Psalm 64
Bible Passage: Psalm 64
Another psalm by David which encourages us to rejoice despite oppression by the wicked.
Today we shall look at this psalm from the other perspective. Although we are True Jesus Church members, are we wicked in the eyes of people around us?
I will pick out 2 verses that I can identify with.
1) Secret plots of the wicked
While we do not plot to kill people, do we secretly wish for the downfall of others? At work, do we backstab our team mates to make them look bad in front of our bosses, so that we could secure that promotion?
At school, do we refuse our classmates when they ask to borrow our lecture notes, so that they do not perform better in examinations?
Do we play mind games with our “competitors”?
While these may be too insignificant to be termed as “wicked” actions, we ought to examine ourselves and remove all these thoughts and plots lest they fester.
2) Who sharpen their tongue like a sword
It is difficult not to vent frustrations on people around you when you get angry. We tend to say mean and hurtful words towards others, especially in moments of anger. But once the anger ebbs away, regret sets in, but words can never be taken back.
The tongue is a powerful weapon indeed. Sometimes we cannot control the words that spew out from our mouths.
However, are there times when we are able to control our tongues, but we purposely think of nasty and sarcastic words to attack people we dislike?
When people offend us we should not let our anger buildup or wallow in our unhappiness, “sharpening our tongues like a sword” while waiting for an opportunity to bruise our enemies.
As TJC members we need to set ourselves apart from this world. In the society today, people trample on each other’s feelings without remorse. Unfortunately this could happen in families too.
May God have mercy on all of us.
2 Comments
YSL
I’m glad for this reading today, made me change my mind about doing something I might have regretted. Thank you.
Sherman
If the wicked knows their wickedness and the punishments that come with it would they remain wicked? I think not.
Jesus was crucified on the cross with the utmost cruelty and wickedness yet His answer to all these great atrocities was “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they are doing”.
I believe Jesus knows better than us why He needed to ask for forgiveness for these seemingly wicked people, although we see Him frequently denouncing their false teachings. Jesus of all people is capable of judging these people and sending their souls to hell, yet He beseeched forgiveness for them for their blindness! Why?
I believe there’s a very simple reason but one that is difficult to perceive fully. And that is, Whatever harm the wicked does to you, they do only to your physical body, whatever evil they accumulate they do so only to themselves.
The Bible teaches us that Christians bear no grudges against people because they live not for themselves but for God. Why would a person who lives not to himself/herself even bear a grudge against his/her neighbor? Does that even make sense? If there’s any enmity for such a person, it would be spiritual in nature, yet then there would be scant need for any physical aggression.
The fact that we so willingly oblige ourselves to personal grudges show we are still worldly in our nature.
James 4:1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?