Ring Out

. . . let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord, when he comes to judge the earth. 

 - From Psalm 98

We have to get out of these jitters so many of us have, about Judgment Day. 

Here's the Psalmist, David, I think, writing many lines of text declaring the joy that he feels, just contemplating God taking charge of things, one day; He will make it all right. He will put us on a solid, secure path, for eternity.

He will make sure we're safe.

Except, in this case, the word "safe" is not just a clever tactical maneuver to get people emotionally inclined to vote a certain way. When God makes us "safe," he makes us Safe. And it has nothing to do with some dopey human politician wanting us to feel good. 

He will bring us joy. We will be elated. The good feelings that we will feel, on the day God makes it all right, are not the same as the "shiver down the leg" that should characterize almost all of our good feelings in this age. God's Good Feelings are permanent. They are not emotional. They are logical and totally confident. You're feeling "good," but that's because you have been made Good. 

And in the Psalm, it is all wrapped up with a reference to Judgment Day. More often than not, my image of Judgment Day has veered toward the fearful and frightening aspect of it. When it is preached, it's always done so with dread and fire.

Are you ready?

But, as we look at the world today, on November 9, the day after "the most important election in American history," an election that would bring an apocalyptic tidal wave of change to our society . . . and see that it is all a disappointing dud, perhaps that's a good thing. The newscasts and politicians had been playing up Election Day 2022, as if it were the Second Coming of Christ.

It's not. But as we contemplate God's final judgment upon humanity, let's keep it positive. All the nonsense swirling about; the ridiculous antics by children in adult bodies that we call our "leaders." All the fear-mongering and divisive rhetoric. All the relentless daily developments of a narrative that has nothing to do with God's establishment of peace, safety, security, equity, and justice - but that claims to be all that and more . . . 

It's all tossed in the flaming incinerator of History, never to be heard from again. And that is something to rejoice over.