Today's Psalms theme is righteous indignation against liars and slanderers, and we can tell God our true feelings and desires. Please follow along in your bible or go to www.biblegateway.com to follow along online.
Verses 1-5 the psalmist David writes how others, even friends, slander him.
Verse 4 David was angry with those who slandered and lied about him however David is a man of prayer, and he will remain a friend to those who are evil. This is a classic hate the sin, love the sinner example. One could write a book just on this verse alone. How do we respond to someone who intentionally hurts us? This is tough when the person who wronged us is a friend or family member. We need to pray, seek counsel, and possibly even remove ourselves from the situation until the other person changes his/her ways. In Al-anon one of my favorite quotes says to "let go and let God." I think the most difficult challenge is to overcome the hatred towards this person. When we don't let go of the anger not only do we hurt ourselves but we also poison relationships to those around us. Some of us bury the anger internally, others are quite vocal about their anger and sadly many of us engage self destructive behavior. There is a place and time for anger and there is a time to let go. If you are harboring anger today, please go to God and he will take your hand and help you walk through releasing this pain.
Verses 6-20 contains a type of psalm called an imprecatory psalm. Psalm 35 is also an example of an imprecatory psalm. We do not seek revenge but we cry out to God to judge those who have unjustly done evil against us. This type of psalm uses hyperbole wording which means they are overstatements. The purpose of this wording is to motivate us to take a strong stand against sin and evil. Reading through these verses - David certainly expresses his thoughts quite well - this allows me to think it is OK to express any and all thoughts and feelings we have to God. AND we ask GOD to pass judgement on those who have wrongly judged us.
Verses 21 - 26 David asks for help - for his character to be redeemed. Verse 26 David asks God to help him and save him in accordance to God's love.
Father God, We thank you today for the words of the psalmist who wrote about his anguish over those who have wronged him. The psalmist expressed his anger and asked for God to judge those who have wronged him. We can come to you with anything on our heart, and we ask that you help release us from our pain from hurt and anger. We ask that for help so we can come to the place where can love the sinner but hate the sin. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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