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"The Victims Psalm"
Psalm 10
Rev. Min J. Chung
(Sunday Worship, July 2, 2000)
"Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are
caught in the schemes he devises. He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD. In his pride the wicked does not seek
him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his
enemies. He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble." His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble
and evil are under his tongue. He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. He lies in wait like
a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall
under his strength. He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees." Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the
helpless. Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"? But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you
consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to
account for his wickedness that would not be found out. The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You hear, O LORD,
the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth,
may terrify no more." Psalm 10. NIV
I.
Introduction
A. The word victim is mentioned a couple times in this chapter. It is a very
popular word in todays society. We live in a victims society. A victim is
someone who has been wronged against or sinned against. Something
has been done against them so theyre victims. As many of you know,
Ive counseled many people in my lifetime. I have counseled so
many kinds of people with different circumstances. I have counseled an
unimaginable amount and unimaginable types of problems. Whatever
you can imagine, have seen on TV, or read about, Ive counseled, I think.
Some people have had things stolen from them. I had to counsel them
and say, "It's okay, you can buy another one." Some people have been
gossiped about in their lives. Some people have told others, "Dont tell
anyone about this," but the person goes away and talks behind their back.
Some had boyfriends and girlfriends stolen by their best friends. I tell
them, "They were never worth it." Some were betrayed in different ways.
Some were robbed. Some had family friends killed or murdered. Some
have been molested by different family members, uncles, etc. physically
and sexually. Some have even been sexually molested by their fathers.
Some have been raped, or physically abused.
B. Some of these people were right here - those who sat in the seats and
pews of CFC. I had to counsel those people. As Ive been preparing this
message, it was very difficult for me to prepare this message without
anger. I think, at this moment, I feel very angry. It is very difficult for
me to preach without anger. So lets pray once again so Ill preach without
C.
D.
E.
F.
sinning. Pray so that God gives us a proper response as we think about
these things.
Lord, help us to have proper response and legitimate anger. Not out of
pride, but out of faith and desire for the protection for the weak. We pray
that the Spirit of God would come and help your people. In Jesus name,
we pray, Amen.
This psalm 10 was uttered and written for those who have been
victimized by others. Psalm 10 was written for all those people whom I
had mentioned, who have sat in the pews of CFC. The psalm is not
about pretending that the problem does not exist, or just burying the
problem, but actually facing the problem. This is a reality in the church.
Psalm 10 guides a person into knowing God. For those people who have
been victimized, it guides them, because the psalm writer himself goes
through these experiences. In the midst of being violated, he seeks
God and trusts God. Because of this, we can walk through the psalm
with him. It is written by a writer who wrote about 3000 years ago, yet
its words burst from the heart and pen of a sufferer who called on the
Lord. It is a very personal psalm. This reflection and prayer was written
by a man who felt as some of you € abandoned, afraid, overwhelmed,
outraged in the face of evils. These very human experiences are so
honest and so human. Though written 3000 years ago, no historical
readjustment is necessary. We are in the world we know through this
psalm.
As we look into v. 1 it says, "Why Oh Lord, do you stand far off? Why
do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" We can interpret this question
in two ways: Is it a cry of unbelief, or is it a cry of faith? It could be
unbelief depending on how we read this verse and the nuance we put in:
"Why? I cant trust you, Lord! I dont think you care! Why do you stand
far off?" Is that the tone? Is it out of anger, hatred, accusation, or
pride? No, its obviously out of faith. He has a knowledge of God. He
knows hes a faithful God, but hes seeing the reality right now, and God
doesnt seem like hes there. So he sees the discrepancy
betweentheology and reality. Hes confused. Desiring Gods presence, hes
crying out. "Why, Oh Lord? I know youre a faithful God, but why am I
going through this?" This is not a cry of unbelief, it is the cry of
faith. Out of faith, he asks an honest question. And this question leads
him to more faith. It is in the direction of faith: similar to "help my
unbelief!" (Mark 9:24).
As we talk about the victim, let me give a warning for those who have
been victimized. Please do not think that this psalm gives justice to
the victim mentality: poor me, selfish, self-centered attitude giving
G.
II.
excuses to all the other sins you commit (like the excuse of "because I
was abused, Im like this"). No, if youve sinned in your life, no matter
what you went through, you are responsible for your sin. No matter what
you have been through, by the grace of God, you can overcome sin by
the power and mercy of God. To all those saints who want to rely on the
Lord, his steadfast mercy and grace is fresh and new every morning.
Please do not have a poor-me victims mentality. Remember: you have
God!
Three things through this psalm: 1) characteristics of the
victimizer (large portion of this psalm talks about the victimizer € the
one who commits sin against him), 2) prayer of the victim (we can learn
how to pray if youre victim in that situation), 3) thefaith of the victor.
Body
A. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VICTIMIZER
1. He is Arrogant
a. V. 2, "In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the
weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises." In our
day, we say victimizer, but the Bible says, he
is wicked. Some say he is sick, but the Bible says he
is wicked and arrogant.
b. No psalm gives a fuller picture of the thought process and
action of those who hurt others than this psalm. The victim
spent time reflecting about the kind of person who abuses
and misuses others. These were proud, self-ruled, and selfexalting people. The phrase, "hunts down" means he burns
after € talking basically about the wicked mans desires. It
burns after the weak. Its the arousal of evil desire. He is
driven by evil desire and hunts down the victim in order to
get his evil desire.
c. When you kill someone, its out of an angry desire. If
you molest someone, its out of a lustful desire. If you
destroy someones business to get more money, its out of
a covetous desire. The wicked man has a vile desire. He
hunts down the weak.
d. What is evil desires relationship to pride? Pride says, I
dont care about others because Im better and I deserve.
There is absolutely NO respect of the victim, because he
is arrogant.
2. He Plans
a. V. 2, "schemes he devises" € he plans out schemes, and we
can see the mind of this victimizer. It vividly describes the
3.
fact that people actually think about using and abusing
others, and they plan it out. He follows the plot and line of
behavior that he constructs. Violence, abuse, and betrayal
are not accidental. It is planned, devised, chased down,
pursued, according to his desires.
He Desires
a. V. 3, "he boasts of the cravings of his heart." He has and
boasts in his cravings, or desires, or his motives (in our
CFC language). He burns with evil selfish
motives and desires. He does what he wants, serves whom
he wants,follows what he wants, delights in what he
wants, glories in what he wants, only cares about what he
needs right at that moment. He worships what he wants.
b. When someone is like this, he is more like an animal: just
follows his desires. There is no logic and no morality. He
acts like an animal. He is more like an animal than a man
who is made in the image of God. A man made in the
image of God can deny his desires, but if you are driven
primarily by animalistic desires (like anger, hormones
kicking in, etc.) then youre more like an animal. His
desires dictate him rather than reason and love.
c. Notice that to serve a self-centered desire means
pointedly not to serve the Lord, to spurn and revile God.
"He boasts of the cravings of his heart, and he blesses the
greedy, and reviles the Lord." Users, misusers, and abusers
of other people are simultaneously rebels against God
(others and God).
d. There is an anti-repentance in his thought-process. They
turn from the Lord and to their own selfish desires of greed.
e. As we talk about this, we need to be careful in being angry.
I was angry up to this point, but I realized that I am not
much different from these people. Perhaps they have a
deeper or worse form, but Im not much different. We are
not much different. We are proud; we think we
deserve. We are selfish; we are driven by what we
want. The word victimizer according to Biblical
language, I believe, is sinner. By definition of what a
sinner means by nature, that means we all victimize
others. Because we are driven by what "I want." Whatever
we do, we are doing this to get something. Why are you
nice to others? Because youre a nice person? NO. Youre
4.
nice to others so you can get something from them: respect,
love, being nice to you, etc. We use others for
ourselves. So think about it: were not much different € you
might do it in lighter form, but you also victimize others.
He is a Functional Atheist
a. V. 4, "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his
thoughts there is no room for God." Notice it doesnt say
"there is no God", but that there is "no room for God".
b. Two kinds of atheists:
1. Theoretical atheist
a. Like Psalm 14, "fool says in his heart there is
no God." He really does not believe in the
existence of God.
2. Functional/Practical atheist
a. He believes there is a God, but does not live
like there is a God. He finds convenience in
the absence of God when he needs to sin. If
you believe there is God when you come to
church, but Monday through Saturday,
different times in the evenings, you act as if
there is no God, then you are a functional
atheist.
b. P. C. Craigie said: "The functional atheist is
not so much concerned with the theoretical
question as to the existence of God, but rather
he lives and behaves as if God did not exist."
3. Lets get more personal now: do you really act and
live like God is in your daily life? Right now, DO
YOU BELIEVE THAT GOD IS PRESENT IN
THIS PLACE? If we really see God, our reaction
would drastically be different. If we see a cockroach,
a big one, on the floor right now, we would have a
different reaction (what if it was a mouse, an angel,
or a demon, let alone God?). Every time we sin, we
really dont think God is there. Not only in sin,
but do you plan things out as if God is in your
life? As I talk and counsel many of you, I hear you
say, "This is the reason I desire this and that." Then I
think "Where is God in this picture? Where is the
Biblical principle in your thinking? Have you prayed,
received a conviction, have objective confirmation
5.
from pastors, parents, and authority?" Where is God
in your picture when you plan? How about in your
memories? When you think of the memories of the
past, is God in those memories?How about in your
families? Many people say they have grown up in a
Christian family. I ask, "Are you from a Christian
family?" They say yes. Then I ask, "Have you ever
had a family service?" No. You see, was your family
a Christian family, or just a bunch of
Christians in a family? Was God the center of your
family, conducted according to the principles of the
Scripture? If not, then you are from a functional
atheist family.How about interpretations that you
make in life? Whenever something happened, you
think a certain way but is that what the Bible
says? How about entertainment? What kinds of
things do you enjoy when you watch entertainment?
If two unmarried people sleep together, we would
disagree with that Biblically, but when we watch
movies, we enjoy it. Theres something wrong with
that! Are we functional atheists as we watch
movies? Do we really think God is there? When you
live like there is no God, instincts and evil desires
take over in our lives. It helps a sufferer to know that
those who oppress him have really got a problem
with God. Functional atheists who are victimizers
really have a problem with God. When you are a
victim, you have to realize: God is with the victim €
that means God is on your side. When you victimize
other people, God is against you. It is so helpful to
know that as a victim.
He May Have Temporary Prosperity
a. Vv. 5-6, "His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty
and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be
happy and never have trouble."" Some will say that this
doesnt seem temporary. It says, "always," but its talking
about the perspective of the victim. They always seem
prosperous. Abusers may seem to "get away with it" in the
short run. Their ways apparently prosper, leaving misery in
their wake.
b.
6.
When do I think like this? When I play basketball. At
IMPE, there's no referee. Sometimes, somebody calls a foul
when there was no foul, or they cheat and lie about the
score. I think to myself, "Hes lying, but Ill back off. God is
the Judge. Well win." You know what? Guess what the
result is? Nine out of ten times we still lose. I think to
myself, then, "Where is God? Why do you stand far off?"
But you see, there is temporary prosperity for the wicked,
but therell be judgment one day. Not after the game, but
after the game of life. Not a report after one semester, but
a report card after your whole life. There might be
temporary prosperity, but never an eternal one for the
wicked.
He is Manipulative
a. V. 7, "His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue." The evil person uses
whatever fits or works at the time: curse, lie, smooth words,
sly lie, or threat, whatever he/she sees fit in order to get
his/her evil desire.
b. The mouth, the symbol of everything, is an instrument to
get what he wants. So he lies, curses, or threats. Hell use
whatever means he can to effectively get what he wants.
c. We, as sinners, are exactly the same. We have our own
manipulative processes set. We use whatever our heart
motives have found useful, our personalities, and which
brain side we have developed. People think
the mindcontrols everything, but rather the Bible says its
the heart that controls everything. The heart as you grew
up developed your brain to get what you want. Like a
computer, the heart is really the CPU, the mind is the
program. But we are manipulative. Whatever we have in
our lives, if we do not check our evil heart motive, its just a
manipulative process to get what we want and what we
have to exalt ourselves.
d. Are we too similar to the victimizer than we want to
admit? The book of Psalms are filled with lament and
suffering and cries for deliverance. Many times we see
victims in the Psalms, yet THEY CONFESS THEIR SIN!
This world says youre a victim with no fault at all. The
Bible says even though you are a victim, nevertheless, you
can sin in the midst of it. So the psalm writers are always
7.
8.
careful to repent of their own sins, (Psalm 25, 38, 40, 69,
143.)
e. I remember listening to this tape of a few wives who were
victims, in the sense of their husbands addictions to
pornography. Their families were being destroyed because
of this problem. There was one thing that did bother me,
though, about the tape. It was the attitude of the wives.
They acted as if there was absolutely no (zero) fault of their
own. Maybe in 1% of the problems in marriage would the
fault be entirely on one person alone. It is rarely just one
persons problem. Both are at fault. However, they had an
attitude of, "I had no fault at all." Even in our situation, we
need to ask, "Am I committing any sin myself?" Because
we are never just victims. By definition, and by natureof
who we are, we are always victimizers also. We should be
asking and checking with God so we never do the same.
He Seeks
a. They are predators. Three pictures of his ambush:
1. Murderer: v. 8, "He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in
secret for his victims."
2. Lion: v. 9, "like a lion in cover"
3. Hunter: v. 9, "He lies in wait like a lion in cover;
he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the
helpless and drags them off in his net."
b. V. 10, "His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall
under his strength."
The victimizer presses down on the victim. Maybe for
some of you its just a painful reminder of your experience.
This psalm writers experience is very simple and clear and
relatable. No historical readjustment is necessary.
c. None of us are totally innocent , of course. We all must
wrestle with our human sinfulness of wanting to return evil
for evil. But on a human to human level, there are the
innocents and the unfortunates. We must distinguish
between the objective facts and the victims attitude.
Again, please be careful not to take on a victim mentality.
He Does Not Believe In The Final Judgment
a. V. 11, "He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers
his face and never sees."" People who cause harm really
think they will never be called to account. He believes a
B.
lie. There will be payday someday. If not in this world,
much more scarier in the next.
PRAYER OF THE VICTIM
The most important thing you must do as a victim is this. You can seek
others, but MORE THAN ANYTHING, YOU MUST SEEK GOD!!!!
1. The Victim Asks God to Act
a. V. 12, "Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not
forget the helpless."
b. Many times God does not act or does not seem to act. We
look on and cannot understand his silence or inactivity. We
are puzzled, distraught. In such times it is never wrong to
ask God to intervene. He may not do it when we ask him to,
but it is still right to ask. We can pray for ourselves in such
circumstances, asking for Gods intervention and
deliverance, and we can certain intercede for others. This
seems to be the heart of the Psalmists concern. He saw
injustice being done and prayed for Gods intervening help
for the victims.
2. The Victim Can Ask and Articulate Honest Questions in Faith
a. God will take matters into his own hands. We believe
that. He has seen what happened. He takes note of every
single thing that happens in this world. Nothing escapes
from his finger. And he will do what is just.
b. He asks another question in v. 13, "Why does the wicked
man revile God? Why does he say to himself He wont call
me to account?" Theres a different tone between v. 1 and v.
13 for this psalmist. As he begins in v. 1, hes kind ofselfcentered (perhaps not selfish), but hes asking for help for
his own safety; but in v. 13, as he thinks about the wicked
and prays, he slowly gets less self-centered and by v. 13,
hes thinking about God. Hes not as anthropocentric and
narcissistic as before, but more theocentric and looking at
God. Hes less self-oriented and more God-oriented by the
end of the psalm. This is exactly what we should pray. The
more and more we pray, the less and less self-centered
and me-centered webecome. Keep asking God, and
articulate those honest questions in faith. God heals and
changes you through those times.
3. The Victim Articulates Truth and Commits Himself to the
Lord
a.
b.
You can articulate the question, but you can also articulate
the truth from the Scripture. What is really the truth? Even
though there is a discrepancy between the truth and what
seems to be happening, you can still articulate that truth. So
the victim in v. 14, articulates the truth: "But you, O
God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in
hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the
helper of the fatherless." He says definitively, "You do see"
and "You are" Hes articulating the truth. The truth stands
forever. The discrepancy between truth and perceived
reality is only temporary. Truth will manifest itself and will
come to pass. Even though it doesnt seem like God is
seeing it, he reminds himself of the truth, not only what is
perceived as truth. Hes reminding himself of it. V. 14 says,
"But you, O God, do see trouble and grief.." It means that
"You, O God, consider You think about these things. You
are the helper for the Fatherless." Many times, when you
are with doubts, remind yourself of the truth, and as you
pray, the Holy Spirit will use that to give you faith, rather
than doubt. Truth is light and doubt is darkness. The truth
will go in and rid the darkness of doubt.
Sometimes, when things happen and victimization takes
place, sometimes more important than what happened is
the interpretation that people make from these
experiences. Interpretations of God, of people, of what God
thinks about him, is very important. If you go through this,
and interpret it as God being far off, then that will have an
incredible effect on your life the next 20 years. I have seen
many sexually abused persons tremendously effected in
their marriage because of the interpretation that they made.
They live with that interpretation as a life principle and it
effects them for life. The interpretations one makes about
life, the Bible, others, future, sex, etc. sometimes changes
their entire life. When youre confused about these things,
you may need others to help. Thats what counseling is for.
Thats why I counsel them sorting out their wrong
interpretations that they might have made. If they make the
right interpretation of the situation, it helps them fight. Its
still painful, but theyre now going in the right direction.
Thoughts and interpretations will affect you the rest of your
life. If you make the correct interpretations, what will
4.
happen? V. 14, "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits
himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless." The
victim commits himself to God.Truth becomes a valid
basis to commitment and faith. If the experience leads to
a closer walk with God and a deeper servanthood, then the
right interpretations were made. But if things like
avoidance, addiction to other things, unhealthy dependency,
etc. arise, then these kinds of things are consequences to
what happened, and they are living with lies € the wrong
interpretation. You should also ask, "Is a deeper
sanctification taking place?" Therefore, the victim has to
articulate the truth which leads to deeper commitment to
the truth, regardless of both the negative and positive
experiences that happened in their lives. For example, even
with summer mission participants, upon their return from
the field, we can check their lives. If they dont go to church,
they dont stay committed, they miss the field in an
unhealthy manner, etc. , then we really need to check
afterwards. If theyre not following the Lord, some wrong
interpretations could have been made about the trip, etc.
The Victim Asks God to Judge
a. V. 15, "Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him
to account for his wickedness that would not be found out."
It doesnt say, "I will break his arm." But it was a prayer,
"Break his arm." What is the importance of this: whenever
I hear people whove been victimized talk to me, I get so
angry. I cant show that to the person, but its true. I want to
get some big guys from our church, grab a bat, and . (I
wont say anymore). And then, I snap out of it. The point is,
I really get angry, even if I cant show it. I picture those
things. Well, what am I doing there? Im trying to be the
judge. I am being arrogant, proud, and acting unbiblical.
Now, sometimes, some actions need to be taken for the
protection of other innocent people. Sometimes legal action
needs to be taken. Its a very intricate issue. But even if you
need legal action, you have to do it for protection of
others, not for revenge and to be the judge. Its a very
intricate issue, all dependent on individuals situations. But
dont you dare be God. So what I do is pray, get this picture
out of my mind, and try to give Biblical interpretations to
C.
the counselee. Yet, I still wander off to those images, which
I have to fight. Whether in this world, or the next, God will
act. God may break their arms. God willact, and when God
acts, evildoers will reap what they sow. What goes around
comes around. The sufferer should ask God to bring on the
logical consequences. The arm that broke another will
be broken.
b. Throughout the Bible the consequences of an evil course of
action have a certain appropriateness. The punishment fits
the crime. If not in this world, then the next. This is the cry
of faith, not of pride € that God be the judge for His glory.
THE FAITH OF THE VICTOR
In this psalm, the victim is thinking about the victimizer, then thinking of
God, and as he does, he is transformed into becoming a victor. He wins
in his heart. Rather than going and breaking the other person's arm, he
asks God to become the judge.
1. Sovereignty of God
a. V. 16, "He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll
always be happy and never have trouble."" He trusts in the
Lord. In his mind, there is sovereignty of God. God is
sovereign. Psalm 10 is not about some glib happiness
and placid contentment, but about hope in the midst of
abandonment and fear, for those in desperate need of
help." Its a realistic picture of what life is. Let us face it
with the grace of God, who is sovereign. Let us hold onto
the truth. Nations will perish , but the Lord is King forever
and ever..
2. Mercy of God
a. V. 17, "You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you
encourage them, and you listen to their cry." God hears
even just one victims cry. God hears the desire of the
afflicted.
b. What is the desire of the afflicted? At the moment of being
abused, hes probably seeking protection, relief, vindication,
justice, hope. God listens to those desires. He/she seeks
relief. God listens to the desire of that relief. He or she
seeks vindication (little boy or little girl). God listens to the
desire of the victim. He/she seeks justice, and God listens
to the desire of the weak. He/she hopes to get out of the
terrible situation and God listens to the desires of the weak.
He is not only a far, transcendent God, but also a loving,
3.
personal God who listens to the cry of the child. "You hear,
O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them,
and you listen to their cry." God puts and holds every tear
in a bottle. He defends the fatherless and oppressed. Bring
your desires to God when you are afflicted.
c. Thomas Watson: "Desires are the soul and life of
prayer." When you bring the desires, God either gives
your desires or changes your desires.
Strength of God
a. V. 17-18, "You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending
the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is
of the earth, may terrify no more."
b. Dont fear! All they can do is rape you, decapitate you, etc.
We dont have to fear men, but fear God who can cast our
soul into hell. He is with us and he is on our side. He will
strengthen us.
c. I think about Jesus: what an example - author and
perfecter and greatest example of our faith. I think about
the words he did and did not use just before his death.
Think about his.
1. Abandonment: "Silence of the Lamb" (because
when a lamb dies, they are silent € other animals cry
and make noise € but Jesus the Lamb of God was
silent.) He was going to be abused, victimized, on
the cross € and he cries out, "Father let this cup pass
from me" (because hes gonna be victimized); He
cries out, "Im thirsty", and also "Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani - My god, my god, why have you
forsaken me!" Hes the only true victim that existed
in this world. He was abandoned and victimized.
But also listen to his cry of
2. Faith commitment: Even though he knows hes
gonna be victimized, he says, "Not my will but yours
be done." Commitment, trust, faith. "Into your hands,
I commit my spirit." "It is finished." Not only that,
but even though hes going through the greatest and
most intense victimization in this world, he commits
himself to the Lord, and he also.
3. Cares for other people: "Woman , behold your
son." He still thinks of his mother and provides
another son. Also, he turns to the thief on the cross
and says, "Today you will be with me in paradise." A
thief who can do nothing for him, who will die soon,
is ministered to by Jesus in the midst of his
victimization. "Father, forgive them." People are
crucifying him, abandoning him, abusing him, but he
still prays "Father, forgive them for they do not
know what they are doing." You see, a victim can
turn to become a victor. Through the Word and
prayer, we can encounter and receive strength and
power and faith in God. Sinners can turn to Saints.
III.
Conclusion
A. First of all, lets think about our own hearts before we point our finger at
other people, or get angry at others as if we were innocent. Look into our
own hearts and see how we use and abuse other people. We have nice
and not so nice ways that we use to abuse people. Lets be a repentant
community first because we do victimize others. Lets ask for forgiveness
so that God will cleanse our hearts. Lets continue to fight our evil hearts,
because even victimizers can turn to victors. Thats the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Sinners can be turned into Saints. Lets continue to repent and
pray in our hearts.
B. Let me now talk to the victims: all of us in minor form to major form
have been victimized by others. Many of you have been victimized in a
major way. Please consider the principles in this psalm. If theres
something wrong with your life now, maybe theres been some
misinterpretations made by you. There might be some consequences in
the future - when youre married, have your own family, I dont know.
One thing we do know is that God gives grace daily by his power and
grace. We dont have to transfer sins to others, but can continue to
overcome. Desires no longer drive us, but rival desires from the Holy
Spirit can change us from selfish to selfless. He can change us to love
others. Lets continue to fight. Maybe some of you need counseling help.
Well try to help as best as we can € pastoral staff, brothers, and sisters,
so that wrong interpretations that gives justification to your evil behavior
will vanish, and that rival desire will go in and change you to love God
and others. Also pray for people in the church. Remember: we are a
community, and we need to love each other, because we are family.
Some of us have had to go through some consequences. Lets pray for our
brothers and sisters. Lets pray to the Lord, Saints of God.
Suggested Closing Song:
Holy Love
You Breathe
"