Psalm 94:16

Psalm 94:16

Who will stand with me?

This verse of the Psalm is a bit of a puzzle. Who is asking the questions here? Is it the Lord or is it the man who penned the Psalm? In one sense, I’m not sure if the Lord needs us to rise up against the wicked, or to take a stand against evildoers. How can we stand against them? How can we ever know all of the facts as He does and make a balanced judgement about them. Yes, we do have to make a stand at times, but the command of Jesus was to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel”, for that is the weapon that he has given us with which to fight the darkness of this world. He did not ask us to form protest groups or to launch anti-corruption campaigns. 

I think the writer of the Psalm is asking these questions because he feels isolated and without friends, and he cannot take much more of the onslaughts of evil.  He longs for protection, for the tide of wickedness to turn for he fears for his life. Only the Lord can help him. Only God can turn things around and send his enemies fleeing.

There is a lesson here for us. There will be occasions when life becomes very dark and overwhelming, when troubles loom all around us and when we are desperate for support, but no one comes, no one offers to fight for us and no one seems to care. It is then that we turn to the Lord by faith and beg that He will hear us from heaven and stand against the forces that oppress us. The good news is, that in our moments of deepest desperation – God will be there! Hallelujah!

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