Be Strong and Courageous  - I Will Not Run and Hide!: What to Do When Evil Triumphs, Part 1

There's good guys and there's bad guys, but if you watch enough movies, in the end, the good guys win.

But what do we do when evil appears to be winning or when it's actually winning? That's what we're going to learn. Stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. The mission of these daily programs is to intentionally disciple Christians through the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram. Thanks for being with us as we're a little over halfway through his latest series, Be Strong and Courageous, Psalms to Strengthen Your Faith and Conquer Your Fear. We hope you've learned a lot from this series so far. And to help others learn as you have, would you take a minute after this message and share it with a friend or loved one?

You can do that through the Chip Ingram app or by sending them the free MP3s that you'll find at livingontheedge.org. And thanks for spreading the word about how Chip's teaching is impacting you. Today we're going to learn how to biblically respond to the wickedness of our world. So let's join Chip in Psalm chapter 11 for his message, I Will Not Run and Hide What to Do When Evil Triumphs. You know, sometimes a rhetorical question can really say a lot more than big, bold statements or lots of information.

You know, in a question that just kind of hangs in the air and you say to yourself, wow, either I've never thought about that or, man, that's a big question I don't have a good answer to. One of the classic rhetorical questions that's raised in all of the Psalms, in fact, of all of scripture is in Psalm 11. It goes like this, when the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? The word here, foundations, we'll learn in a minute, is pillars.

In fact, it's a very formal word. It has the idea when the civil authorities or when a society or when the laws of a culture are no longer enforced and it crumbles. In other words, you could say when anarchy starts happening in a culture or a country or a society, what are God's people supposed to do? In fact, maybe a better way to put it is this, is when good is called evil and evil is called good, what are the righteous to do? When corruption and evil are winning, winning in academia, winning in culture, what are the righteous to do? When truth evaporates, what are the righteous to do? When there's violence in the cities, when statues are pulled down, when laws aren't enforced, when people have disregard for one another, what are the righteous to do?

When censorship of truth is celebrated and people who say marriage or life in the womb is important are now haters and bigoted and narrow and actually are dangerous people, what are the righteous to do? When self and greed and institutions can't be trusted, when information coming from whatever source is, who knows if it's true? Who knows what we're getting when you don't trust the government, you don't trust academic institutions, you don't trust corporations. I don't mean any of that politically. Those are just facts and they're getting worse.

And the fact is that AI will probably have some tremendous, tremendous benefits, but we will have opportunity for exploitation like never before. And sadly, what is it when you can't trust the church? When whether it's pastors and sexual immorality or priests with the history of sexual immorality and cover-ups and when there's corruption, when doctrine is compromised, when you begin to add all these things together, what are the righteous to do? You know, at some point you just say, look what's happening all around us and what about our kids, what about our schools, what about the church, what about truth, what about life? I mean, what about all these wars?

What are the righteous to do? And David was in a very similar place where the foundations were destroyed. We don't know the exact historical context. It could be when Absalom had overtaken the government and there was a coup and he was running for his life. It could have been when Saul went completely off the rails and decided I'm threatened and I'm going to kill David. But what he knows is in this particular case, everything has fallen apart and the people that should execute justice are no longer doing it.

I mean, when the king starts killing priests and not just one and it's so evil that he tells the guards to do it and they all won't and he's got one really mean heartless person named Doeg and he literally takes a sword and butchers 30 priests right in a row, the foundations of justice and law and civility were gone. And David's in that kind of situation and he's fleeing for his life. And in verse one of Psalm 11, it says in the Lord, in Yahweh, I take refuge. And then he raises this question because his advisers have said, we have a plan. But he says, how can you say to my soul, flee as a bird to the mountains?

For behold, the wicked bend the bow and they make ready the arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness and the upright of heart. And so David said, wait a second. God is my refuge, my faith. I can't give up my faith. I'm the king.

I can't run to the mountains. In fact, in this series about being bold and strong, every message I've given you a phrase, a declaration. Are you ready for this one? In Psalm 11, here's your declaration. I will not run and hide in a world, in a church, in a difficulty, in economy, in wars, in being canceled.

You're a follower of Jesus. I want you to declare based on Psalm 11 and you'll learn why in a minute. I will not run and hide.

I will not allow my fear of evil winning to cause me to go and find a secure place in a little world and a gated type community. And I won't open my mouth and I won't do anything and I won't rock the boat because I know if I do, there's going to be, as they say in the world, hell to pay. This is a very strong call to the righteous. And what David's advisors, I'm sure they want him to be protected, but David's a righteous man. He says, I can't run and hide.

He says, behold, the wicked, their bows are already bent. In other words, the danger isn't going to come later. The danger is imminent.

The problem is right now. You better do something right now because this is really dangerous and it's not way out there and it's not only really dangerous, but they're doing it covertly. Notice the next line. It says, they shoot in the darkness. Literally the word is they're shooting from out of the shadows.

And how much of all that has happened wasn't overt. It was from the shadows. It came through the media. It came through academia. It came through educational training.

It's coming through DEI. It came through city councils and why Christians were doing many other things, they weren't running for office. Why Christians were doing many other things and pursuing a lot of things, we didn't get much involved in government.

We didn't get involved in our world and our community. And some people with a very, very clear agenda, very clear agenda and a very specific game plan decided that America should be a different America. And this isn't just about America. There is an ideology that's going around the world and it's not new. But what it does, it dethrones God. It dethrones truth. It has a very clear agenda to stop life, to cancel marriage, to destroy the nuclear family, to eliminate any sense of right and wrong, absolute truth. And it has a whole different picture of what life should be between the oppressed and the unoppressed and a different set of rules that make life very confusing, very unfair and absolutely tragic. And before we get all hostile about where it might come from, I will tell you where it comes from.

It comes from the enemy himself, and he's deceived a lot of people, many who think they're doing a great thing, and that's why evil is most dangerous when those who are purporting it believe they're being righteous and they're evil. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and Chip will be back in just a minute to finish today's talk. But quickly, I want to remind you that this program is only possible because of the generosity of listeners like you. So if you'd like to support us, go to livingontheedge.org.

That's livingontheedge.org, and thanks for doing whatever God leads you to do. Well, let's rejoin Chip now for the remainder of his message. And so David says, I'm not going to run and hide. I know it's imminent. I know it's coming from the shadows. I get that it's scary. I realize that I'm in danger and you're in danger. And then they say, but you don't understand, David. It's hopeless.

Okay. They give him this rhetorical question. They say, if the foundations are destroyed, civil government laws are destroyed, what can the righteous do? And just in case you might be thinking, I'm exaggerating.

And I'd ask you, if you will, to I don't know whether you're a Republican, a Democrat or an independent. I'd like you to lean back and think through this lens. The actual word here for foundations is pillars, as I shared.

But this isn't just a thought. You can read any commentary. Good Hebrew commentary. This is when the civil authorities, those who've been charged with governing to keep justice and safety and the benefit of all people, when that crumbles, it's a picture of the foundation. It's a picture of a house on a foundation and the foundation goes and everything just slips into it. They say, what do the righteous do? Can I give you a few examples of the anarchy? That's the picture.

It's a picture of there are no laws. Everyone does whatever. Everyone grabs. Everyone takes. There's no consideration for others. Forget right.

Forget wrong. It's our stuff. Let me give you some examples. Portland gets taken over by a group. Chicago becomes a place where daytime murders are something that's not even shocking. Stores are looted across the nation and people take out up to a thousand dollars with no consequences. People are arrested and then immediately released to go right back into the streets and do exactly the same thing, because there's a new ideology about what happens when a person is arrested. There's open borders. Think of no law, no filters, not a political open borders question. Obviously, there's real refugees, but millions and millions of people and hundreds of thousands of drugs coming into our country.

Regardless of where you're at on the political scene, we happen to be the only country in the world that operates this way currently. Children being able to get drugs or potential surgeries without their parents even knowing. Police are told not to arrest.

Christians are told that because you believe in life in the womb or you believe in marriage, not that you're against other people having the freedom to have whatever kind of relationships, but the fact that you even believe that and don't endorse this. You're anti-American. You are a dangerous person. In other words, I want you to know that the foundations of right and wrong, of truth, of love, of compassion, of God, of evil, all those things are being blurred.

The foundations are literally crumbling. What do the righteous do? What's our calling? Because what I will tell you is, by and large, there's been a couple responses. And again, I don't mean this politically.

These are observations. There are some righteous that have seen this happen, and they're very, very angry, and they're very, very vocal, and they're involved in a cultural war that is all about our tribe or their tribe. And I mean, it's hostile. And most people after meeting them or reading or seeing their posts do not have a higher opinion of Jesus or the gospel of what we're all about.

And it's sort of gasoline on the fire in both directions. There's a far, far greater group that actually is silent. I looked at a study where, in America, you know, the bell curve, about 6% of the population in America is far right, and about 6% is far left, and the overwhelming majority is in the middle. And the overwhelming majority is silent and afraid because if I bring even this topic up or that topic up or that name or this name, all of a sudden you have polarization, division, and we have people who have cowered.

A lot of coffee talk, a lot of private conversations about how bad things are, and maybe hiding behind social media, say this or say that. But there has not been a righteous response the way that David has, a righteous response. See, the question is, when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? David says in verses 4 through 6, I'll tell you what we can do. We can look up.

We can look up. Verse 4, the Lord is in his holy temple. He's not talking about a literal temple here.

It's not even built yet. He said the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne, by the way, both times he uses his personal name. This is Yahweh. This is the personal God.

This is the I am that I am. He's in his holy temple, and he's on his throne in heaven. So he's king.

Throne, king, judge, sovereign, powerful. Well, what's he doing? His eyes behold, his eyelids test the sons of men, and the Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence his soul hates. Upon the wicked he will rain snares.

Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be their portion of their cup. You see what he's saying? He says when everything's falling apart, I'm going to look up to the Lord in his holy temple.

He is the king, and he's in control, and by the way, he's not caught by surprise. Notice the very first thing. His eyes behold, and this is very interesting, his eyelids test the sons of men. Why eyelids? You know, when you and I are looking at something, we're looking at this, and then when we really want to focus on it, what do we do? We squint. We bring our eyelids together, and we really focus, and David is saying this, in the midst of these foundations falling, I've got news for you. Number one, God is still in control, and number two, he is looking and observing what's going on, and notice where the tests are. It's a word for examining. He's seeing into what's going on.

He says he tests the righteous, and he tests the wicked. See, it's really easy, and we're all guilty of this, so I'll own it. When things are falling apart, what do we do? Them. Them. And then we blame everybody. Those evil people, that political party, those people who do that, those people who do that, and then we find, if you're a follower of Jesus, other Christians, they're not doing that, and they should be doing this, and this group is wrong over here, and this group's wrong over here, but I perfectly have a balance of perspective of it all.

That's our human nature, and God says, if you are passive and hiding and just saying, you know what, I just want a good job. I don't want headaches. I'm going to put my kid in a private school. I've got enough finances. By the way, there's some people that you can protect yourself. There's a whole lot of people that can't.

They don't have the money to do that. They don't have the power to do that, and so that's why you see this polarization more and more between the haves and the has-nots, and God calls us. We're at the church. He says, the Lord is testing the righteous. God is looking for a man. God is looking for a woman. He's looking for a student. He's looking for some people who say, I get it.

The foundations have been destroyed. I see where things are at, and before he looks at the wicked, he's looking at us and says, what are you doing? I'm going to evaluate you on how you respond to this situation. Are you a part of the problem? Better yet, are you a part of the solution? And I think the answer to that is what we are called to be and what we're called to do. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and you've been listening to part one of Chip's message, I Will Not Run and Hide—What to Do When Evil Triumphs, from our series Be Strong and Courageous.

Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about. Are you looking for a more resilient faith that can withstand life's harshest storms? If so, join Chip in his newest series as he dives into eight impactful psalms with powerful lessons for all of us. Discover what these passages teach us about conquering our anxieties, tackling injustice, facing death with confidence, and more. Unlock the power of these timeless psalms to experience a life totally dependent on God.

You're not going to want to miss a minute of this practical series. Well, Chip's in studio with me now, and Chip, as many of our regular listeners know, our mission is to help Christians really live like Christians. And I understand you have a story that really brings that idea to life. I sure do, Dave.

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Now my husband listens too. Through God's transformation in our lives, we've started seeing restoration in our family. Even though we're still a work in progress, we can see God's hand making direct changes in our lives. Recently we decided to make a monthly donation to help keep your broadcast going. We realized that if your ministry helped us this much, then it can help others too. Thank you for all that you're doing to furthering God's kingdom.

Signed, D.R. And I just remind you, you know, we're all so personally focused and we're human that, you know, over a million people this week will hear what you're hearing. And not only that, but then the broadcast and the teaching and the small groups will go to China, to the Middle East and places all around the world. Because people pray and because people partner financially. And so if you're one of those partners, can I just tell you thank you very, very much? If you're one of those partners that kind of gives now and then and would ever consider prayerfully to say, you know, I bet I could give just a little a month, boy, those monthly partners really help us understand what we can project and making budgets. It's a huge help. And if you have never partnered with us financially, would you just today say, Lord, is this something you want me to do?

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App listeners, tap donate. Thanks for your support. Well, Chip, you covered some pretty heavy, dramatic examples of how out of control our world is. But despite that, you said God is testing the righteous. So as we close, would you help us learn how to respond better and keep perspective when it appears evil is winning? Dave, great thought.

Great question. And honestly, that's one where I wish I had like, oh, the Spirit of God has given me the answer. You know, I'm reminded of that Isaiah 5 passage where woe to the world, woe to people when evil is called good and good is called evil, when darkness is called light and light is called darkness. And what I get from that passage is this is not the first time that evil appears to be winning.

And there are seasons where it looks like it wins for quite a while. And in all those seasons, I'm giving historical perspective now because I think there's always hope there, is God raises someone up? I mean, it looked like it was over, over, over, gone, gone, and dead for the whole Jewish nation. And God raised up a fairly young woman named Esther, and He put her in a spot where she risked her life. After 70, 80, 90, 100 years in captivity in Babylon, multiple efforts to sort of rebuild the walls and restore all these great promises God gave Abraham and Isaac.

It was like, no way, never happening. And God raises up a business guy named Nehemiah, and he rallies the troops and rebuilds the wall, and things get back on track. So what I would say as we look at maybe some issues even right now in America is we can despair, we can become cynical, we can withdraw, we can just say, hey, just hope it doesn't touch me and my family. Or we can really realize God's testing the righteous.

You rebuild the walls in your personal network when you live a righteous life, when you refuse to become cynical, and when you love people the way Jesus loved people. And it starts with a small mustard seed, and we each do our part. In our next broadcast, we'll get some real practical ways to do that. But I would just—my word today as we close is God is testing the righteous, so let's step up.

Great word, Chip. And we want to help you tune out the noise of this chaotic world and better connect with God. So let me encourage you to check out the Chip Ingram app and get plugged in with our helpful resources. You can listen to our most recent series, sign up for our daily discipleship, and more. We want you to grow in your walk with Jesus, and the Chip Ingram app is a great way to immerse yourself in uplifting biblical content. Well, join us next time as Chip continues his series, Be Strong and Courageous. Until then, I'm Dave Droege, thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.