June 23, 2025

Psalm 83         A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not keep silence;
    do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
    those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people;
    they consult together against your treasured ones.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
    let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
5 For they conspire with one accord;
    against you they make a covenant—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Asshur also has joined them;
    they are the strong arm of the children of Lot.   Selah

Asaph continues but the question for us today is "How do we think about and handle this new conflict with Iran?"   Saturday evening, the United States bombed three sites in Iran.  Some will say "it was unprovoked" (an act of war).  Good intel has shown they were close to having completed nuclear weapons.  But, does that require a response like this?  I would argue "yes - we needed to act" for various reasons that I will not include here.  Yet, the question at hand now is "how do we handle this going forward?"

We pray... we discuss...  we protect.   There may be "crafty plans" at foot.  I would argue with a very open border from 2021 to 2024, there are already hostage "sleeper cells" inside of the United States.  It was very easy to cross in the past four years.  Only God can protect us - if He is willing.   The United States is on a time-table. . .   we are not mentioned in the final revelation of Scripture.  .  .  gone or not a world power.    Yet, for the time being, I am prayerful that God might move to protect His people in the US.   That He might help us to be righteous (including the US leadership) in decision-making for the days ahead.   And, prayerful that God will use this current situation for His glory.  

As Asaph nears the end of the Psalm, he prays to God:  
16 Fill their faces with shame,
    that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
    let them perish in disgrace,
18 that they may know that you alone,
    whose name is the Lord,
    are the Most High over all the earth.

"That they may seek" and "that they may know..."  May those in Iran know that God is the Lord, the Most High over all the earth and may they seek His name.  May we pray that for Iran, for Israel, and for the United States.  

•  Annually, we make available "Safety Training" sessions
•  Safety training is for anyone at SSB who regularly works with children and teens.   This includes those who may only help with VBS, Creation Days kid's activities, as well as ushers and the security team.  
•  To be eligible to work with children/teens after this summer, you will be required to attend one of the sessions.  
• The 2025 sessions this summer will be Saturday, June 28th at 10am  OR   Monday evening, June 30, at 7pm
• If you realize neither date will work, please let the church office know.