FACING THE MUSIC

Eventually, we all have to face the truth. Whether we have deceived ourselves into thinking we are the most skilled singer alive or the most courageous or strongest person on the planet or the best basketball player not yet drafted into the NBA or believe we are the finest musician on in the world, we eventually have to face the music. Truth has a way of catching up to us. Pride is deceptive and seductive and we can easily come to believe our own press. It is dangerous place to be.

Today’s text is a difficult one to read because God is angry. He is angry at leaders and those led. Specifically, He confronts the Prince of Tyre. God lays out His case: you are proud, you say ‘I am a god,’ you are wealthy, you are secure. Yet, God is going to bring judgment of the most severe kind upon the Prince’s head and he will die a watery death in the heart of the sea! And then, God asks a pointed question: “Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you?” (Ezek. 28:9)

God will not allow us to be deceived by our pride or possessions forever. He will bring judgement upon us if we fail to repent of this arrogance. Paul writes, “If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Gal. 6:3). And Proverbs 6:16 states that there are 7 things the Lord hates and the first is ‘haughty eyes.’ Humility, a servant’s heart, putting others’ interests above yours and living a Philippians 2 sort of lifestyle is what pleases the Lord.