“Open thy mouth for the dumb [the speechless] in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
(Proverbs 31:8-9)
In the Lord’s model prayer for His people, He instructed us to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). This implies that God’s will is not now being done on earth as it is in heaven. “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men”(Psalm 115:16). God has given man under the sun a measure of self-determination, and what a mess we have made of things! Without God’s wisdom and guidance man is an intellectual and moral disaster. We cannot govern ourselves; we need divine help. This is the clear testimony of history. Psalm 106 describes the awful depravity of the ancient Canaanites, who had descended into such a state of degeneracy they began sacrificing their children to their false gods. This was the very reason for their displacement by the Israelites (Genesis 15:13-16). We are shocked to read that God’s own covenant nation adopted the same ghastly practice. “For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart” (Jeremiah 7:30-31). In Israel, as in many places right up to the present hour, we see political sanction for the destruction of innocent life. Psalm 94 speaks of “the throne of iniquity” that “devises evil by law.” “They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,” wrote the psalmist, “and condemn the innocent blood” (Psalm 94:21). This sounds very much like the horror of state-sponsored abortion. Verse 16 contains an amazing question: “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalm 94:16). Today’s verse passage reminds us that we have a responsibility to open our mouths in the defense of those who cannot defend themselves. In all the world there is none so vulnerable as the child in the womb. God would have us to open our mouths in the fight to save and protect His tiny image-bearers. Let us remember that before we open our mouths to anyone on the earth, however, we ought to open our mouths in prayer to God. If we humble ourselves and pray, He will hear from heaven and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). To the extent that we, under God, succeed in removing the blight of abortion from our world, we make the earth that much more like heaven. May God hear our prayers and bless our efforts, for His glory and for the good of those He loves.
God bless,
Pastor John
English