Psalm 119:150-151 Near & Far

I'm surrounded by others as I walk along the one road of life. Some of them know the Lord like I do. Others think of God quite differently than I do. Still others don't think about God at all.

Recently I saw this post on Facebook:

Tonight, I was in a restaurant. At the table next to me were three women engaged in a loud conversation. The topic? Who they know that has recently died that is definitely in hell, since they belonged to the wrong church. As a bonus, one woman proudly discussed how she started an argument with her daughter, who had expressed that she wasn’t so sure that the person in question was actually in hell.

I’m not saying I know everything about being a Christian, or what it definitely looks like to follow Jesus. But I do know this: it doesn’t look like that.

There's a lot to unpack in that story. But I want to look at it in the light of Psalm 119:150-151

Those who devise wicked schemes are near,
but they are far from your law.
Yet you are near, Lord,
and all your commands are true.

Psalm 119:150-151

Considering all the near and far language, picture these verses as describing the relative positions of the characters, as though they're positioned on a stage.

The three main characters are (1) those who devise wicked schemes, (2) the Lord, and (3) the writer/narrator, David. But David stands in for the reader, you. So put yourself in the position of the third character, rather than David.

Also in the scene is a prop, to use stage terminology: the Law, or God's commands.

So picture yourself in the middle of the one road, which is the locale of this scenario, as it is for all of Psalm 119.

Where are the ones who devise wicked schemes? Are they far away?

No, they're near. They're walking on that same road, near you. Perhaps at a nearby table. That's probably why David mentions them at all, because they are nearby. They're closer than makes him comfortable, considering their known tendency to devise wicked schemes.

This is true, though, isn't it? We're constantly surrounded by people of all sorts - good people, bad people, faithful people, unfaithful people, loving people, hateful people. And people who devise wicked schemes.

Where is God in this scene? He's also near to David, to you.

So there we all are on the road together. The wicked schemers are near me, and God is also near me. Simple logic and geometry then tells us God is also near them.

And yet they are far from His law. Even though God is staying close by them on their journey, they're ignoring Him and they're ignoring His law - His ways, His wisdom, His heart.

So, let's go back to the restaurant where my Facebook friend overheard the conversation. These people, who apparently thought of themselves as Christians (who belong to the right church) seem to be shockingly unaware that even if the people they're talking about are actually in the wrong church or actually are destined for hell, God is near them.

God isn't sitting up on His throne looking down on those hell-bound people. He's not pointing his finger at them and dishing gossip with the angels about how lost they are. God is walking beside them. The Holy Spirit is at work, trying to draw them closer to Him and to His Word.

They're also shockingly ignorant of the fact that as believers who are near to these "lost" people on the road of life, they are in fact the very people God most wants to use to draw them closer to Him and His ways.

Instead, they're content to gossip about them.

Another thought: Who, in this Facebook story, are the ones who are "devising wicked schemes"? Yes, it's the self-righteous Christians.

And yet another thought: Who, at the moment these women were loudly misrepresenting the love of God to a restaurant full of people, was God's closest person who could accurately represent Him to these wicked women?

Yes, that would be my friend, who posted the tale on Facebook.

He doesn't go on to tell what he did next, but if I know him at all I suspect he stopped by their table and dropped a few seeds of kindness and perspective into their lives.

When you encounter people near you who are devising wicked schemes, don't settle for just talking about them or posting on social media about them. They're right there, near you. And so is God. He'll be right there with you, His hand on your shoulder, His thoughts on your lips, His Spirit in your heart, if you'll just recognize the opportunity for what it is.