the insolent utterly deride me, but i do not turn away from your law. [psalm 119:51]
who are “the insolent?” the insolent are the foolish, those who mock God, and mock his law. it is so easy for us to fall in with them (or become one of them) that we are warned:
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. [proverbs 1:7]
for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [1 corinthians 1:18]
and he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. for from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [mark 7:20-22]
do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [galations 6:7-8]
when a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. [proverbs 19:3]
in their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [2 corinthians 4:4]
why do we fear man, and even worse, why do we fear the mocking, deriding words of the insolent? it is clear from scripture that they despise wisdom, they are perishing, full of evil thoughts, sowing to the flesh, ruined, spiritually blind. we should know that we seek God’s approval–not the approval of fools!
for am i now seeking the approval of man, or of God? or am I trying to please man? if i were still trying to please man, i would not be a servant of Christ. [Galatians 1:10]
being derided by those who hate God should be expected. we shouldn’t expect the world to be on our side, and we should be particularly suspicious if they give us praise, it may mean we are taking the wrong paths. we need to be saturated in the Word, to behold the wondrous things out of God’s law! it is how we withstand the attacks of the foolish and perishing world and remain servants of Christ!
if we are mocked and derided, let them mock us because of our devotion to Christ. our brothers and sisters who have gone before us have been mocked yes, and so much more, afflicted, crushed, imprisoned and put to death. but we have victory in Christ!
for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. [2 corinthians 4:17-18]
~conor eastman