January 2, 2020 -- Psalm 119:86 -- God's help when Persecutors attack
/All your commandments are sure;
they persecute me with falsehood: help me!
Psalm 119:86 English Standard Version
Recently I was listening to a podcast where the preacher declared: “All the laws of God are done away with because Jesus Christ has come.” Hmm. Does that mean I can murder now because the Old Testament prohibition against murder is done away with? I don’t think so. The preacher had in mind the New Testament words of Jesus. Now we have the new commandment that we should love one another as I [Jesus] have loved you (John 13:34). Great. What is the shape of that love? What defines whether or not whatever it is I am doing is in conformity with my Father’s good pleasure?
In preaching the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7) Jesus proved the worth of the Ten Commandments. These commandments remain for us the teacher of sin, the pointer to Jesus Himself as the sacrifice of God Who takes away the sin of the world, the rule of thankful living and the just foundation for civil law. All the commandments of God are sure. There is great consistency in the law of God. There is the wonderful way in which it applies to the pauper and to the prince alike. It is justice that is applied to all in every level of society.
All who believe in the Living God will be persecuted for righteousness sake. The fact we trust in God for our life’s direction means we will immediately be at odds with all the non-believers who surround us. Yet, such persecution is refining. The psalmist asks for God’s urgent help. While the persecutors are wrong and will be accountable for their actions, here is the evidence of God’s help in the attack.
The confirmation of right versus wrong. The lovers-of-all-things-false persecuting the righteous serve as a stark reminder that God’s ways are true. Yet His ways are hated by the ungodly. There are clear standards of right and wrong.
The attack of the ungodly helps the righteous man become discerning of his own mixed motives. In the attacks of the rebellious the righteous man will examine his ways and seek to be more purely dedicated to the Living God.
God does help His people in their distress. Ultimately the cry of the psalmist has been answered in Jesus Christ—He is our Helper. He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness, from slavery to sin and the even from the power of the grave.
The help the LORD of Glory provides may be to bring the believers to their knees, praying for the salvation of such attackers. Perhaps the response of the godly man under sustained attack will bring a persecutor to acknowledge his errors, repent and cling to Jesus. It happened with Saul, who used to imprison the followers of Jesus, even approving their death. Yet the Jesus took hold of that man’s heart and made him to be a powerful evangelist.
God of our Salvation, help us when the persecutors attack. By Your Word and Spirit enable us to withstand such assaults and by them become even more sure of our faith, stronger in our confidence in Christ’s atoning work. Bring us to our knees, so that our attackers and persecutors will, one day, join us in praising You as the God Whose mercy and compassion are lavishly given to undeserving people. Spirit of God discipline us and train us in the ways of holiness—ways that still can seem, even after many decades, foreign to us and against our first impulsive reactions. Govern us, Spirit of Holiness by the commandments of God that are sure and faithful. Amen.
