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Malicious Accusations

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:12-14)

         A couple days ago, I wrote about our enemies sometimes being those closest to us or just being our circumstances. Tonight, I’m feeling their attack. Everyone faces struggles. I don’t want to pretend that mine are anything special. The only thing they are is mine. To make things worse, the malicious accusations are likely true. I am quite likely all that those who hate me claim I am. That doesn’t mean they aren’t malicious. They are false witnesses not because what they say isn’t true, but because the only reason they’re saying it is to hurt me. I should know… I’m one of those witnesses. In the middle of the night, when I’ve been failing…again…at seemingly everything important that I try to do. When all the good-intentions go out the window because I’m afraid that something bad will happen and Dad seems hell-bent on making sure it does… I’m one of those false witnesses spouting malicious accusations about myself.
         I don’t get the impression that David had that problem. He was always pretty confident of his innocence and guilt, and if he could be said to wallow in either, it was in his innocence. But the reality is that it doesn’t matter who the false witnesses are, or what malicious accusations they spout. David was more confident in the Lord. He would see the goodness of the Lord, and it wouldn’t be in the sweet by and by. He would see it in the land of the living.
         I’ve said before that when you’re in pain, the world – the universe – narrows down to that pain. I suspect it’s not only true of pain. It’s true of grief, sorrow, anger, frustration, and probably all of the negative emotions. That may be why they are negative emotions. They separate us from awareness of good, and from awareness of God. They are meant to guide us back to God, but so often, they are false witnesses spouting malicious accusations about God.
         I need to keep my eyes open. I need to wait for the Lord, to be strong, to take heart, and to wait on the Lord because somewhere in the land of the living, tonight, or tomorrow, or maybe the next day, if I keep looking, I will see the good of the Lord.

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