Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. 15 Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, “Aha, aha!” 16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!” 17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.
—Psalm 40:14-17
When we’re surrounded by difficulties and it feels like we’re being attacked from every direction, even then the Lord wants us to have a confident rest in Him. This is not physical rest (although that’s waiting for us in eternity) but the sense of assurance that no matter by what means the enemies of God seek to destroy us, the gates of hell will not prevail against God’s children (Matthew 16:18). David prays that they will be confounded, driven back, and brought to dishonor, including those who gloat, “Aha! We’ve got them!” Then we who seek God will rejoice in Him, our Help and our Deliverer, and we can say with full assurance, “The Lord be magnified!” It’s comforting to read this reminder that although he was poor and needy, the Lord was “thinking upon” David. He knew in his heart the same thing that Jeremiah would later write: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. . . .And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart . . . ” (vv. 11-14).
Similarly, in Matthew 10, the Lord reminded His disciples not to fear those who can “kill the body but cannot kill the soul . . . Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. . . . Do not fear, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (vv. 28-31). Jeremiah reminds us, like the author of Hebrews, that whom the Lord loves, He chastens. Even though we may often bear the consequences of our sin in this life, God says, “I’m thinking about you, and I will restore you.” So whether the enemies of God seek to oppress us or due to our own sin the Lord must discipline us, He is always thinking about us and doing what’s best. Take heart! Nothing the devil tries to do can stop God.
No matter how bad things get in our lives, we can hold onto this thought: The next life will be nothing like this one! In 1 John 3:2 we read that when we see Him, we’ll be like Him, and the power of sin will have no hold on us. In Hebrews 4:15, we’re told that Jesus was tempted in all ways that we are and yet was without sin. And that’s how we’ll be! We’ll no longer need to feel sorry or ashamed, because there’s no evil or temptation of any kind in heaven, thus no sin or need of repentance. We’ll never live under the threat of death again. The devil thought he had dealt with Christ on the cross, but the one who really got nailed was the devil! Satan lost. Death was forever defeated. The devil can’t defeat Christians by killing them because they go straight to the presence of the Lord. He can’t stop the church, because the Bible says that the kingdom of hell will not prevail against it, but he still tries threatening the church with political correctness, laziness, and biblical illiteracy. Christians, we should delight to do God’s will because we know the One who has saved our soul, and His Word is forever implanted in our hearts. May we pray like David, “You are my help and my deliverer. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”
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