Hunted by your enemies. Most of us will never fully know what that is like. Although some will.
So despised by your friends that they run from you. I hope no one ever knows what this is like. But on a smaller scale all of us do.
David was in distress, afflicted, and exhausted. His friends, neighbors and enemies all ridiculed him. But his trust was in the Lord.
“But I trust in You, LORD; I say, “You are my God.” The course of my life is in Your power...” (Ps 31:15).
He then prays his usual prayer of asking the Lord that the wicked would be shut down, silenced, and even disgraced. Then he says this:
“How great is Your goodness that You have stored up for those who fear You…” (Ps 31:19).
This is such a powerful statement on so many levels. Think about it. God has stored up goodness that He longs to show for those who love and follow him.
And think of it too. David says this when he’s really hurting. He is in so much distress he is wasting away (Ps 31:10-13). He is being hunted down and it’s exhausting, grief field and hard.
Horrendous times are oftentimes when we begin to accuse the Lord of NOT being good. “God, if you were good, where are you?” But David does the total opposite. He declared in his prolonged distress not only is God good, but there’s an abundance of goodness stored up for those who fear him. That’s pretty incredible.
And then he ends with this:
“Love the LORD, all His faithful ones. The LORD protects the loyal, but fully repays the arrogant. Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the LORD” (Ps 31:23-24).
Even in great distress, David’s hope was indomitable. Perhaps you could call him the Arnold Schwarzenegger of hope, hope in the Lord. And that hope superseded any and all kinds of hardships.
Strengthen hope.
