“Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” (Psalm 3:2 NKJV)
“Listen to how they whisper their slander against me saying: “Look! He’s hopeless! Even God can’t save him from this!” (Psalm 3:2 TPT)
“So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!” (Psalm 3:2 NLT)
“Many are saying of me, “There is no help [no salvation] for him in God.” (Psalm 3:2 AMP)
“Many say about me, “There is no help for him in God.” (Psalm 3:2 HCSB)
“There are many who say to my soul, “You have no salvation in your God.” (Psalm 3:2 ABIPE)
Now we’re back to, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words have power to kill me.” There are times when people will use their tongues like knives to cut me apart. Most times I am able to deflect hurtful words and keep on going. However, every now and then I will let my guard down and then, “Bam!” a stab to the heart or a knife in my back.
It especially hurts when cutting words come from those who are closest to me. Those are the one’s whose words can easily penetrate my defenses. Can you imagine how David must have been feeling in writing this Psalm as he was fleeing from his son? I have a son who has cut me out of his life over religious and political differences. The day that he told me I was no longer his father was one of the darkest days in my life. He cut my heart out of my chest and trampled it under foot. But you know what? I am not offended or angry. I am standing at the window watching for his return with open arms, ready to run to meet him. My heart is no longer broken as I have taken hold of the healing that is mine in Christ.
The most cutting words are those that are intended to steal my joy, and leave me without hope. David placed all of his hope in his Heavenly Father. For those around him to say that there was no help from God was the harshest verbal attack that he could ever receive. When my son told me that there is no God, that Jesus is simply a historical figure who was not the incarnate God (God in human form), that the Bible was not the inspired Word, and that he wanted nothing to do with “Christians like me,” he knew he was hitting me at the core of my being. Like David, I place all of my eggs in one basket and put all of my hope in God.
I have had to learn how to keep a tender heart while living in a thick skin. I need to maintain a listening ear to those around me while at times operating with selective hearing. Words that could weaken my relationship with my Daddy need to be tuned out. The enemy wants all of us to doubt the help that comes from God. If he can get us to question our salvation then he can start to bring oppression into our lives.
I will think about what messages I am allowing to enter into my heart and mind as I consider…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 293 When Life Seems To Be Against Me. (Psalm 3) – Part 3 – Verse 2