Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reflects a heart that longs for what God Himself says is blessed, a hunger and thirst for righteousness and for truth. That desire is from the Lord, and Jesus promised that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.
It is right that you are grieved by dishonesty and by disregard for human life. In times like this we can be tempted to blame God for the evil we see, but Scripture is clear that we should not. God is not the author of death or of cruelty or of deceit. Those things flow from the fallen hearts of people. What comes out of a life shows what is inside the heart, and God looks on the heart even when we can only see outward appearance.
You noted that even those who are highly educated and trained in the law can still do what is evil in God's eyes. That is true of all of us. No amount of knowledge or zeal or keeping of rules can make a person righteous before God. Scripture says all have fallen short of His glory. Some have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge, trying to establish their own righteousness by their works or their learning, and they have not submitted to the righteousness God provides. The righteousness that God accepts is not earned by doing the law, it is given as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Him, His righteousness is credited to us.
That is why your reference to Psalm 51 is so fitting. God is not pleased with outward offerings alone. What He desires is a broken spirit and a contrite heart that recognizes sin, hates it, and turns from it. Only God can work that change inside a person, to open eyes to see sin for what it is and to create a true thirst for what is right and true.
That thirst itself is something God has placed in every person. Deep inside, beneath any hard exterior, every heart is thirsty for God, though many try to satisfy that thirst with other things that never satisfy. Jesus said if anyone thirsts, let him come to Him and drink, and He promised that the truth would set us free. When a person receives the testimony of Jesus, the Spirit bears witness to the truth in the heart. Only Christ can quench that spiritual thirst because He is God, and only His blood can cover sin and bring peace and understanding.
It is good that you do not want to boast or look down on others, but come humbly. That humble spirit keeps your own heart with diligence, which is where the issues of life are decided. God will judge according to truth, for He knows what is in every heart, and that judgment belongs to Him alone. Knowing the truth brings responsibility to obey it, and our part is to pray and to leave the work of conviction and transformation to Him.
So continue to bring these people before the Lord. Pray that the Holy Spirit, who intercedes for us, would stir their hearts, remove any hardness, and give them that unquenchable desire for truth and for the righteousness that comes only through faith in Jesus. Pray that those who are His would be covered by the blood of Christ and kept in peace, and that those who do not yet know Him would come to salvation through Jesus alone, be forgiven, and learn to walk in compassion and honesty.
Father, in the name of Jesus we ask for Your mercy on each person involved in this situation. Work in their hearts to bring brokenness over sin and a genuine turning away from what is evil in Your sight. Give them a deep hunger for Your truth and for Your righteousness, and draw them to Jesus where that hunger is filled and where forgiveness is found. Let Your will be done, and let Your name be exalted. Amen.
It is right that you are grieved by dishonesty and by disregard for human life. In times like this we can be tempted to blame God for the evil we see, but Scripture is clear that we should not. God is not the author of death or of cruelty or of deceit. Those things flow from the fallen hearts of people. What comes out of a life shows what is inside the heart, and God looks on the heart even when we can only see outward appearance.
You noted that even those who are highly educated and trained in the law can still do what is evil in God's eyes. That is true of all of us. No amount of knowledge or zeal or keeping of rules can make a person righteous before God. Scripture says all have fallen short of His glory. Some have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge, trying to establish their own righteousness by their works or their learning, and they have not submitted to the righteousness God provides. The righteousness that God accepts is not earned by doing the law, it is given as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Him, His righteousness is credited to us.
That is why your reference to Psalm 51 is so fitting. God is not pleased with outward offerings alone. What He desires is a broken spirit and a contrite heart that recognizes sin, hates it, and turns from it. Only God can work that change inside a person, to open eyes to see sin for what it is and to create a true thirst for what is right and true.
That thirst itself is something God has placed in every person. Deep inside, beneath any hard exterior, every heart is thirsty for God, though many try to satisfy that thirst with other things that never satisfy. Jesus said if anyone thirsts, let him come to Him and drink, and He promised that the truth would set us free. When a person receives the testimony of Jesus, the Spirit bears witness to the truth in the heart. Only Christ can quench that spiritual thirst because He is God, and only His blood can cover sin and bring peace and understanding.
It is good that you do not want to boast or look down on others, but come humbly. That humble spirit keeps your own heart with diligence, which is where the issues of life are decided. God will judge according to truth, for He knows what is in every heart, and that judgment belongs to Him alone. Knowing the truth brings responsibility to obey it, and our part is to pray and to leave the work of conviction and transformation to Him.
So continue to bring these people before the Lord. Pray that the Holy Spirit, who intercedes for us, would stir their hearts, remove any hardness, and give them that unquenchable desire for truth and for the righteousness that comes only through faith in Jesus. Pray that those who are His would be covered by the blood of Christ and kept in peace, and that those who do not yet know Him would come to salvation through Jesus alone, be forgiven, and learn to walk in compassion and honesty.
Father, in the name of Jesus we ask for Your mercy on each person involved in this situation. Work in their hearts to bring brokenness over sin and a genuine turning away from what is evil in Your sight. Give them a deep hunger for Your truth and for Your righteousness, and draw them to Jesus where that hunger is filled and where forgiveness is found. Let Your will be done, and let Your name be exalted. Amen.
