Friday, April 18, 2014

Psalm 35:19-28

Psalm 35:19-28 
Common English Bible (CEB) 

  19 Don’t let those who are my enemies without cause celebrate over me; don’t let those who hate me for no reason wink at my demise. 20 They don’t speak the truth; instead, they plot false accusations against innocent people in the land. 21 They speak out against me, saying, “Yes! Oh, yes! We’ve seen it with our own eyes!”
  22 But you’ve seen it too, Lord. Don’t keep quiet about it. Please don’t be far from me, my Lord. 23 Wake up! Get up and do justice for me; argue my case, my Lord and my God! 24 Establish justice for me according to your righteousness, Lord, my God. Don’t let them celebrate over me. 25 Don’t let them say to themselves, Yes! Exactly what we wanted! Don’t let them say, “We ate him up!” 26 Let all those who celebrate my misfortune be disgraced and put to shame! Let those who exalt themselves over me be dressed up in shame and dishonor!
  27 But let those who want things to be set right for me shout for joy and celebrate! Let them constantly say, “The Lord is great— God wants his servant to be at peace.” 28 Then my tongue will talk all about your righteousness; it will talk about your praise all day long.

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  Good Friday is a day that seems like evil wins.  On Good Friday, it looks like death and the forces of evil have won.  On Good Friday, all seems dark.
  And yet, the light shines in the darkness.  Even today, while we mourn the reality of sin and death, we know the Easter truth.  Even today, we hold onto the hope that resurrection is a reality, that Christ triumphs over the grave, that sin and death are defeated.
  So while we mourn, we simultaneously dance with joy, because Christ wins!  Evil may be rejoicing, but we know the end of the story, and we know that darkness will meet its final demise and be smashed by the light!!
  Notice, in verse 24, that justice is established according to God's righteousness!  Not our own--God's.  All of this is based upon God, and we orient ourselves around God and his power and his love, and that is why we are able to rejoice on this, the darkest of days.

  Christ is Risen!

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