Psalms 41:5-10

“All that hate me whisper”

Psalms 41:5-10, “Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish? And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathered iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.”

The book of Psalms talks a lot about persecution against Christians. Persecution against a Christian is opposition to the teachings of the Bible and the spread of the Word of God. One truth to understand about life is that sometimes even when you do good or try to do good there will always be those that oppose what you do especially if what you do involves the teaching of the Bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Psalms 38:20 says, “They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.” Isaiah 39:8 says, “Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the Word of the LORD which thou hast spoken.” Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” II Corinthians chapter 4:5-13 says, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the LORD Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore we speak.”

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. When God created the heavens and the earth the first thing that God did was to speak and to say, let there be light and there was light. Speech is a tremendous part of human existence in the whole world so of course the things a person says are very important. God uses the written Word more than anything in this world when it comes to the bringing of light to the lost people of the world. This is why Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” This is also why in talking about persecution the greatest persecution in this world will come against those who do their part in the teaching of the Word of God. Good is the Word of the LORD. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. We are persecuted but not forsaken. Knowing that He which raised up the LORD Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus.

Now in talking about persecution and those that oppose the Word of God Psalms 41:5 says, “Mine enemies speak evil of me.” Psalms 41:6 says, “He speaketh vanity.” And Psalms 41:7 says, “all that hate me whisper together against me.”

If the speaking of the truth is so important then of course the opposition that comes against the work of God in this world is also going to involve speaking. Those that serve Christ will say things that are true. Those that oppose Christ will lie. When you speak about another human being you can say good things or bad things. When you talk about God you can say good things or bad things. How much better it is to focus on the Holiness of God as revealed in the righteousness of Christ than it is to talk about and to praise man or to even talk about the specific failures of other men. This is why in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, a chapter in the Bible which talks about persecution of the most extreme kind both verbal and physical it says for we preach not ourselves but the Lord Jesus Christ. Or as it says in Jeremiah 23:6, “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

Good is the Word of the LORD. Psalms 41 begins by talking about giving to those in need. Just because you give to those in need of the Word of God does not mean that others will not speak evil of You. If you are giving of the Word of God you will preach Jesus Christ and not talk about yourself. If you are on national tv talking about feeding the starving children half a world away and asking people to give you money you are not giving of the word of God you are using the Word of God to take other people’s money and make yourself rich. This is evil. This is what the false teachers do. The message of the Word of God is the message that all men are sinners and they need to repent of their sins and turn to Christ for salvation. This is why Jeremiah 23:6 says, “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” There are starving children in America too not just in Africa.

In talking persecution and the speaking of evil Psalms 41:5 says, “When shall he die, and his name perish?” This might seem like a very harsh statement regarding those that oppose the truth of the Word of God. What this phrase is emphasizing is what will happen to those that do not turn to Christ, and especially to those that speak evil by opposing the Word of God. Jesus taught a similar thing when He said in James 3:1, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in world, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” The attitude to have towards those that oppose the Word of God and towards those that speak evil against those who are teaching the Bible is to warn them of the great judgment God is going to bring against them. Because what will happen to them is that they will die and they will be cast into hell forever separated from God, forgotten by God. There is no worse condemnation than to be separated and forgotten by God.

Psalms 41:8 says, “an evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise no more.” Man at his best state is vanity. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If you sin there will be consequences. But at the same we are all suffering from the consequences of sin because we all grow old and we all die. If you teach the Bible faithfully and preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified and if you do not handle the Word of God deceitfully then you can be sure that the world will speak evil against you and those closest to you. The things they say may be true or false. They may slander you and your failings. They may lie about you. They whisper and do it behind your back. And they will do it to your face as well. Verbal persecution can be a smiting of the tongue. It can be as painful as any physical suffering. But Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Jesus is the faithful witness. Jesus lived a life without sin. And Jesus was slandered and spoken evil. Jesus of the Jews is still spoken evil of today. The way Jesus is slandered today is mostly by the world attacking his divinity. But Jesus is God. Jesus died for the sins of the world. There is only salvation through Jesus of the Jews.

When your enemies speak evil of you when they lie about you or when they throw your failures in your face then focus on the righteousness of Christ. Their judgment is coming. They cannot oppose or stop the Word of God or gospel of Christ. They can only deceive themselves. Even if you have a perfect testimony as a Christian they will still slander you and condemn you just as they did to Jesus. They will slander you through the failings of your children or your family if they cannot do it through you. All men are sinners anyway and there is only righteousness of Christ. Those who are doing the greatest work for God and his Word are not those that have an outward form of righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:5 says, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” John 3:34 says, “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”

Mine enemies speak evil of me. They speak vanity. They whisper against the Bible. Repent of your sins and turn to Christ. Renounce the hidden things of dishonesty. Stop handling the Word of God deceitfully and in craftiness. If any man offend not in Word the same is a perfect man. Be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. For we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus. We are persecuted but not forsaken, knowing that he which raised up the LORD Jesus shall raise up us who believe also by Jesus. Turn from your sins and turn to Jesus today. Jesus said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

$Description: C:\BibleGemsDoc\Image37.gif$

___________________________________________________