"Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not Thy statutes."
word for law - statutes; The first two verses in this 20th section were a plea for deliverance. Here, David states the reality of these wicked ones. Salvation is far from the wicked - 'thou shalt call His Name, Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins'; The very beginning of man's fall in the garden of Eden, provoked God to make a way of redemption for these lost souls. They needed saving from their sin. You and I are nothing apart from the saving of the soul from wickedness and sin. To know this truth is wisdom and understanding of the universe and of all history. To not know this truth is the peril of sinful men and the curse of eternity in hell. We know too many that this phrase is true of them. 'Salvation is far from the wicked' They practice sin daily, hourly, yea even to the minute. Their language is rough and coarse, filled with profanity and taking our Lord's Name in vain. They practice evil every chance they get. They follow their master, Satan, and he leads them to hell in shrewd, vile ways. Caring not our LOrd was crucified, they mock, jeer and reproach the soundness of the Gospel. They reject every invite; scorn every tear that is shed over them. Knowing nothing of His death on the cross and caring not for anything of truth or eternity. They are only interested in the here and now, and only seek what pleases the soul and the flesh. WE know the truth and the reality of this phrase, 'Salvation is far from the wicked.' We are living in it, we see it, it is all around. The deepest pain, is that we see our families perishing. WE know their eternal plight unless the God of mercy and grace seizes them for salvation. Christ died for all; Christ died to remove the sin that separates us from God. But Christ also taught us that there is a path straight and narrow that leads to Him, few their be that find it; there is a path wide and broad that leads to hell, many there be that go on it. Oh, God, this is our plea; the wicked are perishing! They are our family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances. We have no means to save them. SAlvation is of Thee, O God. 'For there is no other Name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, but the Name of Jesus.' Oh, God hear our cry, know our sorrow; for them You died as well. Have mercy, o Jesus of Nazareth; Thou art the Christ, Have mecry on their lost souls. They are the wicked herein mentioned! They pracitice it every day, with no sorrow nor fear. But You are mighty to save! You are able to save from the uttermost! Then save these wicked. Time is running out, opporutnities are shrinking, the day is far spent and the night is at hand. Do what only You can do, send Thy glory down to reveal Your Divine Presence of power, redemption, mercy and quickening. Oh, God, we know the truth of this, 'Salvation is far from the wicked'. It is our reality, it is our present day. Few there be that be saved, in our homes, in our churches, in our town, in our nation and in the world. OH, God save these wicked ones today. For today is the day of salvation, and now is the accepting time. For Your glory, for Your honor, In the Name of Jesus we pray and beg, Amen!
'Salvation is far from the wicked' Not becuase God does not desire to save; He came to seek and to save. Not because He does not love the sinner; 'while we was yet sinners (in sin), Christ died for us'. It is because they have rejected His invitation. They have scorned His love and mercy. They have chosen the things of this world over the things of eternity. Oh, how real all this is. It is the tesitmony and lifestyle of so many. But let us never count that our Lord God Almighty did not do, nor has not done all that could be done for the sake of seeing lost men be redeemed. Our Lord has done all well. He has made a way; He has offered the sacrifice acceptable for sin; He has paid the debt in full; He has made the way clear; HE has offered the day of salvation. Yet, they have said, 'NO'. They have chosen to flee from Him, Who loved them to him who hates them. Satan allures them with lies, for he is the father of lies, and then destroys them. Salvation is far from the wicked because they have put it far from them. This makes SAtan so happy. This makes heaven so sad. Just as the rich, young ruler went from Jesus sad and sorrowful; so we know what this means for their eternity. Having chosen the present things of this world, they are removed from the riches of eternal grace and glory in heaven with Him. They have made their choice.
For they seek not Thy statutes - word study, to seek/find; Jesus declared, 'I am the way, the truth and the life'. The reason these wicked do not find the way, the truth and the life is because they will not seek for it. They do not desire it, they do not have enough about them to get up and go find it. there are numerous churches all around that offers the conenience for them to enter in and hear the Gospel truth. But they refuse to go. The fact, that some may argue that most churches, or some, do not preach the truth is another matter. The mere point of this is that numbers are so low of people entering into the church at all, shows the affect, 'how shall they hear' especially if they don't go to where they can hear. We are left with a small number of those that do seek. The vast majority are of the sort to be entertained, to be pleased, to have their ears tickled. The Bible is rejected among these people. Not only will they not enter the church to hear the statutes, they will not open the bible to read it. We have numerous churches, but I would dare say, that we have double the amount of bibles available in this country. Could we not say almost every home has a Bible or at least could have a Bible to read? It is certainly close to it. But the fact that simply becauase there are many, does not mean that people read it, nor open it. 'they seek not Thy word'. They are ignorant of the Word and its truth. so not only will they not enter the church to hear it, they refuse to read it. The absence of the Word of God that brings truth is the reason that salvation is so far from the wicked. what shall we say now to the fact that the church is as guilty of these things as the country?
The church numerically sits with lower and lower attendance each year. The numbers of those that read their Bible daily and read through their Bibles in a year is so weak and pathetice, it is no wonder that hell is advancing. We have seen God move and work in areas of the world where there is little Bible. Yet, where the Word is present, there is greater increase because it is preached, taught, lived and adhered to. The absence of the Word of God does not mean that God cannot work; He is sovereign and can do what He pleases. Yet, a people, a family, a soul, a church that avoids the Word of God is sure to fail. Promises, instructions, helps, hope, miracles, directions are found in the Word of God. Remove the Word and all these things are removed. What a dismissal picture is found!
We see the reality that 'salvation is so far from the wicked' because of the avoidance of the Word of God. 'IN the beginningg was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' When a people, soul or church avvoids the Bible, they avoid the Word. They remove Christ from all their presence. And if Christ is not there occupying our minds, hearts and souls, then SAtan and evil is. One or the other is found within us. We choose by our receivng the Word or rejecting the Word.
then our tasks is not only to seek for the wicked to be saved, but to seek for a return to the Word of God. 'Faith cometh by hearing'; to hear the truth, to hear the Word of God about Christ being the only Name for salvation, for redemption. Pray for the lost, pray for the Word of God to go forth abundantly. And know the truth of all this, wickedness and sin abound because the Word is avoided and removed. Yea, even from His Own house. You cannot be a Christian and avoid these central pillars of truth.
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