According to a recently published article, House Speaker Mike O’Neal of Kansas forwarded an e-mail in December to some colleagues where a scripture (which taken out of context) was indicated to be a pattern prayer calling for the death of President Obama.
This is not new; and the e-mail circulated all around Atlanta a few years ago; and did not originate with the House Speaker. This has been going around for several years and people have had T-Shirts; and even bumper stickers with this Bible verse printed on it.
Driving the streets of Atlanta you could see a bumper sticker that would say, “Pray for Obama – Psalm 109:8” The e-mails would usually end after the rest of the verses saying, “At last a prayer I can feel good about for President Obama!’ The eighth verse would indicate that he would be put out of office; but the verses following is what outraged some 30,000 who signed a petition in Kansas asking for the Speaker’s resignation.
It says out of context: Psalm 109:7 - 12 'When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.”
No doubt the speaker received this e-mail as have thousands of others and merely forwarded it to those in his address book. This writer personally received this several years ago. Most people just took this as another Obama joke or cartoon which is constantly flying around the Internet.
Some found this very offensive and uncalled for while others thought of it as being funny that such a scripture (taken out of context that it was) would exist outlining how a lot of people in this country actually feels about the current President – they want him out of office.
This has now become an issue used by Atheists to attack the Book of Christians. They attack the Speaker and the Bible as a means to attack Christians.
“He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.” That is also from the Bible. Who among us have not at sometime heard someone so angry with someone else that the words, God d#mn you, (him or her) flew out of the mouth? That in a nutshell is what the verse above is saying.
When those words are used, the one using them are not only damning the life of the person; but damning them to an eternity without God. Who among us have not heard the words, “Go to H#$$?” Indicating that it is the desire of that person that their enemy should die in the fires of hell.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “Go jump in the lake?” That is a short phrase that actually means “Go jump in the lake of fire – a place where souls are tormented forever!”
There are others who in the heat of anger might say, “I hate you and wish you were dead!” Most of the time those idle words are spoken only in anger and not really meant be to carried out at all. But words do have power and anger destroys the soul. God says that we will be held accountable for every idle word we speak – and perhaps for every idle e-mail that we forward.
Just this week on Facebook there was a post advocating that Muslims follow their tenets and kill Obama themselves because he is an infidel according to their religion.
There is a tried and true method of understanding the Bible.
- First who is saying what?
- Who are they saying it to?
- What are the circumstances?
- And why is it being said?
- It is man or God who is speaking?
In Psalms 109: 7-12:
- Who is doing the talking? David – a man.
- What is he saying? First he wants his enemy to be judged. And when he is found condemned (guilty), David wants his enemies to be punished in the worst kind of way. He wants revenge. He wants justice. He wants his enemies to suffer. (Ever feel that way?) Ever wish something bad on someone you are angry with? If not, you are the exception. Have you ever acted on that anger?
- Who was he talking to? God. God listens to us when we pray; and when we cry out.
- What were the circumstances – David was a man like any other. He had been wronged by his enemies and he was mad – really mad.
- Why was he saying this? Because he was angry – a very human trait. Because he wanted justice – a very human need. Because he wanted to see his enemies suffer like he had. He wanted them to have a taste of their own medicine.
Remember here that the Old Testament is not the direct words out of the mouth of God. It is the history of the people, their good points, their sins and their evil ways. It is the history of the people from whom God would bring about His Son, Christ. Christ would be the antidote for evil. Evil dominated the world in David’s time just like in our own time.
These were not perfect people – not even close – they were sometimes mean, evil, and filled with rage and war against their enemies; and even the innocents. They stoned people for their offenses. They even hung them on crosses. That is just the way it was. And the same continues today; with people fighting against each other for revenge all over the world; sometimes centuries old anger and revenge.
It is not unlike the US soldiers who were photographed urinating on the dead bodies of their enemy. They had seen this enemy kill innocent men, women and children. They had seen them decapitate their fellow Americans. What the eyes of some of our soldiers have seen and witnessed is enough to make anyone want revenge especially those who are not settled and committed to the teachings of Christ. All the military policies, training, and manuals cannot cover the feelings of the human heart.
In these verses, the man, David, who was said to be a man after God’s own heart, and the man who slew a giant when he was but a child; and the sensitive man who played the harp to soothe the nerves of King Saul; and also the man who wrote some of the most beautiful poetry in the whole world including the Twenty-Third Psalm – was having a melt-down or tirade; or as you might call it, a temper fit. This same man was an adulterer and a murderer. He was a human with human characteristics and manners. He had sinned against God - yet, he loved God.
Anger is one of the worst attributes of sin coming into the world after the fall of man. Anger is the bedrock of so many crimes when a person attacks another. Anger is the dynamite of the soul. It will destroy; but it can also bring strength when facing the giants in one’s life. There is such a thing as righteous anger; which is not like revengeful anger. Do you get angry when you see yet another child raped, militated, and murdered?
The basic message of the Bible about anger is, “Be angry, but sin not!” That is sometimes a tall order. But lest we be fooled, “God is a God of wrath, just as He is a God of love!” We must truly understand both of these in the character of God remembering that God says, “Justice is mine, I will repay!” God will punish sin.
God made us and He knows our human capacity. He knows our hearts and our very thoughts. It is when we take our thoughts off of Him that we allow anger to control our lives. Uncontrolled anger can fester and infect to the point of utter evil.
Let’s just put it this way – David was having a bad day. Ever have one of those? Ever have a temper fit – throw something – cuss someone out - have a hissy fit? Sure you have. But that is not what the Bible teaches us we should do; but teaches us what man is capable of and what we should not do.
Verses like: “Where there is no fuel the fire goes out!” "Soft words turns away wrath." "In all thy ways acknowledge God; and He will direct thy paths." "Do not let the sun go down on your wrath." These are the teachings of God. Sometimes in reading the stories of the men and women in the Bible, we can see ourselves; and we can see what is right and wrong; and what brings about bad things. If we were not exposed to the negative, we would not understand the positive. If we didn’t see hate, we would not understand love.
The Kansas House Speaker is a man elected to serve the people of his state. He was duly elected and should understand completely the duties of the office which he holds. Would he have gone on national TV and said the words that were in his forwarded e-mail? Certainly not. But like so many who have such disdain for President Obama, he let his human side override his common sense. Also, remember that man will be man. Being elected to an office in the government does not come with a halo and set of wings – especially offices all the way up to the White House.
With the decision to cast God out of America – America has become an evil place, a place where evil people dwell – a place where evil has become common. And what becomes common, becomes acceptable. The absence of God is evil. And we are warned that it is a frightful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.
We would all be amazed if we could be a fly on the wall in the private times of all elected officials – for they like David - have bad days. They get angry, they want revenge and justice. They get up on the wrong side of the bed. They get stomach flu. Think how often elected officials have been caught off guard when an open mike was left on.
House Speaker O’Neal got figuratively caught with his breeches down. He made a formal apology to the President; and to the people of his state. Perhaps he should have also promised to be more selective in who he sends private e-mails to.
Atheists are trying to have a field day with this; but they know it won’t fly; for they have been saying far worse things on the Internet all along. Once when I wrote an article, an Atheist commenter said someone should put a bullet through my head because I believed in God. Ever notice how anger increases as a person begins to lose ground in an argument - how they leave the subject and turn to name calling and threats?
An old saying of revenge is, “The man who said (or did) that should be dipped in manure and shot for stinking.” Another – “That man needs to be shot along with the horse he rode in on.”
Harsh words. But seldom meant as an edict to be actually carried out. The Bible teaches one main theme throughout. We are to look to God and not to man. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, he fell into the brink. God is our standard – not man. Man looks on the outward appearance; but God looks on the heart. Americans have become morally corrupt - harsh, rude, and vulgar in their expressions to each other – even family and friends.
But we can be assured that each of us is appointed once a day to die and after that the judgment where we will stand before God with not only our deeds; but our words. Some will hear, “Depart from me I never knew you.” Have you introduced yourself to God through Christ? Make sure you know Him.
Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Hussein, Bin Laden, Kaddafi, and Mubarak were all evil men in power; and do you think for a moment that thousands of prayers were not said daily that their evil reign would come to an end? But you know what? We are even told to pray for our enemies. God can change hearts.
Sadly there are those here in America who sees President Obama as an evil person as well. We are blessed to be able to live in a nation where we can make a difference at the ballot box and not have to resort to murder to get rid of politicians we don’t like. However, at least four times in our history our nation has mourned when sitting Presidents were killed while in office. Before any of this happened; anger was there as the bedrock.
Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy were murdered while in office. There were other attempts, the latest being attempts on the lives of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.
Recently, there was a bullet fired toward the White House from an assault rifle from blocks away but was stopped by bullet proof glass. Police fear it could have been directed toward President Obama. The man arrested was determined to be mentally ill. That is another reason why we should watch the words that come out of our mouths; as the deeds may come at the hands of others. We need to realize that our words have influence over others.
There is also a scripture that says we are to pray for those in power over us. You can be part of a national prayer effort called the “Presidential Prayer Team.”
“Since 2001, The Presidential Prayer Team has been the source millions of Americans have turned to for encouragement and inspiration to pray for America, our President, our national leaders and our Armed Forces.”
To find out how you can become part of this nationwide prayer group check out
For a list of the 100 most evil men in power in history see this site:
Comments