Jump Start # 943

Psalms 25:18-20 “Look upon my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Look upon my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with violent hatred. Guard my soul and deliver me; do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in you.”

This week I want to continue looking at some lessons from the life of David. His life, like ours in many ways, is a series of ups and downs. There are times we find David strong, courageous, spiritual and able to face giants. There are other times he is on the run and seems afraid. There are times he seems very lonely. There are mistakes and poor choices that he sometimes makes. Yet in all of this, he loves God. He believes in God and he never gives up on God. That defines us in many ways. Most of us do pretty well on Sundays. We are with our church family and are encouraged by worship services. Monday comes and we are back in the battlefield of life. Demanding bosses, complaining kids, barking dogs, bills that must be paid, tired on the inside and stressed on the outside, and the week is just getting going.

Our verse is one of the many Psalms that deal with David and his enemies. He had a lot of enemies. The Philistines were a constant sore upon Israel. King Saul sought to kill David. Later in his life, some of his own family became enemies. This verse gives us two realities as well as two pleas.

The realities: my enemies are many and, my enemies hate me with violent hatred. David felt that there were many that wanted to do him harm. The people of God have always been hated by those who disapprove of God. This is true in the Old Testament. Jezebel tried with the utmost to kill Elijah. She had already killed other prophets. She hated Elijah. John the Baptist was hated by Herod and even worse by the woman he was married to. The Pharisees opposed Jesus often. The apostle Paul had to escape out of cities late at night to avoid opposition and persecutors. The forces of Satan have tried to stamp out God for a long time. Their efforts have made things difficult for God’s people.

I have noticed that opponents of Christianity are loud, rude and offensive. They reply to Christian blogs and other positive posts with demeaning, cruel and ugly comments. They blaspheme the name of God and ridicule believers. They suppose that the louder they are, the more powerful their arguments are. No one is killed by thunder. It’s the lightning that does the damage. Maybe it’s guilt. Maybe it’s ignorance. Maybe it’s a soul that is saturated with sin, but for some reason, opponents of God feel compelled to force their views upon believers.

David had many enemies. His enemies hated him. They hated him with violence.

There are two pleas from David. First, he asks God to do some looking. Look upon my affliction he asks. He wants God to pay attention to him. He also wants God to look upon his enemies. Look, he asks. David is praying to God. He is asking God to be aware of what is going on.

The other plea is for God to guard his soul and to deliver him. David was running to God as a refuge. Caught out in the open fields, a sudden storm would cause someone to seek shelter in the Judean cliffs. There under an outcropping of rocks a person would be dry and safe from the storm. This is how David viewed God. He was his refuge. He was his safety. David’s help was in the Lord. Safety would be found in the Lord. God was his help. To God, David would go.

These verses reflect a heart that trusted, understood and loved the Lord. He knew God was his help. He knew God would get him through these things. Hatred, violence and many enemies are nothing to God. He can handle that and more.

It helps when we have that same kind of faith as David did. Things can box us in sometimes. Enemies can get a hold of us and we feel that we are losing ground. All around us are those who have no tolerance for righteousness, truth or God. They’d rather have booze, raunchy jokes and immoral sex. They live for those things. They despise any goodness and kindness that is connect with God. They ignore you at work. They mock you and what you believe in. They make “those comments” that are intended to hurt. You are not included nor invited in their world. They make it known very plainly that they want nothing to do with “your religion.” They try to sabotage your work. They blame you for things you didn’t do. They steal credit for the good that you do. They share with all the wild weekends of partying that they engage in. They claim to be happy, rich and have no need for God.

What I’m describing is becoming all to common at many work places these days. Many believers hate their jobs for this very reason. The work is ok, it’s the co-workers that are hard to deal with.

My enemies are many, David said. His hope was in God. God was that shelter for him. It is the same for us. Pray before you go to work. Take a moment and pray for help. Pray that you will have the right attitude. Pray that you will not be moved by their insensitive thoughts and actions. Pray that God will strengthen you to do the right thing.

Someday our enemies will be no more. Someday we will be in the land of peace. Until then the battle continues on. Keep plugging away. Keep doing right. Keep being that light into the world. Sometimes enemies becomes friends. Sometimes enemies become Christians. Remember Saul of Tarsus? Sometimes enemies apologize and come to you aid.

God is our refuge.

Roger