When God Doesn’t Matter Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: When God Doesn’t Matter -------------------------------------------- Date: 9/1/2000 Keywords: "faithfulness" "lovingkindness" "psalm" "righteousness" "transgression" "ungodly" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Psalm 36:1-12* 1. Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2. For it flatters him in his own eyes, concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. 3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and to do good. 4. He plans wickedness upon his bed; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he does not despise evil. 5. Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Thy faithfulness reaches to the skies. 6. Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God; Thy judgments are like a great deep. Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. 7. How precious is Thy lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings. 8. They drink their fill of the abundance of Thy house; and Thou dost give them to drink of the river of Thy delights. 9. For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light we see light. 10. O continue Thy lovingkindness to those who know Thee, and Thy righteousness to the upright in heart. 11. Let not the foot of pride come upon me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 There the doers of iniquity have fallen; they have been thrust down and cannot rise. Questions 1. How does this passage relate to viewing pornographic Web sites?   2. What do you think about God? Is He mostly an irrelevant concept when it comes to planning how you will live your life?   3. What are the characteristics of an ungodly man as described in verses 1-4?   Practical help For the next few days we are going to reflect on Psalm 36. It divides into three parts. Today, we will look at verses 1-4, a description of the ungodly man. Let’s begin by defining what an ungodly man or woman is. I think it is fair to state that a person is "ungodly" when God does not figure into his or her plans very much — if at all. Therefore, an "ungodly" person can appear nice and upright, and still be ungodly. Here in the first five verses, the psalmist, King David, describes how this ungodly person thinks and ultimately behaves. First, recognize that the thought life is never neutral. "Transgression (breaking the law) speaks" to the heart of the ungodly woman or man so easily, it almost seems involuntary. When this happens, the ungodly person is not disturbed thinking, "I’m concerned about what God thinks about my thought life." Instead, there develops an inflated ego over the idea that these thoughts are "manageable" — even "normal." Perhaps this is similar to the way alcoholics can deceive themselves into thinking one drink is no big deal, after all who knows more about alcohol than the people who drink it all the time, right? Of course, the opposite is true. Excess alcohol blinds good judgment rather than enhancing it. Eventually her thought life leaks out through the mouth. Without a respect for God, his words promote the me-first-and-only attitude. Of course to pull this off, it might be necessary at times to exaggerate a little. But it’s okay since it's for a good cause — that of promoting and preserving oneself — right? The idea of God is too uncomfortable, so one declares truth to be relative. Promoting the idea that there is no right and wrong is preferred over facing the truth that one has ceased from being morally wise and doing good as a result of focusing on God (verse 3). You can only be comfortable viewing pornography if you have first neutralized the thought that God is real and relevant to every aspect of your life. Don’t set yourself on a path, as it says in verse 4, that is definitely not good. If these verses in any way describe you, stop and rethink your core values because you are heading in the wrong direction. "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2000 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."