Psalm 106 Standing apart from the crowd
How do we move from just being spectators to participants when we see blatant sins in our world? That was a choice that Phinehas made when one of his kinsmen entered the camp with a Midianite woman and took her into his tent. In essence, he was “thumbing his nose” at God’s righteous standards. As everyone watched, but no one moved, Phinehas made a choice to step up and be counted. Did he stop and think of what others might say? It seems not. He just acted because he knew what God’s standard was. For that, the Israelite man paid for it with his life when the zeal of the Lord took control of Phinehas’ heart, and he “took a stand and intervened.”
Just like Phinehas, we, too, have a choice. We can take a stand and be counted for the Lord or just ignore the sin before us. For his action, God rewarded Phinehas with the covenant of a permanent priesthood. We may not have this as our reward, but we will have the words of our Lord: well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Are we, like Phinehas, willing to be as he and stand for righteousness, or are we like many, just coasting along with the crowd speaking silently against sin but not publicly? What will you and I choose to do?