The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory. (Psalm 64:10)
This psalm is devoted entirely to describing people who disdain the righteous and plot evil schemes to destroy them. Throughout the Bible, we see the repeated attempts of rebellious men to silence the voice of those who love God. In the very beginning, Cain lured his righteous sibling into a snare and killed him. David was pursued relentlessly because men with wicked hearts could not abide his existence. David’s descendant, Daniel, was persecuted simply for praying in his own home and thrown into a pit of lions. The Bible is full of such stories where, for various reasons — mostly jealousy — “workers of iniquity” sharpened their “tongue like a sword” to damage the innocent.
But the Bible is also replete with examples of men and women who would not bow to threats and intimidation because they knew that, in time, God would cause these people to “stumble over their own tongue.” They were confident that God would vindicate and deliver them from those who sought to harm them. Though threatened often, David ruled Israel as king for forty years, outliving most of those who tried to destroy him. Daniel not only survived the lion’s den but saw his antagonists succumb to the very end they had determined for him.
It is important for us to remember that these are not just bedtime stories; these accounts record actual events where real men and women — people just like you and me — were delivered by the hand of God. And so, if God preserved these people in spite of the awful circumstances they found themselves in, He will preserve you and me as well. The world hates us and will work overtime to see us humiliated and, if possible, destroyed. But we have the promise that our God will cause the weapons they have fashioned for us to be used against them. If we trust in Him and remain upright in heart, we will see God’s handiwork in our lives. We will, as David said, rejoice and “be glad in the Lord” when He reveals His glory in and through our lives.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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