can I forget any longer the treatures of the wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed?

Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and a bag of deceitful weights?

Your rich men are full of violence; your in habitants speak lies, and the tongue is decitful in their mouth.

Therefore I strike you with a grevious blow, making you desolate because of your sins.

You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword.

You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

For you have kept the statues of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their councels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing;

So you shall bear the srocn of my people.”’

I’m going to go a little off track here and bring you back to Adam and Eve.

This couple is what we think about whenever we think an the beginning, right? Well, it’s what I usually think about. But I have to remind myself—and now you—that the beginning of the world is not the beginning.

God is the beginning. He is the first, the last, the I Am. He’s in the sunrise and the sunset and it’s only relevent because God knows all the ups and downs. He knows what happened to you, and why sin came into the world.

But more than that, God knows what happens to the people who don’t follow in His footsteps.

Now back to my verses.

I was randomly flipping through my Bible, trying to find something to write about this week, and I actually came across Micah before Psalm. But then I went to Psalm, and I realized it might be better to place them in the opposite order.

Because Micah describes what happens to all the people in Psalm.

Micah describes the outcome.

Which is why my first collage of verses is important.

Because God doesn’t show you your sins without also showing you the outcome if you continue that way.

But Hey! God also gives you the answer! He gives you a way to turn away from using words lightly, and hurting people who didn’t need to hurt. God shows you that He gave you an out.

Christ Jesus died on a cross to save you from your sins.

And Crusifiction isn’t pretty.

Anyways, here’s the point: look back at the sins of our elders (Adam and Eve), but also look back further (God), and then look at yourself. Look at the things you’re doing. The things you do without thinking of how they’ll affect others. Others including God.

And be gracious with yourself! Don’t be worried when you realize it’s all kinda wrong.

We’re all going to feel that way at one point.

Don’t be worried when you’re hurting.

And stay faithful.

-Claudia