Devotional - June 23, 2004

David knew the tendency of his heart. In Psalm 141, we have one of the most moving of his prayers. He asked God to guard his mouth, keep his feet from evil and his soul above the temptations of the world. These are things for which we should all pray. But I wonder if that's really what we want or are we fooling ourselves?

For instance, how do you deal with criticism? There are two kinds: constructive and destructive. Constructive criticism is a kind of rebuke. David asked God to give him a heart that was willing to not only receive rebuke, but welcome it. But destructive criticism is not well intentioned. David called it evil and those who do it, evil doers.

David didn't want to get caught up in the sin of evil doers. He recognized the need to deal with sin and leave God to deal with the sinner. Still, what does a righteous man do when assaulted by those who are seemingly hell bent on destroying, not only God's message but God's messenger?

The answer is not as difficult as it might seem. In fact, when you see the problem as does God, you're ninety-percent there. The other ten percent is a the willingness to not personalize the things evil doers against you. While it might seem there are very personal, an attack against God's man doing God's work is really an attack against God, not the messenger. No matter how much you want to defend God, He can defend himself, and very well, I might add.

Where can you get examples of men attacking the messenger of God's word? The book of Acts in the New Testament is filled with examples. Also, virtually every chapter of the Old Testament is littered with men and women who had enemies who didn't seem to fear God or what He would do to them for their transgression.

May we learn a lesson from David's life: "My prayer is against the deeds of the evil doers and not the evil doers. Perhaps the worst thing they can suffer is to realize You are speaking through me. The regret of that alone may be the worst punishment. But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge; keep me from the snares laid and the traps set by Your enemies; Let me pass through in safety and when they check to see why their trap failed, may they fall into it as that would prove justice for You, them and me." (Psalm 141:5b-10 - Paraphrase)

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru (2 Ki. 4:18-5:27 Ac. 15:1-31 Ps. 141:1-10 Pr.17:23 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society