O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me, 2 Lest they tear me like a lion, Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver. 3 O Lord my God, if I have done this: If there is iniquity in my hands, 4 If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, Or have plundered my enemy without cause, 5 Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, And lay my honor in the dust.
Selah
6 Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! 7 So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You; For their sakes, therefore, return on high. 8 The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me.
Again, in this Psalm which we looked at yesterday, David here is feeling the pressure of persecution from his enemies around him. Persecution comes in many forms, physically, verbally, slander, character assassination, etc. Persecution is a must for the believer (Matthew 5:11-12) (John 15:18-20) (2 Timothy 3:10-12). Remember, we are blessed if we suffer for Christ (1 Peter 3:13-17) (1 Peter 4:12-16). It is fiery trials that are used to test our faith in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7). But in them we are to greatly rejoice (James 1:2-3). Paul himself found reason to “glory in tribulations” (Romans 5:3-5). If we must suffer persecution for the faith, let it be for the right reason (1 Peter 4:15-18). If you have to suffer, make sure it is because we are Christians.
We live with the idea that we can exist in our Christian faith without being noticed. The truth is that we have not truly lived our faith until the fire and pressure of scorn and persecution have been applied to us. It proves what we are really made of and how deep we are. Here is the test. Do we fold under the pressure or withstand the onslaught.