Monday, January 28, 2019 -
This morning I was blessed reading Psalm 94 and II Timothy. David said, “For the Lord will not abandon His people, not will He forsake His inheritance. For judgment will again be righteous, and all the upright in his heart will follow it. Who will stand up against evil-doers? Who will take His stand for me against those who do wickedness? … When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul. Can a throne of destruction be allied with Thee, One which devises mischief by decree? They band themselves together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord has been my stronghold and the rock of my refuge. And He has brought back their wickedness upon them, and will destroy them in their evil; the Lord our God will destroy them.” These are pretty harsh words, but Scripture says it, I didn’t write them. I can’t help but think here the “destruction of the innocent” is prophetic of the slaughter of the unborn today – or, as “legalized” in New York State, the recently born.
Paul then wrote to Timothy in II Timothy 2:8-13, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the Word of God is not imprisoned, for this reason, I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.”
These are encouraging words for me from another who “suffered hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal,” like me. But the apostle Paul suffered for greater than me for the sake of Christ, yet I can most definitely relate as never before!