Psalms 35:10 says, “All my bones
shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest
the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from
him that spoileth him?”
In Psalms 35 a great detail is taught
regarding the persecution of the Christian and regarding those that persecute
Christians.
Those who oppose Jesus, hate Jesus,
hate righteousness and truth and hate Christians. They are controlled by the
spirit of the devil. They can be very manipulative, calculating, and
wrathful. Regarding persecution however
it is God who lets and does not let and it is also Jesus who: pleads, fights
and strives for those that trust in His promises.
Psalms 35:10 says, “All my bones
shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest
the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from
him that spoileth him?”
Because the lost people of this world
have no hope and are without God in the world their focus in life is going to
be on material things: the love of money, and power. Because the Christian sets
his affection on things above and not on the things of this world, the
Christian is often the poor and needy who is persecuted and spoiled by the
strong.
Who is like unto Jesus? “…Which deliverest
the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from
him that spoileth him?”
Deliverance is a great theme of the
Bible: both the deliverance from sin and from any other circumstance. Man is
not stronger than his own sinful nature. Man is not stronger than the devil.
Jesus Christ the Son of God is stronger. Jesus is all powerful. Jesus is the
king of kings. Jesus lets and does not let. Jesus pleads, strives and fights
for those whom trust in him.
Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for
the sins of the world, was buried, and rose again the 3rd day so
that all those whom trust in Him can have deliverance both spiritually and
physically.
There will be those who are too strong
for you: the devil, governments, and other men. But Jesus can deliver you from
your persecutions if you trust in Him. Hebrews
11:17-35 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he
that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was
said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from
whence also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was adying,
blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his
staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the
children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith Moses,
when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was
a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. By faith
Moses, when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through
faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, lest he that
destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red
sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith
the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By
faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that
believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more
say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon,
and of Barak and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David
also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women
received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.”
By faith in Christ who died for our
sins on the cross, we who trust in him have deliverance from those that are too
strong for us. To trust in Jesus is to have victory amidst your persecutions.
To trust in Jesus is to endure your tortures knowing that because he died for
you, you have the promise of a better resurrection.
Psalms 35:11-12 says, “False
witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. They
rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.”
These verses in Psalms are Messianic
verses which give detail regarding the suffering of Christ. Mark 14:57 says, “And there
arose certain, and bare false witness against him.”
The word devil means slanderer. The
devil is the father of lies. He was a liar from the beginning. When there is
persecution one form of it is slander, lies and false witnesses. It happened to
Jesus, who was without sin, and it will happen to you who are but a sinner.
They will lie about you, cast you into prison, torture you, and even put you to
death if you are a follow Christ saved by grace through faith in His name.
What is
important is not the lies or the slanders that men say or that other men
believe. The only thing that matters is that you keep your faith in the
promises of God.
Hebrews 11:35 says, “...Were
tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection.”
Psalms 35:11 says, “False
witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things
that I knew not.” Slander can be akin to murder because slander can greatly effect what other men think of a person and how they treat
them. But in the end slander cannot destroy or stop God’s work and God’s will
in this world.
If you follow Christ, you will be lied
about. If you follow Christ such lies may even result in you being cast in
prison or killed. If you follow Christ the world will try to get you to sin so
that they can slander you. The best way to handle slander, the best way to
handle the fiery darts of the wicked is to do your best to do what is right and
to remember that Christ has forgiven you of your sins. First John 1:9 says, “If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The world will lie about you. The
world will slander you by reminding you of your failures. But you should always
remind yourself that it is Christ who died for your sins. The slander of the
world in the end can only end up deceiving the slanderers themselves because
there is no controversy against the truth, not for those who love the truth and
believe the truth and are repentant of their sins.
First Timothy 3:16 says, “And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory.”
Oh how great the strife of tongues can be
against the believer in Jesus. There can be great shame, and humiliation and
suffering from the slander of the world. But there is no controversy against
the truth. Jesus died for the sins of the world. The false witnesses can lie
but God’s Word will not change. God still will keep His promises. Jesus still
will forgive you of your sins. He that letteth will
let until He be taken out of the way. Jesus will plead, strive and fight for
you if you trust in Him.
Psalms 35:11 says, “False
witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things
that I knew not.” They will lay to
your charge. But God will not lay to your charge because
if you have turned from your sins to Jesus Christ you know that all your sins
were laid to Jesus charge when he died on the cross for your sins. The only
thing that God will lay to your charge is the righteousness of Christ for all
eternity. How wonderful it is to have the forgiveness of sins that is in Jesus
Christ. If you have never turned from your sins to Jesus do so today then you
too can have the righteousness of Christ laid to your charge.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2012 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved