The Way of Man

My Bible reading the past couple weeks has been in Jeremiah.  Chapter 10 verse 23 says, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." The Message puts is this way:  "I know, God, that mere mortals can’t run their own lives, That men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life."

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible says about this passage:

"I know, O Lord, that not for man is his way" (d); his own way is not good for him; not his sinful way, for this is opposite to God's way, and a going out of it; it is not according to his word; it is after the course of the world; and it is a dark and crooked way, and leads to, and ends in, destruction and death, if grace prevent not: nor the way of his own righteousness; this is no way of access to God, no way of acceptance with him, no way of justification before him, no way of salvation, no way to heaven, and eternal happiness; that which is the good and right way, the only way of salvation, is not of man, in him, or with him naturally; it is not of his devising and contriving, and much less of his effecting; it is not even within his knowledge; and so far as he knows anything of it, he does not approve of it: but it is of God; the scheme of it is of his forming; it is a work wrought out by Christ; it is a way of salvation revealed in the Gospel; and the thing itself is savingly made known, and applied by the Spirit of God; all which is known and owned when men are spiritually enlightened:
It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps; as not in natural and civil things, much less in religious ones; a good man is one that "walks", which supposes life and strength, without which there can be no walking; and a progression, a going on in a way; which ways are Christ, and his ordinances the path of doctrine and of duty; yet it is not even in this good man "to direct" and order "his steps" of himself; it is the Lord that must do it, and does; he can take no step aright without him; he is guided by him and his Spirit, both in the path of truth and of obedience; and hence it is that the saints persevere."

I remember a message from probably 30 years ago.  Bro. Murrell Ewing preached from this verse, his emphasis was on our need for God to direct our steps - that when He directs us, our life will be beautiful.  But I've been thinking lately just how bad it is when men and women do not let God be their guide.  Our country, our world, has tried to run their own lives and we can see the results everyday in the news.

My devotion this morning was A Rock in the Sea of Amnesia by Dr. Ed Young:

Writer Tom Wolfe summed up the amoral climate of the 1970's with a personal story. Wolfe told of visiting a major university with his friend Harris, whose daughter Laura was a student there. They found her dorm, went to the room, knocked on the door, and finding it unlocked, walked inside. The room was dark, and a boy and girl were in bed together.
Wolfe said that he and Harris backed out of the room as if they'd been looking down the throat of a snake. His friend, visibly shaken, said "I'm sure that's Laura's room - but that was not my daughter." The two men asked around, and found Harris' daughter in the library. He began to tell her what he'd seen, but before he got far she interrupted him: "Oh, daddy, don't be such an old fogey. Two days a month everybody's room is a free room. So, we just go to the library or something during that time."
Wolfe said Harris didn't accept that explanation, and began to argue with his daughter that such behavior was wrong. But by the time the visit was over, and Harris and Wolfe had driven back to the city, Harris had reconciled himself to this "new morality." Before long, he neither spoke of it, nor remembered his outrage. "It got lost," Wolfe said, "like a rock in a sea of amnesia."
We live in the age of the beer-commercial philosophy: "You only go through life once - live it with all the gusto you can." Some say our culture is immoral, but I do not believe that. For a culture to be considered immoral presumes some widely-accepted standard of morality - and we have none. This is the age of "anything goes," where truth is considered relative, and where "right" is "what's right for me - right now."
Biblical, Judeo-Christian morality has been lost, like a rock in a sea of amnesia. No one blushes any more because no one needs to. Virtually any behavior or "lifestyle" is accepted in the name of tolerance. Our standards have changed, or disappeared altogether. But God's standards have not changed even one iota. They are timeless, immutable and true. And one day, every man, woman and child will be judged by them. Have we ever needed Jesus more than we do today?

Most agree that the same prophet, Jeremiah, wrote the book of Lamentations.  Its purpose was to express despair and teach God’s people that disobedience to the Lord results in immense suffering and distress.  But in the middle of these laments, we find hope.  "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (verses 22-23)  "For the Lord will not cast off for ever:  But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." (verses 31-32)  Those things happen when we "search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.  Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens." (verses 40-41)

We see sin on the rise from every direction but, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  (2 Chronicles 7:14)