The Marks and the Promise

UV 1234/10,000 The Marks and the Promise
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
Isaiah 33 v 15

This uni-verse sums up the marks or characteristics of a person who is righteous in the eyes of the Lord: every step he or she takes is in alignment with the Word and the will of God. Even if he stumbles and falls or makes a mistake, he will quickly correct himself and repent and walk again in righteousness. He is a soldier who is content with his wages or his lot in life. He shakes his hands to refuse to even touch money that is tainted. God will bless what little he has to satisfy his need and to multiply it. The man who hates bribes despises the riches that come from illegal gratification and from oppression and exploitation.

A man of God will be full of revulsion at violence and even about hearing about bloodshed. He holds life as a sacred gift from God and only God can take it away. Of course, when a believer becomes a soldier or a police officer, he might at times need to resort to the use of force to fulfill their professional duties. He cannot be wimpish or weak. He needs to be tough and effective. Force is violence that is legitimate, that has the sanction of law and of God. Scripture says therefore , “ The violent are taken by force.” But even in such circumstances, force must be resorted to with restraint, in proportion to the stimulus and only when it is warranted or necessitated. Many people ask how I as a believer can be an effective police officer. I tell them that a good police officer must have the goodness of the Good Samaritan, the expedition and adventurous spirit of an Alexander the Great, the courage and integrity of Daniel, the diplomacy of Abraham Lincoln, the wisdom of Socrates… However, I am thankful that in 27 years of experience, I did not have to order firing even once or take life or even thrash people in very challenging law and order situations even with mobs on the rampage.

The righteous person speaks uprightly. There is no deceit or vulgarity or insults in his mouth. He recognizes that a sweet spring will not also yield water that is salty or bitter and not fit to encourage, satisfy the thirst or bless the hearers. All the senses and the faculties of the believer are to be sanctified or made holy, blameless and perfected. Of course, the most challenging is the control of the tongue. We need to order our conversation or discipline our tongues to speak what should be spoken at the time it should be spoken and train it not to speak the words that should not be spoken. Jesus said that the eyes are the windows to our souls, the lamp of our bodies and it should be full of light of truth and not untruth. It should not feast or delight in that which is intrinsically evil or lustful or covetous. Some people make this an excuse to turn a blind eye to the evil that is happening all around them. Instead, we should be watchful and vigilant like an animal tracker finds the pug marks of the wild animal in the paths in which he is walking and is able to tell what animal is in the vicinity. We must train our eyes to see and recognize the good in others and the evil in ourselves. When we live in such a manner disciplining our eyes, ears, tongue and thoughts, the Lord will be in our midst as the mightiest of kings providing for us, promoting and honouring us, the greatest of warriors fighting for us and wresting victory in all our battles, the kindest and most generous of masters. The Lord testified that it is due to this uni-verse that during our recent overseas travel, He fought for us at many places, He provided for us for our every need, He protected us from anything untoward, He pampered us and enabled us to see and hear what our eyes had not seen, our ears had not heard and our minds had not thought or imagined.

Prateep V Philip