PRÉCIS ON THE LORD’S COMPASSIONATE RECOMPENSE UPON THE PROUD: CASE STUDY OF A MAN NAMED JOHN

SCRIPTURE. “Let the arrogant be ashamed and humiliated, for they sabotage me with a lie; But I will meditate on Your precepts.” – PSALM 119:78, AMP

KEY TERM: “ASHAMED.” ‘Bosh’ [יֵבֹ֣שׁוּ]: “A primitive root, ‘To [be made] pale;’ to be put to being confounded, disappointed, disconcerted by reason of (error); to become dry; abashed or confused by guilt or a conviction of some criminal action or indecorous conduct, or by the exposure of some gross errors or misconduct, which the person is conscious must be wrong, and which tends to impair his honor or reputation.”

QUOTATION. “‘There is one vice of which no man in the world is free;’ which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves…There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves…’The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility.’” – C.S. LEWIS, Mere Christianity, 1954; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Let the proud be ashamed’ — Confound all the proud contemners of Thy Law; let them be brought either to Repentance or to Shame [destruction]; for they have dealt perversely with me, either by their calumnies, putting false and perverse constructions on my words and actions, or endeavouring to overthrow and destroy me, by turning me out of the way of my duty; ‘But I will meditate in Thy precepts’ — All their wicked attempts shall never drive me from the study, and love, and practice of Thy precepts. 

‘Let those that fear Thee,’ &c. — Let all pious men, who have a due regard for Thy testimonies, be convinced of this, and turn their hearts and affections to me, which have been alienated from me, either by the artifices and calumnies of my adversaries, or by my sore and long distresses, causing them to think that I had deceived them with false pretences, or that God, for my sins, had utterly forsaken me. 

‘And those that have known Thy testimonies’ — That is, that have loved and practised them. The sense of this verse is much the same with that of the seventy-fourth; that good men, seeing what God had done for him, should turn themselves to him, take encouragement from Him, and recognise the righteousness of God in protecting His friends.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

THE EVENT. As I was plying my Commentary wares at my favorite coffee shop recently, a kind (though somewhat naïve) young lady I had known a bit came over to say hello and inquire about what I was writing. I gently summarized my critique of the American Church. She listened politely and, predictably, disagreed as politely.

We shall call her, “Carrie.”

Then along comes a young man I had also casually known for about a year and joined (uninvited) the conversation. As he listened to my replies to Carrie, he rather brusquely and rudely started saying this sort of thing: “‘Well you know, Cliff, you really must be careful of becoming a Pharisee.’ I have seen much damage about prophecy and well, you sound like you are firmly committed to your point of view and that is very unwise.”

Let us call him, “John.”

As he continued to correct me with all sorts of Christian clichés (“I am a Berean”),Carrie started joining in with comments like, “Amen! I agree! I just leave it all to Jesus!” By then the entire climate changed into one of confrontation, and I was forced to carefully consider my response, since we were in a beloved public place.

I decided to gently instruct them that Donald Trump was dangerous to a Christian’s testimony etc. I got things like, “Well, we’ll wait and see.” After offering them a copy of my book, more “We’ll just pray about it for now.” And on it droned into a painful and quite deliberate assault on my character and scholarly ability. I cannot recall how we ended, but John left and Carrie and I worked to end cordially.

AFTERMATH. Somewhat disturbed by all this, I walked outside to inquire of the Lord what I should think, feel and do. No audible Voice came as I passionately asked for advice, but A VISION of sorts appeared. And I do not have visions almost ever. But here is what I saw.

The word, “Truth” was suspended in the air, with a fierce gale blowing against it, causing it to visually have a comet-like tail as it leaned into the Whirlwind. Followed by the thought: “This is what you are to increasingly expect in the days ahead.”

Then the next morning I asked, typically, if the Lord wanted me to study any particular passage. In a shot: “PSALM 119:78.” So here we are, as I dive into the Instruction as best I can, once more being encouraged to Pray Merciful Imprecation:

“Lord, I was angered by the disrespectful comments and tone of John, so all I can pray is that You convict him of his error – toward Repentance. Otherwise, keep him away from me as I shake the dust from my feet so that I need not share any more of the Truth of You that I hold so dear, for fear of losing my temper, bringing shame to you and to the shop that I also hold dear.”

CODA. This then a small glimpse into the tragedy of finding it much easier to witness about Trump to pagans than to white believers. A seditious corruption that will deepen in the Days Ahead. And a reason why I write, beloved. Selah.