Skip to main content

What Can Mere Mortals Do To Me?


When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 118:5-6)

What can mere mortals do to me? Um…
Abandon,
Abuse,
Accuse,
Beat,
Belittle,
Betray,
Bully,
Cheat,
Deceive,
Defraud,
Enslave,
Extort
Forsake,
Humiliate,
Imprison,
Insult,
Kill,
Leave,
Misrepresent,
Murder,
Persecute,
Rape,
Ridicule,
Rob,
Slander/libel,
Torture,
Trick….
     I’m sure I’ve missed a few, and I’m sure David was aware of at least a few of them. Given all of the commandments in the Old Testament, it’s evident that God was aware of these things, too. So why would God include these words of David in Scripture? Why would David say them? Perhaps more importantly, why should we repeat them instead of laughing them off as the idiocy they seem to be?
          I’m reminded of the story of Abraham taking Isaac off to a mountain, tying him up, and raising a dagger to sacrifice him to God. How could God have asked it of Abraham? How could Abraham have obeyed? It’s the same sort of idiocy. The answer is “Because God.” Abraham could obey because God had told him that his descendants would outnumber the stars and sand and that they would be his through Isaac. Likewise, David had been promised that he would be king and that his son would rule forever. Until or unless those things were accomplished, no matter how tough things got, “the fat lady” hadn’t sung.
          Of course, God hasn’t given me quite that sort of promise. There are lots of promises in Scripture that we can claim, and I claim I believe that God will keep them, but do I really? If I believed that He will never leave me, nor forsake me, would my life look like it does? If I believed that He will complete the work He began in me, would I live as I do? There is one promise that I believe God has given me personally, and that is that He will make sure I don’t miss my “exits” on my road through life. Do I even live as though I believe that one? Sometimes. 
          David knew that he and his son would be king. Abraham knew that Isaac would have children. And no matter how things look, I haven’t come to an exit that has my name on it since the last one. You may have a different promise that you can hold onto. You might have more than one. Hold onto it or them so tightly that it doesn’t matter what someone else may do to you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more