Psalm 129:1-4 - They have greatly oppressed me from my youth-- let Israel say-- they
have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me. Plowmen have plowed my back and made their
furrows long. But the LORD is righteous;
he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked
This is another anonymous psalm…some
believe to be written by Hezekiah. He speaks of great persecution…from the time
he was born. Then he speaks the power of
God over any persecution…to break the chains that persecution develops over our
mind and heart.
I am thinking that even though I have been
made fun of for my faith…I really have no concept of the furrows….the deep cuts
on this writer’s back. My persecution is
limited to verbal abuse…a taunting of sorts that non-Christians sometimes
resort to when they don’t understand our faith. But this writer was suffering from physical
pain…deep cuts made in the back from a whip…a punishment…or a deterrent to
speaking about God in that day.
Jesus bore those stripes…the he bore a
heavy cross to die for our sins….completely innocent of any wrong doing. He broke the chains that once held death for
me and for you. Nothing can ever
completely destroy me…because my heart and soul belong to him. Paul says it
best in 2 Corinthians 5:8…. “We are confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
Father…thank you for reminding me that you provided a way
for me to always conquer persecution.
Thank you for sending your son Jesus to die on that cross and make a way
for me to break any chain of the world and always speak boldly of what you have
done to save me. I thank you that you provided for me a place to live in
freedom….and I pray this morning that
you pour your great love out on my many friends in places of the world where Christians
are physically beat and tortured. Give
them a sense of peace…that you have saved them…and they will live with you…no
matter what the world brings to their life. Amen.
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