Jason Silver

Friday, May 24th, 2019

Do you have any enemies?

It's kind of weird to think about; when I think of the word “enemy,” I imagine some silhouetted figure, hiding in the shadows, waiting to take me down.

Stop for a moment, and recall those who might seem to be against you. The Psalms make mention of enemies quite a bit, so I think it's a worthy consideration. Maybe you know of people who gossip about you behind your back, or accuse you of things you don't do. Maybe their war against you is more subtle than the stranger in the alleyway. Perhaps they're kind to your face, but slander you to others.

In the early days of Christianity, believers in the Messiah were persecuted as well. The people of the Roman Empire accused Christians of all kinds of deviant behaviour:

· They were accused of hostility to the emperors and conspiracy against the state.
· They were accused of incest.
· They were accused of cannibalism (eating the Lord's supper).
· They were accused of being atheists.
· They were accused of being “haters of humanity.”
· They were accused of being the reason why problems plagued the empire.

Of course, none of these things were true. Christians were good citizens and prayed for the emperor, they lived pure moral lives, and never practiced anything like cannibalism! They were certainly not atheists! Haters of humanity? Christians loved others, and showed it all the time. They made the empire better, not worse.

These lies were commonly held and believed, and Christians were persecuted because of them. The apologists of the early church did what they could to tell the truth, but it was a losing public-relations battle.

There are many mistruths and much disinformation held about Christians, even today. Christians are accused of being child molesters, truth deniers, violence lovers, overbearing and domineering, angry and obstinate.

Yes, we sin, and yes, we fall short of God's ideal for us, but like David, in verse 4, we can say, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

Let's join as brothers and sisters for humanity, to consider the poor, to maintain integrity, and to live as God would have us live!

Amen.

Source: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-41/