To Be Lifted Up

This is the text that I'm rolling around today in my mind, Genesis 4:6-7:

"The the LORD said to Canin, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.'"

Okay, so where to start here? Obviously, this is in the middle of the Cain and Abel story, before Cain has killed Abel. I guess maybe I should start with a couple of notes on the text that I have found, specifically about the words and language used. So the phrase "will you not be accepted" actually translates "will you not be lifted up" but that is more difficult to understand, so its been changed. One commentary said that instead of inferring acceptance from God, like the NIV translators believed it to mean, and it might be a lifting of the spirits, like feeling better about oneself.

That's an interesting comment I think, because we know Cain is not feeling good about himself. He is downcast and angry, because Abel's sacrifice has been deemed more appropriate. We also know that he has done something wrong, because God tells him that if he does what is right...this must mean he did something wrong. So Abel did something right, Cain did something wrong, and Cain is upset. His anger possibly comes from the same feeling we were just introduced to in the last chapter, which is shame.

I know that when I do not do right, and I know it, shame is quickly my reaction. And from there I become touchy and easily angered because I am indignant at first. I want to shrug off the sin but it affects my mood and all else. Let's just give an example to make this concrete. Let's say I'm struggling with lust, and then Courtney comes around. She can be as nice as ever and I'll have the nagging like "leave me alone" feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's conviction perhaps, but it doesn't feel nice and so I don't respond nicely. It's what Cain is doing here, but Cain let's it burn much harder.

Interesting then Your comment to Cain. If you do what is right, you'll feel better. How true is that? Even confession begins to lift the spirits. Doing what is right...

That phrase pops up other places in Scripture and I think it is interesting what it entails. In Isaiah 1:17 we see, "Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." And again in Jeremiah 7: 5-6, "If you really change your ways and actions and do right, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to you own harm..."

Look! It's all about loving others and loving God. It's ridiculous how often that comes up in Scripture! So, our spirits will be lifted as we take care of the others that are hurting around us and as we follow and cling to the one God, You. I've always said that the biggest enemy of our souls is ourselves, but here it is again laid out as what seems as plain as day. Cain is downcast and angry because he is comparing himself to Abel and falling short. Instead of thinking outside himself and "changing his actions" by loving others and by loving God, his solution is to indulge his selfishness.

Doens't that seem like the right thing to do, if you are feeling low and downcast and shamed that you should do something for yourself to pick your spirits up? Take a little time for yourself? Give yourself a little treat? But You, in Your awesomeness, You turn everything around. Feeling down? Go help somebody out. Feeling shame? Take some food to the widows. Downcast because you did something wrong? Go encourage someone who has been wronged and oppressed.

It's beautiful when I think about the glory of Your ways. The way You flip things from the way that we think they should be. It just reveals where Your true place is, and how much true reverence I should have towards You. Every time I come to this book and begin to see what You have laid before for us, even if it is simple, it seems so bold, so fresh, so challenging. That is why You are God above gods. Why You are Yahweh, almighty.

LORD God, the One I bring sacrifice to.
Please accept this time I've laid out before You.
Please accept this servant as I lay before You.
Please show me the oppressed that are before You.
Please show me how to help those before You.
Please lift up the downcast that are before You.
Please lift up the weak who are before You.
LORD God, the One I bring myself to.