“From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this: From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me. My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows. But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.” Psalms‬ ‭129:1-4‬

Sometimes it seems like the whole world is against you and you can’t catch a break. You try to make a difference and you’re misunderstood. You live as best you can for Jesus only to be ridiculed. You may have even been thrown under the bus a few times by those you trusted.

You read the Bible. You pray. You do the very best you can to make a difference in other peoples lives and it seems like they don’t listen and they don’t care. In fact, sometimes they turn on you and call you all kinds of names or even attack you.

I wonder if that’s how the Psalmist felt when he wrote these verses. He bore the scars of an entire life of attack, pain and rejection. He didn’t play the victim card. He was a victim! I wonder if that’s not how Paul felt when he said we are beaten down, we are persecuted but we will prevail.

As a Jesus follower, life can be a a good news/bad news situation. Life will be full of a lot of disappointments. Life will be full of a lot of pain. We will be attacked for preaching the message of Godliness to the godless.

But as believers in Jesus we have this to look forward to. Ultimate victory is ours through Jesus. So hang in there. Don’t be discouraged. It may seem dark now but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is Jesus.

The psalmist ends these verses with a promise to hang onto in the upcoming darkness of hatred.

“But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.”