Psalm 35:16

Psalm 35:16  

How to make enemies     

Do you remember, in the school playground, when some unfortunate kid became the centre of attention and a group would gather round and start to jeer and chant and mock the victim. The taunts were personal, nasty and vindictive and the target suffered a terrible indignity and would usually be in tears. In my childhood and youth there were always some popular, dominant kids who master-minded such events and there were unpopular, cowering weaklings who were the butt of the taunting.  This verse of the Psalm suggests that the mighty King David was in the second group, that a crowd of jeering accusers encircled the King and mocked him with malicious jibes and evil allegations. I find myself empathising with David as he cowered before the bullies and slumped into despair at their triumphant mockery. If you have been the victim of such abuse, isn’t it encouraging to know that a man like David also endured it? He used it to make him stronger and wiser but also to make him more dependent on his Lord. 

There is more than a hint here in these verses of the ignominy of the Lord Jesus who, in His suffering, endured taunts and jeering and mockery and slander and the false accusations of His enemies. Among them were men who had once claimed to be His friends and who had appeared to look up to Him. Now, empowered by the dragon from hell, they dared to confront and abuse the Son of God. They gnashed their teeth in anger and yet all He had done was to love them and reveal God to them. Such is the hatred of the enemy towards our God and the hatred of the world towards God’s people. If we speak out, we will make enemies!

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