Over the weekend I heard a great teaching and again, I’m going to pass it along to you… but with my own twist! If you’re human, then there has been a time when you were treated harshly by others simply because of being misunderstood. And if it hasn’t happened to you yet, don’t worry because it will. As I write this, I’m reminded of something, actually it’s screaming in my mind…Whenever God calls you to do something, it doesn’t matter what it is, you will always meet up with opposition, and most of that opposition COMES FROM YOUR OWN CAMP!Amen?
There is a right response to being misunderstood, and there is a wrong response. Before we get into that, let me lead you to 1 Samuel 18: 6-8, after David killed Goliath…
When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals. This was their song:
“Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!”
This made Saul very angry. “What’s this?” he said. “They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!” So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”
David was misunderstood. He had no intentions to hurt Saul. David claimed many times that “he would never harm the Lord’s Anointed!” To make a long story short, Saul chased David many years – trying to kill him. When we look at Psalm 59, the Bible tells us that David composed this psalm at the time Saul sent soldier’s to watch David’s house in order to kill him. In this psalm, I see three Biblically correct responses to being misunderstood… Our first response is found in Verse 9 “You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress.” The first response is to depend only on God. David prayed for God’s deliverance, and turned to God in this painful time. This seems obvious to us, but it can’t be that obvious because many Christians take matters into their own hands. They make things or people substitutes for God. Pain like this often brings us to our knees. Could it be that God strips us from any earthly comforts… or He removes our crutch so we can learn to depend only on Him?
We continue and we read in verse 13…
“Destroy them in your anger! Wipe them out completely! Then the whole world will know that God reigns in Israel”
Wow. Our second response is to pray for those who hurt or mistreat us, but we are not… I repeat… we are not to pray that God wipes them out! Remember that David lived in Old Testament days under the Abrahamic covenant (“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” Genesis 12:3). We need to pray that God would work in their life, bless and restore them. This takes A LOT of God’s grace! Our feelings don’t matter.
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” Matthew 5: 43
“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.” Romans 12: 14
I see the third response as rejoicing in the Lord. Despite the presence of his enemies, David rejoices in verse 16…
“But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.”
