PERSECUTION

 

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1 To the director of the choir. Psalm of David.

2 How long, O Lord, will you forget me completely, how long will you hide your face from me?

3 How long shall I lay counsel in my soul, how long shall sorrow be in my heart day [and night]? How long will my enemy exalt himself over me?

4 Look, hear me, O Lord my God! Enlighten my eyes, may I not fall asleep in the sleep of death;

5 Let not my enemy say, “I have overcome him.” May my persecutors not rejoice if I waver.

6 But I trust in Your mercy; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation; I will sing to the Lord, who has blessed me, [and I will sing to the name of the Lord Most High].

 

    Inside this psalm it is not written, as sometimes happens, what was happening to David at the moment when he wrote this psalm. However, it is clear: this was written when he was in a very difficult situation. This happened twice in his life - when Saul persecuted him, and when those people who were on Absalom’s side did this.

    This topic is a little difficult to understand. We are modern people living in the 21st century, and we have everything we need: food and drink, clothing, houses with amenities, and other than that, as a rule, there is no danger to life. It must be said that not everyone lives like this now - there is a war in Gaza and Ukraine, and over the past year there have been strong earthquakes in several countries. People live very poorly in Africa, as well as in Russia, where only the rich can live normally.

    In fact, it’s very difficult when you live on the street and not at home, when you don’t eat anything for several days, when there’s not even enough water and it’s dirty, when you don’t have warm clothes and you have to freeze. But the worst thing you feel is when someone is following you and wants to kill you.

    Often it happens all together: you lack something and there is no security. It also happens differently when you have everything, but there is a formidable and strong enemy, for example, some bandit or mafioso.

    The wisdom of God is very great: He created us so that we were ready for this. When there is danger, our body contains a lot of adrenaline - the fear hormone, which makes us stronger. But despite this, in this situation we suffer. Of course, each of us has experienced this at least once in our lives, and therefore we are familiar with it.

    Only Jesus Christ had a moment when His Father left Him. It really happened with Him, but when it’s hard for us, when we are depressed, and we think that He has left us, but we must remember that this is not so. But this is in our imagination and we feel this way, and therefore David asks these questions of his from the beginning of the psalm, starting from the very first.

    In such a situation, only faith and only prayer will help us. In addition to adrenaline, we also need an understanding that the Lord is with us. This is despite the fact that the enemy is close, in another minute he will pounce and kill us, and then laugh at us.

    After asking questions in two verses, David makes a request in the psalm. He asks God to answer him. He also asks God to spare his life. How to understand this? We, believers, should not be afraid of death, because we will be alive again after the resurrection from the dead. But at such a moment a person is sometimes not sure of his salvation, and sometimes asks to save his life for the sake of other people, for example, for the sake of loved ones. It's really hard, for example it was with Job. But, as it is written by the Apostle Paul, God will never allow us to suffer more than we can bear, and always gives us consolation and hope.

    Something similar happened not only with ancient Israel, but also in the history of the Christian church. Severe persecution was brought down by Catholics on the reformers of the Middle Ages. The inquisitors rejoiced when they persecuted and killed those who believed differently from them. These servants of Satan tried to inflict as much pain on the Protestants as they could: they beat and tortured, deprived of property, imprisoned and executed in the most brutal way. But it turned out that it was impossible, despite all this, to break those who had real faith until the very end!

    Along with suffering and pain, there are things in our lives that are most important and have value more than any other thing. This is exactly what the last verse of the psalm is about, and it gives strength and hope:

- God's mercy: He loves us as His children, forgives sins and strengthens us - everyone who wants to overcome everything will overcome (not “maybe he will overcome”, but WILL DEFINITELY OVERCOME) - this is His promise.

- Joy: it will always go along with sorrow. When we are persecuted, we must remember that our enemies are nonentities, and our physical pain has an end; and we will not focus on it and think not about pain, but about the future - about joy in a new world without end.

- Blessing: it will be not only in this world, but also on the renewed earth of Eden in the endless kingdom of God. We will return to paradise, perfect and beautiful.

    For these reasons, God is worthy of endlessly praising Him in prayer and singing!