To Encourage You

Psalm 146:9 “The way of the wicked He turns upside down”

I love the way Psalm 146:9 is rendered in the New Kings James Version, which is the translation provided in the words above.  It’s a statement of fact about the lives of those who have rejected God, here called, “the wicked.”  It says that God turns their ways “upside down.”  

As I’ve thought about this, I’ve realized that such “turning” is nothing more than an act of grace, for the ways of the wicked surely need to be turned upside down.  I’m thinking of a canoe that’s been flipped over in a lake.  It’s not doing anyone any good in that condition, for that’s not the way it was meant to be used, and so for it to be returned to the purpose for which it was made, it first needs to be turned “upside down.”  It’s an act that we sometimes call “righting the ship,” for as it is, it’s all wrong.  And that’s the way God sometimes works in a life that’s gone wrong.  

Take the apostle Paul as an example.  As he persecuted Christians as a Pharisee and leader of the Jews, he thought he was doing what was right. He saw himself as one who had crossed all his t’s and dotted all his i’s as far as his life should be.  He describes it all in the following words in Philippians 3:5-6: “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” In other words, he was all he should be, at least as he saw things. 

But then something happened to him.  He met the real God in the person of Jesus Christ, and suddenly he realized, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:7-9). 

Talk about an about face! Talk about your whole world being turned upside down!  But it was the best thing that ever happened to him, for before that point he had been one that Isaiah 5:20 pronounces “woe” upon for he had been “call(ing) evil good and good evil, who (had) put darkness for light and light for darkness, who (had) put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” In other words, his life was completely upside down.  

King Nebuchadnezzar was another such person.  At one time he was the greatest ruler in the world and that’s exactly the way he saw himself. Life was all about him in his own mind.  But listen to what happened as a result.  It’s recorded for us in Daniel 4. It all begins with the king’s prideful thought, “’Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?’  While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.’ Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.” 

Like Paul, Nebuchadnezzar’s whole world was turned upside down!  And the result of it all? When Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity was restored, his perspective on everything had changed.  Now life wasn’t all about him, it was all about the Creator God who had created him. Listen to how his language changed: “I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’”  I’m pretty sure we’ll see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven someday, and it’s all because his world was turned upside down.  

So, what about you? Has your world ever been turned upside down, or are things as they’ve always been as you go on your merry way?  If so, and you have never been born again, it’s something you need more than anything, for a brand-new start is needed if you will ever see the kingdom of God.  Or perhaps you’re one who’s in the middle of some life-changing situation – maybe your world right now is being turned upside down.  If so, know that the Lord may actually be in the midst of righting your ship. Perhaps he’s turning your perspective into one that can see life as He sees it.  Perhaps it’s God’s perfect grace with His hand on the rudder working in your life to turn you in the direction of the Way, the Truth, and the Life, for that’s the only way any of us will ever be turned around to come to the Father, and that’s every person’s greatest need.