Vindicate Me, Lord

 People can be very cruel. I believe we all have times, when it seems that others are out to make us miserable. They may have a reason to say bad things or do bad things to us, or they may just be taking out their built up anger on us for no real reason. Whatever causes people to hurt us, it still is  very unpleasant for us. The terrible part of these situations is that people can say or do anything they choose, even if they are speaking lies. Often, we can't respond because gossip and slander spread so quickly. What should we do when this happens to us? I believe David had the right solution. It may be the only real solution, at times. (Psalm 35:24) He cried out to the Lord his God and asked God to vindicate him in keeping with God's righteousness. David did this because he did not want people rejoicing over his troubles. I think we all know how David felt, so what do we need to do?

We can't stop attacks from others by attacking them back. Jesus told us to love our enemies and those who come against us to harm us. I know that is very difficult, but the only way to end the attacks is to not fight back, and to love the person into being our friend, not our enemy. In the process of doing this, we need to pray for strength from the Lord, and we need to ask Him to vindicate us in the eyes of those who have been told lies about us, or who have been told the truth to hurt us. When we sincerely pray like this, God will intervene and set things right according to His righteousness. He will lovingly show people that what is being said or done is not reflective of who we are. Then, people will not rejoice over us, but they will mourn along with us that we are being hurt. I believe we all need this vital truth for those hard times in our lives.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 36-38.