The DNC and Psalm 14

"Oh If I had a little blue box to put my Savior in… I'd take Him out… and put Him right back again?"

Well that seems to be what the Democratic Party has done with God. First they take Him out of the platform and upset people, then they put Him back in and upset more people.

Let me be honest. I never knew He was in their platform to begin with. Likewise, I could't tell you much about what is in the Republican Party's platform (yet). But I don't choose what makes it to the news, and this one's been all over it, so that makes it fair game for discussion.

While the whole "in or out" situation just goes to prove that "no man can serve two masters" (cf. Matt. 6.24), and in this case, a few million masters, there are other pressing matters when it comes to the DNC platform.

Take a look at what was on page 52 of the platform, and you'll find this:

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay.

Here's the part that caught my attention (found immediately following the preceding quote):

We oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.

Would me teaching against abortion qualify as "undermining that right?" How would they seek to "oppose" me? That's a bit worrisome.

Then there's this language from page 53:

We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples.

Then this:

We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.

I don't think their agenda on these points can be any more plain than what they have written. There's no explanation required.

It's not just a "party problem."

Now I'm not writing this to start a political discussion. There are certainly problems on both sides of the aisle. Actually I'm heading toward a different point.

Putting political parties aside, consider this: How did such language end up in the platform? The only reason that comes to mind for me is that a large segment of the population actually wants these things, and believes these things. The party wouldn't have put such language in their platform if they didn't think they at least had a reasonable chance of finding support and winning votes based off of it.

Sadly, they may be right.

I've never been a "political" person. I don't really have the patience. But in the last few years, I've become more and more attune to what is going on in our country. What I see is a trend toward making righteous living as difficult as it possibly can be.

Public opinion in and of itself makes it hard sometimes to live and teach righteousness. Just try writing an article on your blog about homosexuality, and see what kind of response you get. Try talking about it around the water cooler or the lunch table. Try talking about God at school, or in your break-room. Try setting a Bible out on your desk in your classroom. Try getting a blue-collar job that doesn't require you to work when the church meets, or causes you to compromise faith in some other way (cheating, deceiving people, foul language, etc.). Modern culture encourages, and at times, even coerces people to deny faith and embrace immorality, or at the very least, amorality.

That's why we need to visit Psalm 14.

A Psalm for those surrounded by evil.

I'm sure that you've probably heard the first part of Psalm 14.1 before:

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" (Psalm 14.1, NKJV)

But look at that again; Where did he make that statement? Not on a billboard. Not in a political convention. First, it was made in his heart. He may not have told anyone, but he sure thought about it.

When a person denies the existence of God, they are free (in their minds) to do all sorts of abominable things (cf. Psalm 14.1b). David pictures God as looking down from Heaven, simply looking for someone who still understands, who still seeks Him. But they have all rejected Him (cf. Psalm 14.2-3).

David asks the question:

"Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?" (Psalm 14.4a, NKJV)

In other words, "Do these people not understand what they are doing?" He goes on to write about how they persecute God's people ("eat up my people as they eat bread"), and "shame the counsel of the poor" (cf. Psalm 14.6a). In other words, they make it difficult for people to live righteously.

But they forget something that we need to remember: The Lord is our refuge (cf. Psalm 14.6b).

When things get hard, we don't go to the government, we go to God. When the people around us belittle us because of our faith, we go to God. No matter what, we go to God.

After all, God is pictured as looking down from Heaven (Psalm 14.2). But He's not looking to see how bad things are. He's looking to see who is seeking Him! What a comfort to know that if I'm seeking Him, God is looking at me!

No matter what…

I don't know what's going to happen in the coming election. But I also don't know what's going to happen in the next ten minutes.

What I do know, though, is that no matter how hard others might work to make life difficult for someone who wants to be righteous, I can build my life on the rock of Christ's teaching so that my house will not fall (cf. Matthew 7.24-25). Likewise, while David wrote about desiring salvation "out of Zion" (cf. Psalm 14.7), I can rest safely in the fact that the deliverer has come out of Zion (cf. Romans 11.26), and I'll hold fast to Him (cf. Hebrews 6.17-20).

God is my refuge, come what may.

-Daniel