Glory vs. Shame
How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? Selah. (Psalm 4:2)
Have you ever heard of “The Teabag Principle?” Here’s how it works: When you are in hot water, the “real you” will come out! Your troubles always show you where your trust rests. So how have you responded in the hot water of your most recent crisis? The “hot water” of this current pandemic has brought out the true beliefs of entire groups of people. And there are some horrible beliefs coming into public view.
Glory into Shame
The first line of Psalm 4:2 asks, “How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame?” In a poetic manner, David asked his enemies how long they planned to keep twisting things that were honorable into something shameful.
So great are the wonders of our God, that Stephen called Him, “the God of glory”1 The heavens declare the glory of God.2 The Lord crowned mankind with glory and honor when He gave man dominion over the earth.3 Yet mankind rebelled against the Lord and His glory. They turned God’s glory into shame. Since the Garden, humanity has been twisting its great honor into that which is horrible and gross. David’s enemies were intent on turning his kingly splendor into something sordid.
How do people turn glory into shame? Romans 1:21 describes how men have perverted the glory of God: 1) When they knew God, 2) They did not glorify Him as God, 3) They were not even thankful, 4) They became vain in their imaginations and fantasies and 5) Their foolish hearts were darkened.
To those who live for their empty fantasies, David asked, “How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?”
How Long?
The teabag in the hot water is very apparent in the current clash of worldviews. The real beliefs have come out. For instance, consider the words of Katherine Ragsdale of the National Abortion Federation. She expressed concern that the number of abortions will drop significantly during this pandemic. She said, “We worry that all health care resources are being channeled to non-elective procedures, and abortion tends to be classified as an elective procedure … We understand that abortion isn’t a stroke or a heart attack, and it can be scheduled out. But it can’t be scheduled out indefinitely.”4
Now let that sink in. What if your doctor told you that you really needed a surgical procedure? “No rush,” he might say, “but you can’t put this off indefinitely.” Why not? Well, in the worst-case scenario, if you put off essential surgery, you might die.
But now think about Ms. Ragsdale’s comment again: “But [abortions] can’t be scheduled out indefinitely.” And why not? Is it because someone might die? No! It’s because someone might live! Here you can see an upside-down worldview on full display. The National Abortion Federation is intent on twisting God’s glory in humanity into something horrible. Theirs is an outright denial that man is made in the image of God.
But today’s news shows you even more. Several states have ruled that abortion is an elective procedure during this pandemic. They made this choice to make more protective equipment available to medical care providers. But now Planned Parenthood (and several other groups) have filed suit against those states. A three-judge federal panel has ruled that “any policy that prevents abortions from being carried out is unconstitutional.”5 So here is yet another twisting of the truth. The public policy of those states seeks to protect the most vulnerable people in society from this virus. (They want to have the necessary medical equipment readily available to save lives.) But the new federal ruling insists that the pro-abortionists must be able to kill the most vulnerable people in society – babies in the womb. Liberal politicians used to say that they wanted abortion to be accessible; now they are arguing that it is essential!
With David, we ask them, “How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?” Here is the real problem: “He that sins wrongs his own soul: all those who hate me love death.”6 Those who hate God and His wisdom love death. They “love worthlessness and falsehood.” It’s time to turn away from this twisted way of thinking. But how?
The Remedy: Repentance
Our nation needs a remedy to restore our love for God and love for men. We need a good medicine to turn our hearts away from loving worthlessness. The remedy is repentance. We can begin by answering David’s questions honestly. How long? These are humble questions aimed at our consciences. How long will each of us turn the wrong way when we can turn the right way?
David’s question to all the sons of men is this: “How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood? Selah.” By God’s goodness, our nation can repent7 from man’s twisted way of thinking and living. In kindness, God sent His Son to pay the penalty for man’s rebellion. By His death on the cross and rising again, we have the power to repent. It is time to do so.
Then, we can answer the question “How long?” With the emphatic answer, “No more!”
Gordon Dickson is the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Finlay, OH.
- Acts 7:2 [↩]
- Psalm 19:1 [↩]
- Hebrews 2:7 [↩]
- Melissa Jeltsen, “Abortion Access Under Threat as Coronavirus Spreads” Huffington Post, March 17, 2020 accessed on 03/3020 at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abortion-access-coronavirus_n_5e70f423c5b60fb69ddee6e9 [↩]
- Alexandra Desanctis, “Federal Judges Side with Planned Parenthood, Deem Elective Abortion Essential” National Review March 31, 2020 Accessed on 03/31/20 at https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/federal-judges-side-with-planned-parenthood-deem-elective-abortion-essential/ [↩]
- Proverbs 8:36 [↩]
- Romans 2:4 [↩]