Game Plan of the Wicked

I recently got to know this guy who does Chinese Martial Arts. Being more adventurous than the typical practitioner, he participated in a sparring session with people from other styles. And at the end of it he realized that the other people were better prepared than he was. In his own words, "they all had clearly gone in with a game plan in mind".

As Christians trying to survive in a world that is often apathetic and sometimes even hostile to what we stand for, we need a game plan too. We need to know the general strategy of the wicked, understand what they are up to, and then formulate our responses to deny them their objectives. Here's a part of the game plan of the wicked.

For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. (Psa 11:2, NASB)

Notice that the wicked are depicted as using bows, long distance weapons. That allows them to inflict damage from a distance, rather than wrestling with us face-to-face. This suggests to me that the wicked would rather avoid direct confrontation with us believers. Also, the wicked are also described as shooting in darkness, suggesting a cowardly, sneaky attempt to catch God's people unaware and finish them off without having to deal with any resistance.

That's their game plan. What is their objective?

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psa 11:3, NASB)

Their objective is to destroy the foundations that the righteous stand upon. If the foundations that the righteous stand on are destroyed, they fall. And the foundation of God's throne, what we are to stand on, is righteousness and justice (Psa 89:14). So when we see things happening in society at large that go against righteousness and justice, what are we to do?

Continuing on with the rest of Psalm 11 -

The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates. (Psa 11:4-5, NASB)

First, we declare the praises of God. We declare that he is the God of justice (Isa 30:18) and that he will bring about justice in his own time. If we truly know the power and justice of God, we will speak boldly even as we admonish the earthly rulers of this world (Psa 2:10-12).

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Pro 31:8-9, NIV)

Then we are to speak up for others. Even if it seems like what the wicked do will not affect us directly but affect the poor and oppressed instead. Remember, the wicked begin their attacks from a distance and in darkness. They do not like us bringing up their deeds of darkness into the light (Eph 5:11-12). We need to foil their attacks first, because if we do not the foundations will gradually be eroded and chipped away from under our feet. And then we would be in REAL trouble.

And after we speak, we are to act in obedience to God, because that establishes a foundation within our own lives (Matt 7:24-25). Consider the following passage:

... and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday... Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations (Isa 58:10, 12, NIV)

Notice that in this passage God's people raising up the age-old foundations comes only AFTER we take concrete and practical action to help the poor and needy? That's our game plan. We speak up, first declaring the praises of God, then for the oppressed in our communities. Then we act, we restore the foundations we have neglected and the wicked have destroyed. Do you think this game plan will work? I think so, the last time I read the book of Revelations it tells me that we won!