At the dawn of the 20th century, many people were optimistic about the future of humanity. Many saw the rise of education and economic prosperity as indicators that war, violence, and strife would continue to decrease and a golden age of enlightenment and humanism would flourish. Though that was a great dream and an excellent idea, the reality is that the 20th century became one of the bloodiest centuries ever in our history. World War One and Two resulted in the deaths of at least 60 million people. The Russian Civil War of 1917 killed another 5-6 million. The tyrannical regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao killed at least another 60 million of their citizens. Many millions more were killed in dozens of other, more minor conflicts as well. The reality of these death tolls serves as a grim reminder that conflict and strife are a part of the human condition, and since it is a part of the human condition, it is then a part of the constant reality of the world.
But why is this the case? Why is the world in conflict with each other? The answer is more profound than we can completely understand and more straightforward than we perceive. In Psalm 2, the psalmist asks the same question;
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
Psalm 2:1 (ESV)
The answer the psalmist gives is that the kings and rulers (leaders, politicians, individuals) have set themselves against the LORD saying to themselves,
Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.
Psalm 2:3 (ESV)
In other words, let us rid ourselves of God. Let us remove him from the equation. Let us liberate ourselves by rejecting what God calls truth and what God calls good and instead embrace what is false and evil. The result of this is conflict and strife. The result is what we see happening all around us. The result is murder, thievery, adultery, abuse towards children, wars, racism, and every horrific thing that comes to our minds. The result of rejecting God is chaos, conflict, and strife. However, the psalmists in Psalm 2 give us insight into our day’s issue and the remedy.
The remedy is to seek after and submit ourselves to the LORD.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son…
Psalm 2:11-12 (ESV)
The concept of “kissing” in this text does not deal with romantic love. No, the “kissing” envisioned here is someone kissing the ring of a king or one in authority. The act of “kissing” is an act of submission to another, and the word Son is capitalized to help us, the reader, understand that this reference is to a specific Son, the son of God himself, Jesus. The psalmist’s point here is easy to grasp. Do you want to find an end to conflict and strife? Then submit yourself to the LORD. Give your life to him in every way possible. Do not resist his ways; instead, strive to live your life in accordance with him. The implication of the psalmist’s words is simple. If you give yourself to Jesus, he will bring peace amid a world of chaos, conflict, and strife.
Bee-Attitude
Blessed are those who give themselves to the LORD because it is they who will find true peace amidst the conflict and strife of the world.
Josh Gilliam
Josh Gilliam is the Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Zebulon, Georgia. His faith and dedication to community are evident in his work. Alongside his wife, Lydia, and their three children, the Gilliam family resides in Griffin, Georgia. Josh is a bi-vocational pastor, owning a local business (Southern Wise, Inc.) in addition to pastoring a church.
