The Established Path of Discipleship

In listening to the various reports and comments concerning the murder of Charlie Kirk, a passage from Psalm 2 came to mind. The Psalmist asks the question: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain” (Ps. 2:1). The rest of the Psalm answers that question. I will not exposit the entire psalm, but I will summarize his answer.

The nations, that is, the people, rage because they desire to cast off the restraint of God’s law. Because of their disobedience, God will come to them in wrath. He gives his Son, that is Jesus, the nations as his inheritance. To avoid being the recipient of God’s wrath, people must embrace the Son and take refuge in him. People must believe that Jesus came and satisfied all the requirements of God’s law, that he paid the penalty for our sin when God poured out his wrath on the Son on the cross, and that he rose from the dead to make us right with God. Psalm 2 ends appropriately, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Ps. 2:12). More than anything, I believe Charlie Kirk would want everyone to take refuge in Christ.

Brad Isbell’s blog, Twenty Affirmations And Exhortations For Christian Citizens, serves as a valuable reminder of how we should conduct ourselves in society. I particularly appreciate number 17: “Just as Christians are not to ‘grieve as others do who have no hope,’ neither are we to rage as those who do not know the one true God.” Christians are right to be angry. We are right to be sad. We must not, however, rage like the world. We can be angry and sin not, but we must never forget that rage inevitably leads to violence. We know the one true God; therefore, we must honor Charlie Kirk’s life by continuing to be reasoned voices in the midst of rage.