Verses 1-7, “In the Lord I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, 'Flee as a bird to your mountain'? For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.”
One thing is for certain...we are not paranoid in thinking that we have an enemy's target on our backs. Those who have dedicated themselves to following Christ, have made themselves an enemy to the world, because they are under the away of the wicked one. II Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” The hatred we experience, however, is not because of us; but rather because of their rejection of Jesus. He came to shine His light on the darkness of the world, and they do not like it one bit. They love their darkness instead. John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
We may think we can flee from danger, and the world's advice might be to attempt this; but as those covered by the blood of Christ, we can stand strong in the face of adversity. Besides, we need to fear God more than man, because there is no fleeing from Him. Psalms 139:7-12, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall fall on me,' Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.”
In light of this, we need to keep our focus on eternal things, and remember who is in control. The Lord's throne is in heaven. So even if your life on this earth looks bleak, we know that this is not our home. We can look forward to our final resting place in the presence of an awesome, mighty God. Along with that, we also know the final destiny for our enemies, who are really the enemies of God...Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup. Therfore, we pray for the lost that they might get saved, loving our enemies just as Jesus did and knowing our vindication will come from on High in due season.
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