Psalm 119:78 (NKJV) 78Let the proud be ashamed, For they
treated me wrongfully with falsehood; But I will meditate on Your precepts.
What is our attitude when someone treats us the wrong
way? What do we spend our day or days
thinking about?
It is very easy when something is said or done to us to
begin to reflect upon the situation, to replay the conversation or situation
over and over again. But what does this
accomplish besides getting us more upset and preventing us from accomplishing
what we need to do because we cannot concentrate. It causes us to lose sleep and productivity.
Let them be “ashamed” or “put to shame” for they treated me
wrongfully with falsehood. This is
something that we can trust God to deal with; we don’t have to figure out how
to get them back on our own. We know
from Proverbs that a lying tongue is one of the things that the LORD hates (Pr.
6:17). God will judge he does not let
sin go unpunished.
Further the psalmist states that he would meditate on God’s
precepts. A precept is a direction, a
regulation a principle instructing to do a certain action, which is to be obeyed by
all in same society of the covenant[1]
When our mind is meditating on what we are to do in
obedience to God rather than what someone else did we can more easily trust God
to deal with those who sin against us in their evil.
One of the principles regarding those who treat us
wrong that we are to remember comes in the book of Romans . In chapter 12 verses 17-21
Paul challenges us with the following actions as
members of the body of Christ.
17Repay
no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
18If
it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
19Beloved,
do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written,
“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
20Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in
so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21Do
not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.( Romans 12:17–21)
When we choose to meditate upon how God wants us to
respond to others and choose to follow His precepts we can enjoy fellowship
with him. When we fail to meditate upon
His precepts and put our mind on how someone has done us wrong we may find
ourselves avenging their actions with our own in thereby trying to take the
place of God in avenging evil. Our we so
proud to think that we can do God’s job better than He? We indeed may be at times, but our prayer is
that we would walk in obedience as we meditate upon God’s precepts even in
light of attacks by others.
Note: The video format for this is available at www.fbclitteltonil.org/FirstWord.html
[1]
James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical
Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), electronic ed.
(Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
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