by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Ever had people who seemed to hate you for no good reason? They made up their mind that they did not like you, but that was not enough. They worked behind your back to undermine you and sought to get rid of you or ruin you. David would say “welcome to the club.” Jesus would say, “don’t be surprised.”<\/p>\n
David spoke of experiencing this behavior from people he had been nothing but kind toward. He had no idea why people would behave this way, but he prayed that their efforts would be brought to justice before God. Psalms 35:11-28<\/p>\n
“Fierce witnesses rise up; they ask me things that I do not know. They reward me evil for good, to the sorrow of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; and my prayer would return to my own heart. I paced about as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother. But in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered together; attackers gathered against me, and I did not know it; they tore at me and did not cease; with ungodly mockers at feasts they gnashed at me with their teeth.<\/p>\n
“Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, my precious life from the lions. I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people. Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause. For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful matters against the quiet ones in the land. They also opened their mouth wide against me, and said, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it.”<\/p>\n
“This You have seen, O Lord; do not keep silence. O Lord, do not be far from me. Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication, to my cause, my God and my Lord. Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who rejoice at my hurt; let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who exalt themselves against me.<\/p>\n
“Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
David put such matters in the hand of God and trusted God to handle it. People who wrongfully make themselves the enemies of good, decent people, will give account to God. He will bring this spirit to justice. We want to make sure we are not wrongfully making ourselves the enemies of others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton Ever had people who seemed to hate you for no good reason? They made up their mind that they did not like you, but that was not enough. They worked behind your back to undermine you and sought to get rid of you or ruin you. David would say “welcome to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[535,719],"class_list":["post-4353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-enemies","tag-hatred"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27145,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-hezekiahs-sons-punished-for-their-fathers-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":4353,"position":0},"title":"Were Hezekiah’s sons punished for their father’s sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: It's quite clear that the Bible says the fathers are not to be punished for the son's sins and the sons not to be punished for the father's sins.\u00a0 However, throughout the Old Testament, we see that when a king sinned, because either they repented or because of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28209,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-are-to-love-your-enemies-why-did-david-kill-goliath\/","url_meta":{"origin":4353,"position":1},"title":"If you are to love your enemies, why did David kill Goliath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was listening to a sermon about how to be\u00a0a man after God's heart. He was speaking about love,\u00a0and\u00a0he said David loved Saul\u00a0even when Saul tried to kill him and searched for\u00a0him for years.\u00a0Even if Saul\u00a0became David's enemy, David would never\u00a0do the same against Saul. He loved Saul and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90134,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/david-old-and-full-of-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":4353,"position":2},"title":"David, \u201cOld and Full of Years\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tol Burk We are introduced to David as a young man, too young to fight Goliath (according to man's standards). But it doesn't end there-David is one of the very few that we see from youth to old age. Age changed things in his life, but his faith in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83072,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-credibility-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":4353,"position":3},"title":"The Credibility of Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Friends and enemies saw the miracles of Jesus. The enemies had to explain them. Their go-to argument was that He worked by the power of Satan. But the fact that they even had to explain them in such a way means that such testimony was credible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29811,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-condone-rape\/","url_meta":{"origin":4353,"position":4},"title":"Did God condone rape?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you show me with any credible, moral, and compassionate justification how passages such as Numbers 31:18 and II Samuel 12:11-14 are not examples of divine-sanctioned rape? Answer: In Numbers 31, the Lord ordered punishment on the nation of Moab. \"Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43944,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-christ-rule-on-davids-throne-while-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":4353,"position":5},"title":"How can Christ rule on David’s throne while in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: One of my students states \"... that Christ has to rule on David's throne, I didn't know David had a throne in heaven ...\" Is this student coming from a Baptist line of thinking? Thanks for your help. 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