Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence. (Psalm 94:16-17)
It is quite natural to defend yourself when someone threatens you or your family. Fighting one person at a time is possible; in some cases fighting two people at once can be done somewhat successfully. But if an angry mob were to surround you, there is very little chance of escaping them unscathed — in fact, the outcome might be quite tragic. In a sense, the latter scenario is what God’s people are up against almost every day — a mob of wicked men collectively called “the world.” I’m not saying the entirety of the world’s population has ganged up against each of us in a physical sense; I’m saying that the world’s mindset and behavior compels us to resist them day in and day out.
In addition, all of us are forced to endure the attacks of the random evil doer and backbiter. We may as well face it — regardless of our status in the world, if we are pursuing righteousness, there is a target on our back. In this life, there will always be those who scheme and plot our demise in order to placate their wicked needs. If that were the only battle we had to fight, we might be able to hold our own. But couple it with the fact that we must also resist the will of the world at large, and it might feel like we are surrounded by an angry mob bent on ending our existence — i.e. we’re in a fight that can be overwhelming at times.
All of that leads us to this conclusion: “Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence.” If He had not helped us in times past, many of us would have raised the white flag and surrendered — our voices and testimony silenced forever. But He has helped us and He will help us: as Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). David was well acquainted with the feeling of being overwhelmed by people who sought his death and so he cried, “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 62:2).
So when we feel surrounded and threatening circumstances are closing in, remember — God is for us, not against us; He is our Rock and our refuge. When we feel as if we are walking in the shadows of problems that tower over us, remember it is written: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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