Year of Exposure Day 47: The wicked abuse the righteous, never even giving it a second thought.

Year “Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave, As when one plows and breaks up the earth.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭141‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Last time we saw David speaking of the fact that his vindication will come when those who are pursuing and persecuting him, those who have pronounced unjust sentences against him, receive the judgment that is coming to them.

In today’s portion of Psalm 141, David further elaborates on the degree to which the persecution he is experiencing has risen. David knows that his persecutors would think nothing about killing him, and leaving him unburied, so that his bones could be scattered like stones are scattered when a plowman goes through a field.

Psalm 129 further employs the plowing metaphor to illustrate how the wicked abuse the righteous.

““Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,” Let Israel now say— “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed on my back; They made their furrows long.” The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭129‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

This psalm—in using the metaphor of plowing—also illustrates the total abandonment of any sense of justice, by those who persecute the righteous. Indeed, they take no more thought of running over the righteous, tearing up their lives, exposing them to injury and even death, than the plowman worries about the feelings of the ground he is plowing.

The apostle Paul, in describing the persecution he and others have faced in Asia, offers this:

“For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Here, Paul is expressing that their intense persecutions at the hands of wicked people, have made them feel as though they were “dead men walking.” But he takes comfort in knowing that these people’s ability to control him has been cut off.

Child of God, wicked people do not have regard for the pain and suffering they inflict in their effort to order the world, their way. But make no mistake, they will give an account to the righteous Judge for every evil deed they have done against the righteous.

Further, let us take the insights we see regarding the thoughtlessness of wicked people, and their end state, as a cautionary tale, lest we ever strike out and hurt others in such a way.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!L