God is my helper. The Lord is the sustainer of my life. He will repay my adversaries for their evil. Because of Your faithfulness, annihilate them. (vs. 4-5)
"Vengeance belongs to Me. I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is quickly coming. "
The Lord will indeed vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one is left. Deuteronomy 32: 35-36
I remember watching "The Bourne Identity" when Jason Bourne had the chance to kill the bad guy and didn't finish him off. Whenever I watch the good guy/bad guy movie I always want to shout: "Kill him now!!!!! You know he'll be back!" It makes for a better movie that the bad guys survives, of course. "The Bourne Identity" would have ended in the first few minutes without all the gunfights and chase scenes. I don't, however, want that much drama in my own life. And, actually, I cannot kill the "bad guys" who disrupt my tranquility with their actions and accusations. I have been crushed before by the unfair words and deeds of others. Backed up against a wall with no recourse but to be silent and go forward doing what I know is right to do. "Killing" the adversary in my story line would mean making sure everyone knew my side of the story - every one! Or fighting strange fire with stranger fire. The problem is, I don't know where the other person is coming from all the time. God does.
When I gave my life to Christ, He came to live in me. To sustain and energize my life. Jesus is not my crutch. He is my iron lung! I live because He does! It is my deepest desire to allow Him to perfect in me those qualities and characteristics He designed for me before I was found to be forming in the body of Flossie Strickling, my mommy. Because my father was arrested for molesting a young man from their church as she was dying of cancer, Mother thought her life had been a waste. Married the wrong man. Didn't know how sick he was. Had listened to him define and inform her life and didn't know she was taking to heart the perspective of a deeply troubled man. What was it all for? What had her life meant? So it was that for her imminent funeral, Mother wrote a prayer to be read after her death. In it, our mother prayed for our destinies. That each of us, children and grandchildren mentioned by name, would fulfill all that we were born to do. Not miss what God had planned for us. It has been my daily prayer, also. For our family and loved ones.
If God lives in us to accomplish His plans, then our adversaries are not coming up against only our flawed flesh and blood, but against the One Who lives in us. Our lives should be moved along in a steady path created by the inertia of His purposes. The enemy of our souls and of our very lives can throw dissension, gossip, lawsuits, and an infinite combination of roadblocks in the way. Backed up against the wall, powerless to explain ourselves or change the impression of others, we wait for the vindication only God can produce. He is not only fighting for our lives, but for His purposes. Since it is He Who is our help and sustenance, it is also He Who understands the battle. If we take it into our own hands, we can mess it up so badly that He steps back from it. I am sobered by Proverbs 24: 17-18: Don't be happy when your enemy is defeated. Don't be glad when he is overwhelmed. The Lord will notice and be displeased . He may not be angry with them anymore.
In humble recognition of God's sovereignty in even our distress, He wants us to let Him take care of those who treat us unfairly lest we "take care of them" and become as guilty as they.
"Vengeance belongs to Me. I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is quickly coming. "
The Lord will indeed vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one is left. Deuteronomy 32: 35-36
I remember watching "The Bourne Identity" when Jason Bourne had the chance to kill the bad guy and didn't finish him off. Whenever I watch the good guy/bad guy movie I always want to shout: "Kill him now!!!!! You know he'll be back!" It makes for a better movie that the bad guys survives, of course. "The Bourne Identity" would have ended in the first few minutes without all the gunfights and chase scenes. I don't, however, want that much drama in my own life. And, actually, I cannot kill the "bad guys" who disrupt my tranquility with their actions and accusations. I have been crushed before by the unfair words and deeds of others. Backed up against a wall with no recourse but to be silent and go forward doing what I know is right to do. "Killing" the adversary in my story line would mean making sure everyone knew my side of the story - every one! Or fighting strange fire with stranger fire. The problem is, I don't know where the other person is coming from all the time. God does.
When I gave my life to Christ, He came to live in me. To sustain and energize my life. Jesus is not my crutch. He is my iron lung! I live because He does! It is my deepest desire to allow Him to perfect in me those qualities and characteristics He designed for me before I was found to be forming in the body of Flossie Strickling, my mommy. Because my father was arrested for molesting a young man from their church as she was dying of cancer, Mother thought her life had been a waste. Married the wrong man. Didn't know how sick he was. Had listened to him define and inform her life and didn't know she was taking to heart the perspective of a deeply troubled man. What was it all for? What had her life meant? So it was that for her imminent funeral, Mother wrote a prayer to be read after her death. In it, our mother prayed for our destinies. That each of us, children and grandchildren mentioned by name, would fulfill all that we were born to do. Not miss what God had planned for us. It has been my daily prayer, also. For our family and loved ones.
If God lives in us to accomplish His plans, then our adversaries are not coming up against only our flawed flesh and blood, but against the One Who lives in us. Our lives should be moved along in a steady path created by the inertia of His purposes. The enemy of our souls and of our very lives can throw dissension, gossip, lawsuits, and an infinite combination of roadblocks in the way. Backed up against the wall, powerless to explain ourselves or change the impression of others, we wait for the vindication only God can produce. He is not only fighting for our lives, but for His purposes. Since it is He Who is our help and sustenance, it is also He Who understands the battle. If we take it into our own hands, we can mess it up so badly that He steps back from it. I am sobered by Proverbs 24: 17-18: Don't be happy when your enemy is defeated. Don't be glad when he is overwhelmed. The Lord will notice and be displeased . He may not be angry with them anymore.
In humble recognition of God's sovereignty in even our distress, He wants us to let Him take care of those who treat us unfairly lest we "take care of them" and become as guilty as they.
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