Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 144:5-10
Ps 144:5-10
Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.
1 Peter 2:21-23
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
We often say that we want to be like Jesus, to imitate him in our lives. When he was mistreated, insulted, and lied about, he just kept quiet. He did not argue with his accusers or retaliate with insults back to them. He trusted God. He knew that in the end, God would judge these people so there was no need for him to do anything at the time. Did these things hurt? Yes, they did, but he trusted God.
The good news for us is that he is our defender. He will give us the strength to endure whatever we face. He will give us the wisdom to know what to say and how to say it, but also, he gives us wisdom to say nothing, to be quiet. There is no truth that is spoken louder than when one is silent. Jesus used this technique on several occasions when others where insulting him and we should use it too.
Now, if you are like me, you are thinking of all the reasons to speak and not be silent when falsely accused. If we just keep quiet, it may get worse. People may believe false things about me. If I let them hit me once without hitting back, others may hit me too. If I don’t take up for myself, there is no one who will take up for me. God knows the truth and that is really all that matters. We are told to repay evil with good. Pray for those who persecute you. Love your enemies.
O Lord God, I need your help every day to do these things. It is not easy to be quiet when I am maligned or falsely accused. It is not easy to keep my mouth shut when I think I am being treated unfairly. To love those who show hate toward me is hard to do. But I know that Jesus did this, so help me be like him. Lord, in my lifetime, I have never seen so much evil being so readily accepted by so many. Be merciful to our nation and to our leaders. Raise up leaders for us who will respect you and your word and will follow your wisdom. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
