They Plan to Trip Us Up

“Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

    preserve me from violent men,

who plan evil things in their heart

    and stir up wars continually.

They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,

    and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah

“Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

    preserve me from violent men,

    who have planned to trip up my feet.

The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,

    and with cords they have spread a net;

    beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah” (Psalms 140:1-5 ESV)

If we who believe in Jesus Christ are following our Lord in obedience to his commands, and if we are sharing the truth of the gospel of our salvation, and if we are actively refuting the lies of the enemy, we are going to be targeted by some people who are opposed to the truth of the gospel and who do not believe that they have to forsake their sins, and who do not believe that they must follow the Lord Jesus in obedience.

And there will be those among us who will try to bait us into an argument because they want to start a fight with us, and they want to trip us up with our words so that they feel they have cause to accuse us of some wrongdoing. For there are some people who hate what we stand for and what we are teaching so much that they will literally plot evil against us because they want to silence us so we’ll stop speaking the truth.

Now not all who are opposed to the Lord and to his gospel are those who are plotting evil against the righteous. Many are just living their own lives their own way and they don’t even bother with trying to oppose those who are living righteously. But there are those out there, much like Jesus’ opponents, who will hate the message of the gospel so much that they will deliberately work at trying to find ways to destroy those who are teaching the truth.

Sometimes God does allow evil people to do evil and to speak evil against his followers. For this is what they did to Jesus and to his NT apostles and to many of Jesus’ followers. But we are to consider ourselves blessed to be able to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death. But this is to test our faith to see if it is genuine, and it is to teach us endurance and perseverance and to strengthen us in our walks of faith.

“I say to the Lord, You are my God;

    give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!

O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,

    you have covered my head in the day of battle.

Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

    do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah”

“I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

    and will execute justice for the needy.

Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

    the upright shall dwell in your presence.” (Psalms 140:6-8,12-13 ESV)

When we go through such times as this, when the enemy of our souls is opposing us strongly, we must call upon the Lord for the strength and the wisdom to know how to respond to those who are opposing us. Sometimes if we see someone is trying to bait us into an argument we can just ignore the bait and say nothing. Or the Lord might give us words he wants us to say to the person, but still we must avoid senseless arguments that go nowhere.

But if we find ourselves caught up in a senseless argument, we need to immediately back away or walk away from the discussion. But we need the wisdom of God to discern when a discussion is going that direction so that we know when to walk away and to not pursue the discussion further. For the enemy just loves it when he can get us caught up in one of those discussions that go nowhere so that we are wasting our time for nothing.

So, as we are praying for mercy from the Lord, and as we are praying that the Lord would grant not the desires of the wicked, and that their evil plots against us would go no further, then we must also cooperate with God and with the wisdom and discernment he gives us, and we must guard our minds and hearts against any kind of pride or determination to get into senseless arguments, and we need to learn when to just walk away.

But this is not assurance from God that nothing bad will ever happen to us or that we won’t have people who will do evil to us, or that we won’t be afflicted and mistreated and falsely accused and rejected, etc. The Scriptures teach that we will have enemies, and that we will be persecuted for the sake of righteousness, but then we need to learn wisdom in knowing how to respond to such treatment so that we don’t fall into the devil’s traps.

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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