When Life Falls Apart 3: When Enemies Surround

This podcast is brought to you by Walnut Grove Lutheran Church in Langley, DC, in the hope that it will draw you closer to the one who loves you most.

Suspicion quickly fell on Alfred Dreyfus, an officer in the French army.

And within a short period of time, he was arrested, convicted, dismissed from the army in disgrace, and imprisoned in French Guiana.

Within a very short period of time, evidence began to come forth that indicated that Dreyfus was innocent.

And in spite of this, there was a cover-up that began to happen.

You see, the French military leadership and political leadership was largely anti-Semitic.

And Dreyfus was Jewish.

And so he was scapegoated, not because he was guilty, he was innocent, but because he was a Jew.

And in spite of this evidence, and in spite of a public outcry that arose as this scandal spread throughout French society, it took 12 years before Dreyfus was fully exonerated and restored to his place in the military.

And the evidence that exonerated Dreyfus pointed to the real spy, Major Esther Hayes, who was also in the French military.

And in spite of that evidence showing him to be the real spy, he was never punished in any way throughout his entire lifetime.

Now you may never get falsely accused of spying, but many of us have experienced the sensation of being surrounded by enemies.

Perhaps it starts with a false accusation that results in public shame, private pain, and perhaps even expensive legal fees.

Or maybe you are being smeared by inventive gossip that circulates in your school, your workplace, your community, or online.

Or maybe a business associate is threatening to ruin you financially unless you bend to their will.

Sometimes they use rumors, lawsuits, a cold shoulder, or a not so hidden desire to see you fail.

Regardless of the weapons that are used, the pain is real.

And when and when, to the best of our knowledge, we have done nothing to deserve or invite this attack, it makes the pain even worse.

So where do we turn when enemies surround us and no human help comes?

Well, to answer that question, we're going to look at another in the series of Psalms.

Today's Psalm is Psalm 59.

Now, as we do that, we see that this Psalm, like others we have looked at recently, relates to David and a particular moment in his life.

And here's the background to that moment.

After David killed the giant Goliath, and God's people were rescued from their enemies, the Philistines, King Saul brought David into the royal household.

Because the Lord was with David, he had success in whatever Saul sent him to do.

Now, recognizing this, Saul made David a leader in his army.

And David's renown grew so much that when Israel's victorious forces would return, the women would sing, Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands.

Saul became very angry at this and jealous toward David and tried to kill him twice.

But David escaped each time.

Saul kicked David out of his household and put him in command of a smaller force, but David continued to have success upon success.

Saul became afraid because it was now obvious to him that God's presence and favor, which used to be with Saul, were now with David.

And Saul could also see that the people in his kingdom loved David more than they loved him.

So Saul tried to set a trap for David by offering to give him his daughter Michael in marriage, if David could kill 100 Philistines.

But David went out and killed 200 Philistines.

And because she loved David, Michael would not betray him.

The Bible tells us Saul became still more afraid of him.

And he remained his enemy the rest of his days.

Now Saul's son Jonathan, who was a dear friend to David, worked to reconcile his father and his friend, and David was restored once again to Saul's household.

But then another war with the Philistines broke out, and David again had great success in battle.

The old jealousies and angers arose within Saul once again, and again he tried to kill David.

When David escaped unharmed, Saul sent men to watch David's house and kill him in the morning, aware of the plot.

David's wife Michael warned him and helped him escape during the night.

That's the historical background of what happened.

But now let's consider what it was like for David personally.

Wanting to be liked by other human beings is natural for us.

Positive social connections have helped human beings to support one another and survive in the past.

And even today, when life is less harsh, having good relationships with others supports us in our physical and mental health.

And so it's painful for us when people attack or even hate us.

But I think the pain is worse when we're hated or attacked, not because of some wrong thing that we have done, but simply for us being who we are.

Alfred Dreyfus was innocent of any crime, and yet his enemies persecuted him simply because he was a Jew.

David did nothing wrong.

He was simply following God's leading for his life, and yet Saul was trying to kill him for that.

The idea that we often have that doing the right thing will protect us from attack or danger is a lie.

In this broken and fallen world, it simply is not true.

You can do the right thing, and people could still attack you because you are doing the right thing.

And this is David's dilemma.

Enemies have surrounded him and are waiting for the right moment to kill him.

And so he cries out to God, I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.

As it's probably obvious to you by now.

David's complaint that he is surrounded by enemies who want to kill him, even though he has done nothing wrong, makes sense to us.

We would pray the same prayer to God if we were in his shoes.

But David's petition is stunning.

He boldly prays this prayer.

Arise to help me, look on my plight.

You Lord God Almighty, you who are the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations.

Show no mercy to wicked traitors.

David is telling God what to do.

In effect, David is saying, look at my situation and then be the God who you are and deal with these enemies that surround me and want to kill me.

And that's incredible when you think about it.

At least I think so.

And the reason that David can prayer, pray this audacious petition is because he knows God.

And his prayer is based not on who David is or what he has done, but on God, who God is and what God does.

David declares, My God in his steadfast love will meet me.

God will look meet and will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

And David is incredibly bold in his prayer for two reasons.

First, he knows God's uh, the Hebrew word is kessed, but it means faithful, loving kindness.

He knows that God is faithful and loving and kind and merciful.

And second, God knows that in a world filled with evil, danger, brokenness, and risk, it is only God's kessed, his covenant love that never quits, that makes new life and hope for the future possible for us.

We often wonder why things go wrong, but in this world, such as it is, it might make more sense if we wonder why anything ever goes good.

And the reason is because of God's faithful love.

If God does not intervene in this world and in our personal lives in tangible ways, we are utterly doomed.

And but because God is loyal, loving, and kind, we can live with bold confidence that he will rescue us from our enemies.

The beauty and glory of creation testifies that God is powerful and he can save us.

And the way God has shown up for his people across the centuries is evidence that he is moved by his own unfailing character to save us.

He is both able and wants to save us.

When our first parents were cast out of paradise because they disobeyed God, God, who is true to his loyal love, promised to send a descendant of Eve who would crush evil and restore his people.

When God's people, through no fault of their own, found themselves enslaved in Egypt, God humbled a world superpower, miraculously brought them out of slavery and gave them a land of their own.

David knew this big picture pattern of God's faithfulness, but he also knew it personally.

As a young boy watching over his father's sheep, I would imagine that David had a lot of time to think.

He knew that he wasn't the biggest or strongest or oldest son in his family.

And yet God protected him as he fought against lions and bears that were trying to kill the sheep.

And it was bold faith in that same steadfast love of God that led David to confront Goliath's taunts and stand before him with no armor to protect himself and no weapon except for a sling and five smooth stones.

And again, God protected David, and David's trust was rewarded.

Because he had already seen this loyal love of God proven on both a national and personal level, David knew, he knew, he knew, he knew that he could count on it now, even though there were enemies all around him waiting to kill him.

So, what does all of this mean for us?

Well, in times of great need, just like David, we can trust in God's steadfast love and boldly pray for him to act.

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a widow who persistently asks an unbelieving, unjust judge to give her justice in a dispute with her enemy.

The judge finally says to himself, even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually come back and attack me.

And then Jesus says this listen to what the unjust judge says.

And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night?

Will he keep putting them off?

I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly.

If persistent petitions can call forth a response from a judge who is faithless and false, then how much more so can we expect rescue from a God whose justice, mercy, and covenant love are infinite?

In the book Walking Through Pain and Suffering, Georgiana tells her story of what happened when her youngest daughter fell and was injured.

They took her daughter to hospital, and a doctor there reported the case as severe child abuse.

And all three of Georgiana's daughters were taken from her and her husband Ted for nine months.

Georgiana writes, I will never forget the first night away from our daughters.

I was raging, crying out to God, screaming in agony.

Then something powerful happened.

A calmness and warmth spread through me.

I was suddenly aware that God was right there, holding me, raging with me at the injustice, weeping with us, his children.

In that moment, I never felt more protected in all my life.

When the case came to trial, the judge declared that it was unfounded and threw it out before Georgiana and Ted even presented their defense.

In the aftermath of their exoneration, Georgiana and her family were still dealing with like post-traumatic stress symptoms.

And she made repeated attempts to contact the children's hospital where the whole ordeal began.

Finally, the chief of staff and the doctor who made the accusation agreed to meet with them.

During the meeting, Georgiana calmly described every aspect of her family's harrowing experience.

And when she was done, both the chief of staff and the doctor admitted that mistakes were made, and they both said that they were sorry that this had happened to Georgiana and her family.

As she left the meeting, Georgiana hugged the doctor who made the accusation.

She writes, Trust me, I did not feel like showing love to that person, but God did.

And I praise God that he is still writing chapters of our life.

My family and I are humbly grateful for the suffering our Father endured with us.

Without it, we would be comfortably living our old normal instead of courageously living our new normal.

Dear friends, the challenge that I'm setting before you today is this, and it has three parts.

First, immerse yourselves in God's faithful loving kindness.

We see that loving kindness most clearly in the face of God the Son, Jesus Christ, who allowed himself to be surrounded by enemies, who hated him not because he had done something wrong, but because of his goodness, his purity, and his loyal love.

They beat and scourged him, then nailed him to a cross to suffer and die for sins that were not his own.

Jesus placed himself in the care of his loving Father, and on the third day our Father raised him from the dead.

Jesus is alive, and he now rules over all creation for you.

And God tells us that now there is no power in the sky above or in the earth below.

Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Second, when enemies surround you and threaten to destroy you, boldly trust in God's faithful, loving kindness and pray persistently and passionately to God.

Because of Jesus, we know, we know, we know that God loves us.

We know that God is always with us, and we know that we are forever safe with Him.

And then finally, live your life as a song of praise to God for His faithful loving kindness.

Despite the danger he faced, David closes this psalm with these incredibly beautiful words, which I am going to invite you to say aloud with me.

But I will sing of your strength.

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Dear Jesus, we thank you for coming into this world, for living, dying, and rising again to be our Savior, to give us forgiveness of all of our sins and new life with you.

And we pray that by your spirit, Lord, you would help us to grow and living the fullness of that new life.

Help us to remember each day that you are our fortress.

And within you we are both immersed in and able to reflect your faithful, loving kindness into the world around us.

Thank you, Lord, for your love.

We love you too.

We pray these things in your precious name.

And all God's people said, Amen.

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Thank you and God bless us.