Psalms 142:1-4 ESV
“With my voice I cry out to the Lord;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see:
there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for my soul.”
I don’t know if you have noticed this or not, but many of
the Psalms of David are him crying out to the Lord because of his enemies and
their evil schemes against him. The Apostle Paul centered on this subject quite
frequently, too, letting his readers know of the persecutions that he was being
faced with in their various forms, and from multiple different sources. And, of
course, Jesus Christ was also hounded and mistreated when he walked the earth,
and his enemies, too, laid traps for him hoping he would fall into them.
But I am not speaking here of physical traps, like holes in
the ground. But Jesus’ enemies were always trying to trip him up with his words
so that they would have cause to accuse him of wrongdoing. So these were more
like tricks (cunning schemes) which today may be termed “gaslighting.” So, they
would set up a situation hoping that Jesus would fall prey to their trap. And even
Jesus’ own brothers were against him and mocked him, and his own family members
thought he was crazy and they wanted to put him away.
So, just because you follow the Lord Jesus Christ with your
lives, and you live holy and godly lives, in service to your Lord, it doesn’t
mean you are going to be well admired and well liked. You may be very much
hated and despised and disdained, and you may be facing similar persecutions as
did David, and Paul, and Jesus Christ. And you may be very familiar with these cunning
and deceptive traps the enemy loves to lay for his opponents. And so you have
to be on guard against these so that you don’t fall into them.
You may also face much rejection, and it may feel, at times,
as though you are absolutely alone, except for the Lord. Friends and family
members and others who profess faith in Jesus Christ and even pastors will turn
against you and do evil against you. And they may betray you and “stab you in
the back” and do hurtful things to you even while acting as though all is well
when they see you face to face. For Jesus told us that if we follow him that we
will be treated as he was treated, so we should expect this.
Psalms 142:5-7 ESV
“I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, ‘You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.’
Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.”
But our comfort in all of this is that we are not alone.
Jesus Christ is with us and his Spirit is living within us if our lives are
surrendered to him. And he is there for us when other humans are not, and when
they are against us. Our comfort is also in knowing that our suffering serves a
purpose, both in our own lives and in the lives of the people who we touch by
our lives. God has a reason for it all, and good will come out of it, even if
now it is painful and it doesn’t feel so good, and even if we can’t make sense
of it all.
So, in our suffering we can pray and ask the Lord for his
comfort, for his help, and for his guidance and wisdom and discernment. We
especially need that when others are using cunning and crafty scheming against
us and when they are laying traps for us to fall into. We can take refuge in
him in knowing that he is looking out for us and that he truly has our best in
mind. Although he may not physically deliver us from persecution, he will
deliver us within our hearts and minds from the effects of that persecution on
our lives.
Hear my Voice
An Original Work /
July 9, 2012
Based off Psalm 27
The Lord is my great
salvation.
He’s the stronghold
of my life.
When my enemies
attack me,
My heart will not
fear at all.
Though a war break
out against me,
Confident in Christ I’ll
be.
Of the Lord, I ask
that I may
Live with Him
eternally.
Hear my voice, Lord,
when I call you.
Merciful to me
You’ll be.
Though my relatives
forsake me,
My Lord God will
receive me.
Teach me Your way, O
my Jesus.
Lead me in Your
righteousness.
I will sacrifice to
my Lord.
I will sing with
joyfulness.
I am confident that
I will
See the goodness of
the Lord.
All the richness of
His blessings,
My Lord has for me
in store.
He asks me to be of
courage;
To be strong and to
take heart,
Patiently as I wait
for Him,
And from Him to
ne’er depart.
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