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Monday, March 23, 2020

From the Book of Psalms

I urge you to open your Bible and read the scriptures for yourself.  Pray for guidance in His word and let the Holy Spirit lead you.  If you would like to share, add your thoughts on this passage of scripture in the comments.

Psalm 64

This psalm is one of a group of psalms given as advice to Israel.

Giving It All to God

David trusted in the Lord and called on the Lord to fight battles for him often.  In verse one, David prays that God will preserve him from the enemy.  Just in that one verse we can glean that God can, will, and does fight battles for us when we give our problems over to Him.  I don’t mean God is going to resolve every single problem…  It is difficult to say, but not all problems we face are due to the wickedness of others.  Some are of our own hands.  That being the case, issues that arise because of our actions may be chastisement.  However, in this particular psalm, David prayed for God to preserve him because of someone else’s wickedness, not his own.  His advice to Israel – Give it to God.

Verses 2 – 6:

A Petition Against the Actions of the Wicked

The first half of this Psalm describes the spiteful ways the wicked seek to destroy the righteous.  Words were the chosen weapon David’s attackers chose. The wicked plan secretly together against the righteous. David lists the iniquities against him.  Lies and twisted accounts and secret schemes against him. The word “whet” found in verse 3 means to sharpen. The wicked prepare. They bend their bows in preparation.  They use words to attack. He says in verse four that they shoot at him without fear.  Once we leave the room the wicked get bold. They can talk and spread their lies or insults. Likely, these wicked people David spoke of were not outwardly known enemies.  They were probably people who sat at his table to dine with him or communed with him in the outdoors.  They likely claimed to be on his side in all matters but plotted against him behind closed doors.  The word commune as used in verse 5 means they talk amongst themselves. The wicked devise these lies together in secret (privily).  If you notice in all these verses, the wicked work in secret.  Evil is done in secret. It does not like the light; it likes the darkness so that it can’t be seen.

Just like David, if you are living in the will of God, you will face some kind of persecution.  We look at persecution as the government beating our door down and dragging us off to jail for praising the Lord on the street corner.  That is extreme!  Every one of us face “shots” from wicked people simply because they see us living righteously.  I don’t know about you, but I have had people say and do things that seem like a direct attack against me.  I have questioned what I did to deserve it or if I did something wrong and was reaping what I sowed.  The answer is no.  We do not have to do anything to provoke the wicked.  Darkness hates the light and desires to dim it.

Maybe someone you have confided in multiple times betrayed you. Perhaps you were accused of doing something you did not do, but unfortunately, you do not have a witness to back you up.  Sometimes there are people who look you in the eye, smile, talk sweetly and then begin putting you down the moment you leave the room.  Sometimes it’s caused by jealousy. Sometimes it’s caused by a desire to have your “position.” Sometimes, it’s just pure hate. Attacks don’t have to be to the extreme of physical altercations or jail.  They can be small social or emotional attacks.  Sometimes they are more direct, sometimes they are indirect.  We all face unwarranted attacks. Perhaps we have been guilty of carrying out some unwarranted attacks on others.

Verses 7-10: The Assurance that God will Take care of it.

David turned the matter over to God and God dealt with the matter.  “Suddenly shall they be wounded.” God is not going to miss when he handles a situation. He knows where to aim. He knows exactly what mark to hit.

Verse 8 says, “They shall make their own tongue fall upon themselves.” The truth always comes to light. God will allow people to see others for who they really are. We do not need to defend ourselves.  If we wait on the Lord, He will reveal the wicked actions of others.

What can we learn about this? We need to make sure we do what we can to make sure that we are not doing what the wicked are running their mouths about. Get in prayer, give it to God and he will make it known to those that matter in our lives.  This goes back to gossiping. These wicked people David is talking about are bringing up rumors, saying things that aren’t true. Some of them might be true, but it isn’t something they should be running their mouths about. God will chastise his children. Someone else doesn’t need to take it up on themselves to run their mouths in an attempt to chastise God’s children.

If we are righteous and see a fellow Christian doing wrong, running our mouths to others isn’t the answer.  We should pray for that person and ask God to lead us in how we should deal with that person.  Likewise, if we are on the receiving end of someone’s gossip, we should pray for that person or group and allow God to deal with them.  Our flesh wants to deal with others personally, but our spirit knows we should give it all to God.  As verse 10 says:

Be glad in the Lord.

Trust in Him.

Glory in Him.