Psalm 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
We tend to think of the word transgression as a not-much-used term for sin, but it is not. It is a special form of wrong doing. To transgress is “to climb over,” “to go beyond” the law of God or the truth. It is to assume authority or a position over and above your rightful level of information or revelation. The word root is very old, from Latin gradi to step or walk over. The past tenses have the double “s” so we see words like aggression, digression, and obsession. Except for congress and progress these words mean simply that you are somewhere you should not be.
Presumption comes from those who are personally unaware of their own sins, unable to laugh at themselves, but with a sense of personal righteousness. They condemn others for sins they have not committed basing their assumptions, on possibly a deliberate lie or dissembling, and then they repeat it. Presumption also means to take sides with evil against righteousness. It is a form of spiritual blindness coming from self-righteousness and pride.
Slander and Lies
A recent example from the news occurred when large numbers of internet critics insisted that President Donald Trump be impeached for keeping small refugee children in cages. The “proofs” were several photographs taken when Barack Obama was President. Unfortunately, the news media is rife with misrepresentation, very little of it by accident.
Presumption is a deed; assumption is an opinion. This group assumed the newspaper report was correct and then the deed followed. They presumed that the President should be impeached. After several years of fake news presumptions have been repeated dozens of times.
We are to take God’s side
Presumption is to conclude based on false information which brings false judgment on someone else. An example would be a husband telling his grown children that his wife was committing adultery so he divorced her, when that was not true. His motives were to get the children to take his side. If the children repeat the lie they too are guilty of presumption.
God never wants anyone to take sides with anybody but Himself. And since knowing the mind of God can be chancy, that is not a position we will often arrive at. God does let his opinion known but not to everyone and certainly not on command.
The judgment on lies is extreme. In Revelation it says that the Lake of Fire, a final resting place for those who reject God, is inhabited by all liars. No exceptions. That is why lying or dissembling under oath is considered a mortal sin, to use a Roman Catholic term.
Taking something for granted
People do not step over or move aggressively into a position unless they feel they belong there. Taking a situation or other people for granted is another assumption and leads to presumption. This is often found in marriages and in employment where someone has worked a long time. The collapse of the company or their relationship is a shock, but the participants were taking their situation for granted. The one constant in the kingdom of God is change. Wise people anticipate it and do not become disoriented when it happens.
Today, 2020, we see around the world long held political systems starting to collapse under world wide pandemic. It certainly looks like a “God thing” because so many people are now required to examine their lives.
The collapse of news media
Most local papers and some large newspapers have gone into bankruptcy. Television news offices are collapsing as well. These businesses took for grated decades, even a hundred years, of support and popularity, but all the while the general public noticed they were being being lied to and no one pays good money for lies or absence of moderating information. The purpose of the media is to give as much information as possible, not what they want people to hear and believe.
Our Constitution guarantees a free press, free to print what it likes, but no one wants a steady diet of opinion without the other side being presented. Today major newspapers are owned by one person and his opinion, not necessarily the facts, is what is printed.
You can read about the decline of media here. Pew Research has a good reputation. The media failed to examine itself and now people are being laid off in large numbers.
Examine yourselves.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Self examination is a key part of the walk of faith. When that happens on a consistent basis you are not surprised over events. Then you look back and see that whatever is occuring now began years ago. God is slow to wrath, the Bible says.
Proverbs 14:29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
The moral of the story is to take your time and wait for all sides of an issue to come forth. There are people out there who wonder why things have gone badly for them, while they have been repeating gossip about someone or something that will soon prove false. Watch your tongue.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
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