When Obedience Meets Conscience: Scripture, Suffering, And Civic Duty

Grief can roar and still not win. We open with a lament that names guilt, pain, and isolation without flinching, then move straight into stories that test faith in real time: a father who believes for his dying daughter, a woman who risks a crowd for a single touch, and a Savior who meets both fear and finality with steady power. Along the way, we talk about marriage as covenant delight, not duty performed on autopilot, and we confess how screens and scrolling siphon attention until affection thins. The remedy isn’t a new hack; it’s older than noise—Scripture first, presence over pixels, and love that chooses wonder every day.

From there we take on hard headlines and the claim they force: ideas matter more than passports. Confronting violent ideology is not about hating people; it’s about telling the truth and protecting the innocent, especially children. History gives us a backbone in Maurice “Footsie” Britt, who stood his ground while wounded and led others to do the same. That kind of courage is not just for battlefields; it’s for parents, pastors, and neighbors who refuse apathy when stakes are high. We honor sacrifice, not to glorify pain, but to remember what love looks like when it costs.

Then we get practical about civic life. Drawing on Jonathan Mayhew’s reading of Romans 13, we cut between two ditches: anarchy that sneers at authority and absolutism that baptizes every command. Civil government is a good gift when it serves justice; it is not ultimate when it defies God. That means we submit until submission would betray the higher law. To do that well, we need pastors who speak clearly about public righteousness and daily habits in Scripture so we can tell the difference between what we dislike and what God forbids. We close in prayer, asking for daily bread, forgiven debts, and the courage to defend those who cannot defend themselves.

If this speaks to you, share it with a friend, leave a review, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. Your voice helps this community grow—what truth are you willing to defend today?

#ArianaGrandeConcert #JonathanMayhew #DailyScripture

Chapters

• 0:00 Lament And A Stark News Report
• 1:18 Host Welcome And Opening Prayer
• 4:03 Marriage Counsel From Proverbs
• 5:17 Distraction, Priorities, And Focus
• 5:27 Jairus, The Suffering Woman, And Healing
• 10:00 God’s Timing, Grief, And Trust
• 12:14 Enemies, Silence, And Confession In Psalm 38
• 15:37 Wisdom And Integrity In Proverbs 10
• 16:40 Book And Podcast Support Requests
• 17:29 Manchester Bombing And Ideology
• 19:40 Medal Of Honor: Maurice “Footsie” Britt
• 22:15 Mayhew On Romans 13 And Civil Authority

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Psalm thirty eight verses four through six. My guilt overwhelms me. It is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief. December twenty sixth, twenty twenty-five, Hull, United Kingdom. Thirteen-year-old girl was raped in a whole hotel room repeatedly by Sharum Ibrahim, an Iranian asylum seeker who arrived in the UK as a minor while an accomplice kept watch. That ideology doesn't go away or get fixed or adjusted simply because they move to a country as a child. Pretty important to remember in the discussions that you hear today going around about children and illegal and mass Muslim immigration. Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are in whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me for the podcast, thank you very much. Very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for the people that listen to the podcast, Father. Please be with them, be with their families. Thank you for those who have gone before us, Father, those who set such wonderful examples of truly following you and your son, and those who show us how to live for others, for you, for your son Jesus Christ, instead of for ourselves.

SPEAKER_02: 2:28

Forgive us when we choose pride and ego and selfishness over following you.

SPEAKER_00: 2:39

Forgive us when we make everything about ourselves instead of focusing on others. Help us to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Help us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Watch over our military, our law enforcement, firefighters, EMS. Be with them, keep them safe, bring them home to their families safe. Comfort those families when they don't come home. And bring them home safely to you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ. Watch over those children and women around the world who are being abused, Father, please.

SPEAKER_02: 3:16

And the men as well. Help them to feel your peace and your comfort. Heal their broken hearts.

SPEAKER_00: 3:26

Help us to trust that you have everything well in hand, even when it doesn't seem like it, Father, when we don't understand what's going on.

SPEAKER_02: 3:39

Help us to trust you.

SPEAKER_00: 3:41

And to know that because of your son Jesus Christ, we will get to spend eternity in heaven with you and him and our brothers and sisters. Guide my words here, Father, please. Your son's hand we pray, man. Marriage verse for today, Proverbs 5, 18 through 19. May your spring be blessed, rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts intoxicate you all the time, always be drunk on her love. Husbands, you have a responsibility, always and at all times, to be satisfied by your wife. The flip side of that coin is wives, you have a responsibility to always and at all times offer satisfaction, right? A little side note before we get into scripture for today. I talk often about priorities, right? And uh what we give our time to. I'll tell you what, one of my failings is getting sucked into sports, uh TV shows that I really enjoy, and social media sometimes. Man, it just you go down that rabbit hole. Uh, I'm sure, as most of y'all are aware, and you look up and you've spent 30 minutes, an hour, hour and a half, you have no idea where it has gone. All I know at the end of it is I feel like I'm I've literally lost brain cells in the process. Uh I did that shortly before recording this podcast. And I don't have too many to spare. So I really need to do that less often. Mark 5, 21 through 43. Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jarius, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him. My little daughter is dying, he said, please come and lay your hands on her, heal her so she can live. Jesus went with him and all the people followed, crowding around him. A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. I think a lot of times, folks, we forget there's a lot of people out there that have a chronic illness or are permanently paralyzed or are married in a horrible marriage. There's different reasons, but there's people, folks, that are trapped in situations there is no escape from. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, if I can just touch his robe, I will be healed. Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, Who touched my robe? The disciples said to him, Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask who touched me? But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, daughter, Your faith has made you well. Go in peace, your suffering is over. While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the house of Jarius, the leader of the synagogue, they told him, Your daughter is dead. There's no use troubling the teacher now. But Jesus overheard them and said to Jarius, Don't be afraid, just have faith. Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn't let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn't dead, she's only asleep. The crowd laughed at him, but he made them all leave, and he took the girl's father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. Holding her hand he said to her, Telethia culum, which means little girl, get up. And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around. They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. Jesus gave them the strictest orders not to tell anyone what had happened. And then he told them to give her something to eat. Psalm thirty eight, one through twenty-two. A Psalm of David asking God to remember him. O Lord, don't rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage. Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger my whole body is sick. My health is broken because of my sins. My guilt overwhelms me. It is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief. A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart. You know what I long for, Lord. You hear my every sigh. My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind. Don't ever forget that God knows what we long for, what we sigh for, folks. We may not get it in this world. We may not get it in the time we think we should. We may not get it in the manner we think we should. But God knows, and it's not that he doesn't care. It's that he sees the bigger picture even when we can't. I don't. Folks, I'm not even beginning to tell you it's easy to believe that always. There's a lot of times where I look around and go, there's no way. It's just good to remember and to encourage each other. My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind. My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease, even my own family stands at a distance. Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps to kill me. Those who wish me harm make plans to ruin me. All day long they plan their treachery. But I am deaf to all their threats. I am silent before them as one who cannot speak. I choose to hear nothing, and I make no reply, for I am waiting for you, O Lord. You must answer for me, O Lord my God. I pray, don't let my enemies float over me or rejoice at my downfall. I am on the verge of collapse, facing constant pain. But I confess my sins. I am deeply sorry for what I have done. I have many aggressive enemies. They hate me without reason. They repay me evil for good and oppose me for purse for pursuing good. Do not abandon me, O Lord. Do not stand at a distance, my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my Savior. Proverbs ten, eight, and nine. The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces. People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed. Countryside, if you get a chance, you're looking for a family-friendly middle grade read for you or your kids or grandkids. This is the first book in the series. And the second book in the series. If you enjoy it, you leave a review online somewhere. Those help immensely. And if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast, if you can donate five or ten dollars a month, there's a link in the bottom of the show notes. And if you can leave a review somewhere for the podcast, those help a great deal as well. 22 March 2017, Manchester, England. Suicide bomber, Solman Abdee detonated a homemade nail bomb in the foyer of the Manchester Arena as fans were leaving an Ariana Grande concert. Many were teenage age girls, killed twenty-two people, children as young as eight years old, injured more than 1,017 others. Muslims claimed responsibility the next day, calling it a strike against the quote-unquote crusaders. It's a pretty good reminder there, folks, that this has been going on a long time, long time. You remember that the very first war, external war that the United States fought as a nation was against Muslims. It's the ideology, it's not the geography, it's not the ethnicity, skin color. It's the ideology, folks. That's what's driving everything. Morris Lee FTSE Brit Captain. But the rank at the time of action was Lieutenant, World War II, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, U.S. Army, November 10th, 1943, north of Mignano, Italy. I probably should know how to say that, but I don't. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Disdaining enemy hand grenades and close-range machine pistols, machine guns, and rifles, Lieutenant Britt inspired and led a handful of his men in repelling a bitter counterattack by approximately 100 Germans against his company positions north of Mignano, Italy on the morning of 10 November 1943. During this intense firefight, Lieutenant Britt's canteen and field glasses were shattered. A bullet pierced his side, his chest, face, and hands were covered with grenade wound. Despite his wounds, for which he refused to accept medical attention until ordered to do so by his battalion commander. Following the battle, he personally killed five and wounded an unknown number of Germans. Wiped out one enemy machine gun crew, fired five clips of carbine and an undetermined amount of M1 rifle ammunition, and threw 32 fragmentation grenades. His bold, aggressive actions, utterly disregarding superior enemy numbers, resulted in the capture of four Germans, two of them wounded, and enabled several captured Americans to escape. Lieutenant Britt's undaunted courage and prowess in arms were largely responsible for repulsing a German counterattack, which, if successful, would have isolated his battalion and destroyed his company. Accredited to Lonoke, Arkansas, not awarded posthumously, presented June 7, 1944, University of Arkansas, Little Rock by General Harry Collins. Born June 29, 1919, Carlisle, Arkansas, died November 26, 1995, Little Rock, Arkansas. Buried Little Rock National Cemetery, Little Rock, Arkansas. MH20 Tech 319. Maurice Lee Footsie Bread. I don't know where the FTSE nickname came from. What are we willing to do today, folks? What are we willing to do for our nation, for God? What are we willing to risk? How aggressive are we willing to be to defend those who can't defend themselves? Jonathan Mayhew, sermon from 1750, often described as a catechism, the spark that lit the fire for the revolution. And we've read a few segments. We're going to read a few more. It is to be observed in the next place that as the duty of universal obedience and non-resistance to the higher powers cannot be argued from the absolute unlimited expressions which the apostle here uses, so neither can it be argued from the scope and drift of his reasoning. Considered with relation to the persons he was here opposing. As was observed above, there were some professed Christians in the apostolic age who disclaimed all magistry and civil authority in general, despising government and speaking evil of dignitaries. Some under a notion that Jews ought not to be under the jurisdiction of Gentile rulers, and others that they were set free from the temporal powers by Christ. Now it is with persons of this licentious opinion and character that the apostle is concerned. And all that was directly to his point was to show that they were bound to submit to magistracy in general. This is a circumstance very material to be taken notice of in order to ascertain the sense of the apostle. For this being considered, it is sufficient to account for all that he says concerning the duty of subjection and the sin of resistance to the higher powers, without having recourse to the doctrine of unlimited submission and passive obedience in all cases whatsoever. Were it known that those in opposition to whom the apostle wrote allowed of civil authority in general and only asserted that there were some cases in which disobedience and nonresistance were not a duty, sorry, in which obedience and nonresistance were not a duty, there would then indeed be reason for interpreting this passage as containing the doctrine of unlimited obedience and nonresistance, as it must, in this case, be supposed to have been leveled against such as denied that doctrine. But since it is certain that there were persons who vainly imagined that civil government in general was not to be regarded by them, it is most reasonable to suppose that the apostle designed his discourse only against them. And agreeably to this supposition we find that he argues the usefulness of civil magistracy in general, its agreeableness to the will and purpose of God, who is over all, and so deduces from hence the obligation of submission to it. But it will not follow that because civil government is in general a good institution and necessary to the peace and happiness of human society, therefore there are no supposable cases in which resistance to it can be innocent. So that the duty of unlimited obedience, whether active or passive, can be argued neither from the manner of expression here used, nor from the general scope and design of the passage. So what he's saying is that civil authority is good when it falls into line with God. But this passage out of Romans 13 that he was looking at, that so many Christians, uh, or that a number of them argued for unlimited submission, that's not what it was saying. He was talking to a couple groups of people in particular. He was talking to Jews that didn't think they had any reason, Jews that had become Christians, they didn't have any reason to submit themselves to Gentiles, or Christians that were Gentiles that were Christians, and they thought that because they had freedom in Christ, that meant that they didn't have to live into listen to the civil authorities. And he's saying, no, we have a responsibility as Christians to submit ourselves to higher authority, to civil government, even if we don't like it, right up to the point where it goes against God. And that's why it's so important for our pastors and priests, why we need them so much. Uh, just like in the first Great Awakening and the second great awakening, we need them talking about what's going on in the world, in the country, identifying those places and times, uh, events where the government is going against God, making it clear so we can see that, right? It's also why it's so important to read the Bible every day. Uh, so you have a good, we have a good clue ourselves as to when the government's stepping out of line and starting to go against God versus when we just don't like what their decisions are. There's a huge difference there, right, folks. There's a huge difference between not liking what the politicians do and when politicians actually go against uh the commands of God and Jesus Christ. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your nations wherever you are around the world. God bless your families. God bless your marriages if you're married. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.