A Broken World

The world is broken. While it has been broken ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the brokenness has compounded over time. The world was so broken in Noah's day that God destroyed civilization with a world-wide flood. Jesus said that the end days would be like the days of Noah. "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:26-27). Jesus goes on in the next verses to compare the world in the last days to the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah.

II Timothy 3:13 reveals that in the end times "evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." Paul says that the earth itself knows the pressure of this corruption: "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now" (Romans 8:19 & 22).

The truth of these verses is not difficult to see. The news media and social media are filled with proof of the brokenness of this world. Every day seems to bring new stories of businesses caving to social pressures, of government rejecting morality, of radical groups killing those they hate, of individuals who fall into degradation, and much more. It can be discouraging to observe this moral, political, and social decay on such a constant basis. Indeed this world is broken, without hope (except for those who turn to Christ), and ultimately will be destroyed.

In Psalm 36, David describes the wickedness of his day:

"Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;
There is no fear of God before his eyes.
For it flatters him in his own eyes
Concerning the discovering of his iniquity and the hatred of it.
The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He plans wickedness upon his bed;
He sets himself on a path that is not good;
He does not despise evil" (vs. 1-4).

David's words are so appropriate in describing the wickedness of any generation, and they ring true today just as they have throughout history. Man's heart is filled with evil to the point that he is proud that he can stir others up because of it. His thoughts are so constantly wicked that he is always planning more evil. He deliberately rejects what is good and pursues what is evil.

How did David deal with the discouragement and oppression of such rampant evil? He turned his gaze on God, whom he describes in verses five through nine:

"Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Your judgments are like a great deep.
O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light."

The depravity of man is deep, but the goodness of God is exceedingly deeper. God's lovingkindness, faithfulness, righteousness, and judgments extend to such unreachable heights and such unfathomable depths that they cannot be exhausted. God can care for His children regardless of the circumstances around them. His love never fails, but constantly works to protect His children and to fill them with the abundance of life that can come only from Him.

There is hope for the believer. That hope is found in the amazing God who transcends the evil of this broken world. The hope is found in a loving God who provides His children not only with necessary strength, but also with abundant provision. The hope is found in a righteous God who always does the right thing and who will faithfully continue doing the right thing forever. In God there is life and there is light.

David concludes his psalm with the very natural and logical extension of calling out to his great God in the midst of the surrounding wickedness:

"O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Let not the foot of pride come upon me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the doers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been thrust down and cannot rise" (vs. 10-12).

David recognizes some very important and comforting truth. First, he can count on the God who is loving and righteous to continue being that way. Second, he can count on that God to protect him from the wicked. Third, he can count on that God to ultimately bring judgment upon the wicked and to entirely break their power.

Even in the darkness of this broken and depraved world, a believer can have hope. A Christian has a loving, faithful God on whom to rely in the midst of the decay. He has a God who rises in stark contrast to the evil and who will ultimately defeat that evil, bringing eternal victory and light. God brought swift judgment in Noah's day and in Lot's day, judgment that abruptly ended the wicked activity, and He will just as surely judge the evil of this modern world. Of a certainty, better days are coming!