Sunday Psalm Facing Injustice With God
Sunday October 2, 2016
O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me. You mean nothing to them. But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:14-15 NLT)
Whether it's violent gangs that shoot at one another to maintain control of the drug trade or terrorist groups like ISIS, there seem to be more and more groups whose sole motivation is rooted in hatred towards another group of people. Governments try to limit the damage done by these groups but daily news reports continue to tell the ugly stories.
On a personal level, we find it relatively easy to forgive some people who have disappointed us, but there are others whose actions towards us have caused deeply rooted hatred in our hearts. A comment or action from these people, or someone of similar character, triggers fear and anger in us and out of our mouths spew harsh and bitter words. At other times, we just sit with our thoughts and rehearse in our heads what we need to do to cut those people out of our lives.
God is very aware that there are angry and violent people in our lives who seek to harm us. He wants us to find safety with Him in the center of His compassion and mercy. His love is unfailing and He is faithful to show us it to us at all times.
Now the hard part of this lesson. As long as we hold hatred towards anyone, we are as guilty as the ISIS fighter who beheads innocent people or the gang member who guns down an enemy's family member. God wants to meet us at our place of anger and hurt and pour His love and healing into us. While we may need to maintain healthy boundaries with certain people, there is a transformation of our hearts that God invites us to. We are called to be filled with compassion and mercy towards even those who have hurt us.
Seem impossible? With God all things are possible. The question is, do we want God’s way of unfailing love towards others, or, our own way of limited forgiveness and acceptance? God’s way leads to life. Our own way? We know where that has taken us in the past!
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