{"id":3565,"date":"2016-10-06T19:15:07","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T01:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3565"},"modified":"2016-10-06T19:15:07","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T01:15:07","slug":"the-defender-of-his-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=3565","title":{"rendered":"The Defender of His People"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0<\/strong>“My back is covered with cuts,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>But the Lord<\/span> is good;<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.”<\/em> Psalm 129:3,4 NLT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In this psalm of ascent we see a reflection of God’s people on their past history. The psalm opens with this observation, “From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Let all Israel repeat this:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me,<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>but they have never defeated me.”<\/em> (Psalm 129:1,2 NLT)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The history of the creation of the nation of Israel is one of struggle, challenge, hardship and persecution. At times they were their own “worst enemy” at others times they were the “victims” and object of scorn. When life brings that level of hardship and it seems to characterize your history it can impact your perspective.<\/p>\n

But instead of spewing bitterness and resentment we see a recognition of God’s intervention and faithfulness.\u00a0“…but they have never defeated me.” <\/em>and \u00a0“But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Even though the wounds and scars may serve as a reminder of the harsh and unjust punishment, there is a focus on the Lord’s faithfulness. That can make a big difference in our lives, as we are confronted with the injustices and hardships of life. Is it possible to experience, “the worst” and yet still come out with rejoicing? I believe that is what we see in this psalm.<\/p>\n

The last half of this psalm is a prayer or declaration of the Lord judging those who would punish and mistreat God’s people. “May all who hate Jerusalem<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>be turned back in shameful defeat.”<\/em> (Psalm 129:5 NLT) The psalm pronounces a desire for God’s enemies to “get what they deserve.” To be useless, in need and without blessing.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The last verse says, “And may those who pass by<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>refuse to give them this blessing:\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201cThe Lord<\/span> bless you;<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>we bless you in the Lord<\/span>\u2019s name.\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 129:8 NLT)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What is interesting is to see the “higher” calling Jesus gives to His followers. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,<\/span> <\/em>bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”<\/em> (Luke 6:27 NIV)<\/span><\/p>\n

These verses stand in stark contrast. I believe most of us identify with the response at the end of Psalm 129 opposed to Jesus instructions in the “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus to His disciples challenged them to a “higher” response. One that reflects God’s character and nature. We read that the Lord, “does not treat us as our sins deserve.”<\/em> (Psalm 103:10 NIV) How the Lord treat us, we are in turn to treat others. That is a challenge and certainly a “supernatural” response, not our “natural” response.<\/p>\n

So we can see that in the midst of unjust treatment, we can still recognize the Lord’s faithfulness and we can follow Jesus’ call to “love”, “bless” and “pray” for those who mistreat us.<\/p>\n

Prayer for today…<\/strong>\u00a0Lord, just the thought of the challenge of Your words is difficult to understand and put into practice. However, help us to understand Your love for us, even when we fail. Enable us to see Your hand working in the most difficult times of our life and help our response to be one that honors You.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…\u00a0“My back is covered with cuts,\u00a0as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.\u00a0But the Lord is good;\u00a0he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.” Psalm 129:3,4 NLT In this psalm of ascent we see a reflection of God’s people on their past history. The psalm opens with this observation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3566,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3565\/revisions\/3566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}