In Psalm 11 we encounter a powerful question:
“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
In King David’s time, the foundations of world were shaking. People told David, “In a world like this, do not try to keep your faith. Escape to the mountains.” It sounded like practical survival advice for living in a corrupt world.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”
In late February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and the war that began then has still not ended. The number of casualties has now exceeded two million people. In Gaza, more than 50,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombardment, and about half of them were women and children. Recently, about 1,300 Iranian civilians have died because of attacks by the United States and Israel.
A couple days ago I watched the news and heard President Trump say, “We successfully struck the target.” “We have won the victory.” But behind those words there are scenes we do not see on the screen: parents crying while holding the bodies of their children, and children standing in shock before the bodies of their parents.
Psalm 11 ends with these words: “The upright(honest) will see His face.” In the Bible, the greatest blessing is to see the face of God. In an age when so many children are dying in wars, we must ask ourselves what it truly means to live honestly.
A few days ago, I read a troubling article in the newspaper. In a church in the western United States, someone reported a member of the opposing faction to immigration authorities so that the person would be arrested and deported. Can we call that honesty?
In the Talmud there is a principle used for interpreting Scripture called Pikuach Nefesh. It means that saving a human life takes priority over almost every other law. Because of this principle, even Sabbath regulations or other religious rules can be set aside if it is necessary to save a life. For that reason, those who hid Jews during the Nazi era were not remembered as liars but were honored in Jewish tradition as “the Righteous.”
God desires us to become honest people.