Psalm 129:1-8

Affliction is going to be a part of the lives of those who live to love and serve the Lord.  We are surrounded by people who have no fear of the Lord but they have great hatred for all of us who do fear the Lord.  We should not be surprised by the difficulties that come our way and we should not become distressed or discouraged in our walk with God.  We can, however, take comfort in the truth that God will not allow them to prevail.  There are those who stand in opposition to the Lord, but they are not going to be victorious.  Their plots will be thwarted.  They will be defeated and stand eternally judged by God.  Knowing their future demise should be and encouragement to us, but it is still important for us to prepare to stand firm in the face of their attacks.  Here are a few things that we must keep in mind about the wicked.

THEY ARE UNMERCIFUL: Those who have no fear of God are unmerciful.  The start early and they are unrelenting in their pursuit of afflicting those who love the Lord.  The psalmist describes this as having long furrows plowed on his back.  This speaks of great physical pain that he was faced to endure, but it also indicates that they were preparing to do far more.  We plow in preparation for planning and we plant in anticipation of a harvest.  The hope of the wicked is to harvest the lives of the godly.  God stands in the defense of His children and will not allow them to prevail.  We must be prepared to suffer under the affliction of the wicked but we must not despair because we know that the Lord is always with us.

THEY ARE UNSUCCESSFUL: God’s grace upon us and His power over all who inhabit the earth assures us that the wicked will have a crop failure.  The lives of the just that they were hoping to harvest are under the protective hands of the Lord.  Their efforts will come to naught and their plans will be thwarted.  They will be put to shame and all of their plotting will be turned back.  The crop of wrath they wanted to gather will wither up like grass left in the sun and will simply be useless.  We are on the victory side and can be assured that no matter how deep of a furrow they may plow and how painful that may be to us; they will be unsuccessful.


THEY ARE UNPOPULAR: There may be many wicked people, but in the end each of them will stand alone before the Lord.  They are not part of a permanent Body of believes that experience the blessing of being a part of the family of God.  We enjoy God’s blessing in the midst of trials and have a wonderful fellowship of believers who constantly remind us of the Lord’s blessings in our lives.  They have no such fellowship and do not enjoy the glorious blessing of God in their lives.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaiah 54:1-17

Hope is a wonderful blessing from God, without which we would be vulnerable to all kinds of destructive tendencies in our lives.  Today’s society is marked by depression, anger, fear, anxiety and self-righteousness, in large part, because of the sense of hopelessness that prevails in our culture.  Isaiah writes to a people who are about to be taken into captivity because of their sin.  God knows that they will feel rejected, threatened and hopeless so He reveals His future plans for the nation in order to give them hope in the midst of the coming trial.  Hope is the expectation of good based upon the promises of God.  Many times when our lives are marked by the sins mentioned above it is because we have forgotten or failed to focus upon the promises of God’s Word. THE PROMISE OF GOD: From the very first day that God revealed His plan for the nation of Israel, He promised numerous descendants.  God chose Abraham, not because he was more righteous than any of the other people of his
Read more

1 Timothy 1:3-7

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not   to teach any different doctrine,   nor   to devote themselves to myths and endless   genealogies, which promote   speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.    The aim of our charge is love   that issues from a pure heart and   a good conscience and   a sincere faith.    Certain persons, by   swerving from these, have wandered away into   vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law,   without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.   There will always be false teachers that come into the church attempting to distract people from the truth and destroy people’s faith.  When this happens, it is the job of spiritually mature leaders to confront these false teachers and correct their teachings.  However, it is important that this correction be accomplished with the right motives and methods. 
Read more

1 Timothy 2:11-15

Let a woman learn quietly   with all submissiveness.    I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.    For Adam was formed first,   then Eve;   and Adam was not deceived, but   the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.    Yet she will be saved through   childbearing—if they continue in   faith and love and holiness, with self-control. There is certainly controversy and confusion about this passage in many churches today.  The idea of a distinction between men and women and their roles in the family and church certainly goes against the flow of many cultures around the world.  Some would argue that the literal and plain teaching of this passage is no longer applicable to today’s culture.  However, it is always dangerous to discard biblical teaching or try to interpret Scripture based on the cultures in which we live.  Certainly, the Spirit who inspired this text was aware of the many changes that would occur in future cul
Read more