BLESS, DON'T CURSE!

 

 

Fri EP Reflection 07/03/20 (Numbers 24:1-13; Ps. 140)

Verse 8 of Psalm 140 caught my attention. It says: “Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O Lord, nor let their evil plans prosper.” This is a type of prayer that is similar with the Lord’s prayer where it says: “Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.” This is a recognition that there is a certain kind of atmosphere or supernatural forces that pushes people into wickedness and practice of evil which affects others. We pray that such hurricanes may be us by. We pray that it may not reach us or affect us in any way. This is interesting because our Old Testament reading is still in the book of Numbers, where the prophet Balaam is realizing that it pleases God when he blesses Israel. He then prepared to go into the wilderness to pray, and seek the face of the Lord. I love when servants of God go to quiet places to spend time with Jesus. They read the word of God in a way that is undisturbed, words leap out of the page straight to the heart, it feels personal and indeed God does speak to us that way.

Balaam must have been at an elevated place because he had a good view of the Israelites camps tribe by tribe. The word of God came to him: “How fair are your tents O Jacob, Your encampment O Israel? Num. 24: 5. This is a praise! It is not a rebuke. It is a beginning of a blessing. At the end of the blessing, like the icing on a cake, the word said: “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, and cursed is everyone who curses you!” Just pause for a moment. This is big! Don’t even go there if you want to curse them because, if you do, you will be the one who will be cursed and the other party will still be blessed! Just imagine if we get cursed because we cursed first! There is a proverb in my culture that says “the one who throw dirt end up spreading it on oneself” This is teaching us wisdom in measuring every word that comes out of our mouths. Is it cursing or is it blessing?

We should care because our words create: By our words, we begin wars and also by our words, we bring good news, comfort and peace. Which one are we creating especially in this time of crisis after crisis? Bless, bless some more and love! This is the perspective from God! Bless those who persecute you, those who hurt you. That’s the good news of the Gospel. That’s how different is the Kingdom of God. Don’t be quick to say words out of anger! My friend Tom posted a verse that is really timely for this: James 1:19-21: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” If we do that carefully, It is unlikely that we would want to curse anyone.

Let God pass the judgment, not us! Jesus gave us a hint when he asked forgiveness on behalf of those who were crucifying him. Such a great example for us to understand that we may not stop enemies from forming but surely, we can only pray against their plans to hurt us, we are not allowed to curse them. Both the prophet Balaam and King Balak of Moab learned that if God has blessed someone, none can curse him/her. So, we are enjoying this week end holiday, there will be many conversations, and perhaps some heated discussions. We need to refrain from cursing, rather we need to bless! Pray for our enemies and that the Lord would protect us!

Happy 4^th of July!

Be blessed forever!