Persecution
Suffering and grief is part of the human experience. There isn’t a person alive who has not experienced… experiencing some form of pain. However, I would like us to consider what we do about the pain we suffer from the intentional actions of others? Persecution.
Turn to God
Today we are continuing our series in the Psalms looking at the Imprecatory Psalms. Or as I like to call them, “Smite the living daylights out of them” Psalms, where David wrote about the persecution he suffered from, enemy, family and friends. Let’s look at how he handled persecution.
We read David was well acquainted with injustice, but he also well acquainted with God. With the rawness we associate with his writing, in his Imprecatory Psalms David pours out his pain, grief, and heartache calling on God to act justly and save him. And, if his enemies suffer horrendously in the process, all the better.
1: When persecuted, David turned to God.
Give Thanks
Like a lot of Psalms, Imprecatory Psalms start off with praise:
1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 9:1-2
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
Even before God had intervened, David gave thanks. Here, testifying how he would acknowledge God’s acts to the Assembly. This is not said as a bargain, “if you help me, I’ll praise you”. Rather, with every fibre of his being, David knew God would act. His current and future praise are a foregone conclusion. This confidence was born from a life of experiencing and witnessing the power and authority of God. It was why, even during his worst suffering, David praised God.
2. When persecuted, David Praised God.
Trust
We look to God from the NT—after the work of Christ. David was looking to God from the OT. And yet, even then, he could say with confidence:
7 The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
Psalm 9:7-10
8 He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
3. When persecuted, David trusted God would act.
Endure
But as we read on, we David is giving thanks for that which hadn’t yet happened. We read in verse 13, he’s still suffering… even after the going, and praising, and trusting.
13 Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death.
Psalm 9:11-14
4. When persecuted, David endured.
So, here we have 4 steps to cope with persecution: turn to God; give thanks; trust; and endure.
Simple? Yes, but not easy.
In Due Course
David wrote his Psalms just over 3000 years ago and yet the needy still suffer, God’s followers are still persecuted and evil still triumphs.
So, where is God’s justice?
Where is His equity?
Where is the Avenger of Blood?
One of the things Jesus did best when he was among us was to throw people’s expectations on their ear. He offended the Jews by being the king of a heavenly kingdom rather than challenging Roman rule. Even though He graciously healed many, Spiritual health was his priority. He came to defeat his enemy; Satan, sin and death, not “unclean” humanity. And, unlike some OT prophesy, he didn’t give a timeline for the Father’s final act of judgement.
It’s hard to get our head around God’s schedule, for He operates outside our concept of time. What we are told is, he is waiting “until the full number of the Gentiles has come in” Romans 11:25b. But we are not left in a void whilst we wait. He has come and he has acted in judgement.
Smiting
This is where the Smiting bit comes in. David refers to the avenger of blood in vs 12:
12 For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.
Psalm 9:12
It is a reference to Deuteronomy 32:41, 43
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.
43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.
Deuteronomy 32:41, 43
Christ has come, he has made atonement for his people, he has avenged the blood of his servants, and he has taken vengeance on his enemies: Satan, death and sin.
But Wait, There’s More
We also know,
17 …God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:16-18
As Lee reminded us last week, Romans 8:1—“there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Just like Christ is the fulfilment of the OT law and Prophesies, he is also the realisation of OT cities of Refuge. When someone accidentally committed manslaughter, they could run to a city of refuge and live without condemnation, as long as they stayed within the walls of the city. If they went outside, however, they were fair game for the Avenger of Blood—the person who had the right to claim their life in retribution for their crime.
That’s the good news.
The Flip Side
However, whilst those of us in Christ are guaranteed no condemnation, we are promised persecution. Here in the West, we have been living in a time of grace. David’s experience recorded in the Psalms were not an anomaly. And what’s more, as we heard from Open Doors, and as our brothers and sisters around the world will testify, persecution is a real and present reality.
What do we do when persecution comes to our door? We have gleaned some insight from David which we can confirm with other Scripture.
- Jesus taught that persecution is expected and that we should turn to God – Mathew 10:22 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
- Paul testified we should give thanks —2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
- He demonstrated trust — Romans 8:35 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
- Endurance – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
- And a finally he exhorted us to shine in the Darkness – 2 Corinthians 4:6 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Cake Eating
To gain access to Christ, to be in him, we need to leave everything behind. Everything.
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
Again, it comes down to the choice: within Christ we faced persecution because we are at war with the world; outside of Christ we face judgement—and the Avenger of Blood—because we are at war with God. We can’t have it both ways.
But those of us in Christ surrendered our rights to gain citizenship. Now, when we are wronged, maligned or insulted, it is not us who have been wronged, maligned, or insulted, it is Christ. And what’s more, it’s not for us to retaliate, for that is God’s prerogative.
Paul repeats the passage from Deuteronomy 32:35 in Romans 12:19
19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord.
Romans 12:19
He is the Avenger of Blood, not us.
So What?
As the world moves further into the Darkness, the more our actions as children of Light will stand out. More and more, purely by our actions of following Christ, will we draw persecution. As we have heard, this is not new. David sang about it, Jesus preached it, and Paul wrote about it.
Christ has come, he has made atonement for his people, he has avenged the blood of his servants, and he has taken vengeance on his enemies: Satan, death and sin.
And Christ will come again. We read in verses 17-18 of Psalm 9.
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God.
Psalm 9:17-18
18 But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.
Those who forget God will come to nothing, those who are outside of Christ have no hope. Just like those outside the ark.
Yet, the needy and the afflicted, those who know they need a saviour, those inside the city of Refuge—Christ—have hope.
In the dark days before he returns, our goal is to remain in Christ, to give thanks for what we have received, trust God to be true to his promises, endure, and shine as a light so as many would come into Christ’s city of refuge as possible before He comes again.
