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Week 9

I am pleading for your help, O Lord; for I have been honest and have done what is right, and you must listen to my earnest cry! Publicly acquit me, Lord, for you are always fair. You have tested me and seen that I am good. You have come even in the night and found nothing amiss and know that I have told the truth…

Protect me as you would the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings as you hover over me. My enemies encircle me with murder in their eyes..

Lord, arise and stand against them. Push them back! Come and save me from these men of the world whose only concern is earthly gain – these men whom you have filled with your treasures so that their children and grandchildren are rich and prosperous.

But as for me, my contentment is not in wealth but in seeing you and knowing all is well between us. And when I awake in heaven, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you fact to face. Psalm 17:1-3, 8-9, 13-15 (TLB)

Have you ever wanted vindication? I can raise my hand on that! Whether it’s “winning” a discussion with my husband or seeing MY baseball team annihilate a rival, I have desired vindication.

Validation is a close cousin to vindication. Many times they travel together. When I am vindicated, my worth, my integrity, I might even say, my name, is validated.

David, or this psalm writer, humbly cries out to God because He knows THAT is where His vindication will come! Linda Smith, a woman of God who has mentored youth for many years, tells the young people, “What God says about you is the most true thing about you”.

Who I am, what I am worth is not defined by my job, my boss, my family, parents, the people I call friends, or even the church that I attend. So anything that they might say against me – what do I care? If God didn’t say it – it isn’t totally true!

What God says about me – now those are defining words:

For I am God – I only – and there is no other like me who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. I will call that swift bird of prey from the east – that man Cyrus from far away. And he will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it and I will. Isaiah 46:10-11 (TLB)

Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are getting to know him better. But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God – for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his death. In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God, but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins. 1 John 4:7-12 (TLB)

Questions: Who does God say I am?

What does He say about me in Scripture?