THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 35
“Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God; do not let them gloat over me.” (Psalm 35:27)
Have you ever been betrayed by a friend, have you ever been bullied by your peers?
David feels like garbage, rejected by people he trusted and had been good to.
This psalm is his prayer for vindication, for God to rise up over rejection.
If you cannot relate to what David is saying, try to imagine it.
All over the world there are people feeling this rejection… even those around you.
I just read of a boy with same-sex attraction who took his life because of how his family treated him.
Sin has really messed up our world, and daily the victims pile up all around.
‘Do something God, do not be silent, rise to their defence!’
Jesus stepped into this mess, He too was betrayed by those who He loved.
But sin and Satan did not crush His spirit, He beat them with His goodness and love.
Jesus is our vindication, our hope that we too will lifted up from rejection and oppression.
Without God and Jesus, there is no hope for vindication, no assurance of things being made right.
But God is bigger than rejection; Jesus is bigger than oppression… love triumphs over hate!
Let the bullied be hopeful, and the bullies be humbled: God will set things right in the end!
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, strengthen the bullied with hope and courage. Silence the bullies, make them face the ugliness of their behaviour so that can come to their senses and stop!