SAMEK. I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law. You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. Depart from me, you evil doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God! Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; and do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Hold me up, and I shall be safe, and I shall observe Your statutes continually. You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, for their deceit is falsehood. You put away all the wicked of the earth like dross; therefore I love Your testimonies. My flesh trembles for fear of You, and I am afraid of Your judgments.

The "double-minded" are a half-hearted people. They divide themselves between the things of God and the things of self. Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8). Our minds should not be an amalgamation of godly and worldly thought, but wholly devoted to that which is right, and in accordance with the way of God, that in the hereafter, we might see God. James speaks of the "double-minded man" in his writings twice. First, of those who lack faith in the Lord to answer our requests (1:8), and then, of those who supposing to be children of God still walk with defiled hearts (4:8). The Psalmist call such people enemies (Heb. sane'), for they have not crucified the man of sin to walk as sons of God. His desire is for the law of God. The double-minded make themselves opponents of God and His people, for they pervert the way of righteousness, compromise the truth, and doubt the power of God.

In contrast, the righteous see the Lord as a place of safety. Various Bible writers express the security of the faithful believer in the Lord. Isaiah called God "a cover from the tempest" (32:2). David says He is "my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer...my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour..." (2 Samuel 22:2-3) The double-minded find no rest in the Lord, but those who trust in Him, find rest for the soul. Though temptation and trial persist, though threats and plots of wicked men continue, God's own will walk boldly in Him. Thus, to those who are evildoers, the writer declares, "Depart from me...for I will keep the commandments of my God!"

James penned, "...submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (4:7). When Jesus was tempted, Satan eventually "...departed from Him until an opportune time." (Luke 4:13). So long as we stand with the Lord, those who are workers of Satan will not overcome us. Satan and his hosts are powerless against the one who trusts in God. However, let us never think that we can make the stand alone. Recall, Paul cautioned the saints at Corinth, "...let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12). Our victory over the devil and his hosts, our victory over the power of death is in Christ Jesus alone. Thus, the Psalmist entreats the Lord, "Uphold me..." and again, "Hold me up..." We are "...more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37). We "... can do all things through Christ who strengthens..." (Philippians 4:13).

The Lord is willing to hold us up, but if He is to do so, we must do a few things. First, let us never be ashamed of the hope which we have in God. Jesus spoke very plainly, "...whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33). If we are ashamed to proclaim our allegiance to the Lord, then He will not proclaim us to the Father. The fact is, if we are ashamed of Him, we have set aside our loyalty to Him. And so we must not be ashamed of our hope in Christ Jesus. But further to that, we must continually keep the will of God. The elect must walk day after day in the ways of God. Jesus told the people, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62). There is no time for a return to the former ways. There is no room to bring the old man of sin back. We must become and continue to be diligent students of God's word. We are called to be imitators of God, holy in our conduct. Peter, considering the judgment to come wrote, "...the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now ‘if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?' Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator." (1 Peter 4:17-19). Our safety in the Lord is dependent upon our faithfulness to His word. If our plea is that of the Psalmist, "Uphold me...that I may live..." then the requirement is laid upon us that we walk in His ways each day.

It seems there are always some who insist that we need not keep the Lord's commands to have the hope of salvation. Our Calvinist friends will tell us that we are then working for our salvation. Those who are religious innovators claim that the fundamentalist has placed the Lord in a box. See the word of God, as conveyed through our writer, "You reject all those who stray from Your statutes, for their deceit is falsehood." Friend, we are compelled by the word of God itself to walk within the parameters it provides. We should neither go beyond, nor fall short of what the Lord commands. To go beyond is expressly forbidden by God (1 Corinthians 4:6; 2 John 9; Revelation 22:18). In like manner, it is enjoined by God not to fall short of His written word (Luke 12:47-48; James 4:17; Revelation 22:19). For us to think we can disregard any portion of God's will, or add to it our own way, is to advance down the road to destruction. All such people, the Lord will cast away like dross. Dross is defined in Webster's as "the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal; waste or foreign matter: impurity; something that is base, trivial, or inferior." It is the same as the chaff which is set out to be burned with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12). All things of this nature are useless to the Lord; their end is destruction.

Finally, the writer expresses his disposition before the Lord. In verse 20, he "...trembles for fear..." and is "...afraid..." So often we hear people speak about God being a God of love. Amen! He is. However, never should we let the love of God minimize the justice of God. For some time now, I've communicated with a man via e-mail who simply cannot comprehend the idea that God will eternally punish the wicked. Time and again, I am told, "That is contrary to the nature of God." Is it? Can the God who loves us, and gave His Son for us not also bring punishment upon those who will not turn to Him? The Lord would much rather that all turn to Him and be saved (2 Peter 3:9), but the fact is, many will be destroyed (Matthew 7:13-14). Some comfort themselves thinking, ‘well, that just means they will cease to exist'. No friend, that is not so. The Lord says to the unrighteous, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels..." (Matthew 25:41). In verse 46, lest anyone mistake the nature of this "everlasting fire", the Lord reveals, "...these will go away into everlasting punishment..."

Let us tremble in fear before the Lord, may we be afraid of His judgments. When a child is in fear (not terror/horror, but reverent fear) of his parents, he will be obedient to them. He will seek to please them, that he might be rewarded rather than punished. Let us seek to please our heavenly Father, that we might be rewarded for eternity.

Click here for this week's Answering The Atheist
Will God curse the earth? Malachi 4:6 indicates that God might, if He gets mad again, whereas Genesis 8:21 says that he will never do it again. Is there a contradiction?