by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
In Psalm 69:4, David was disturbed that people hated him “without a cause.<\/em>” Why do people act this way? Why do people reject and hate others when there is no call for it? He could understand it from some people if he had hurt them in some way, but feeling snubbed and hated when you know you have done nothing to deserve the cold shoulder or the outright rejection is disturbing. We have all had this experience and wondered about the same thing. Why?<\/p>\n David’s psalm merges into the foresight into the plight of Jesus. In Psalms 69:20-21, we see a prophetic allusion to what happened to Jesus on the cross. “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink<\/em>.” This is David in the Spirit seeing the experiences of his prophesied Son, Jesus.<\/p>\n So, our takeaway is that not even a perfect man can escape this treatment of foolish humans. You are not experiencing this because you <\/b>are unworthy of friendliness. You don’t need to waste your time wondering what you may have done wrong to draw such hatred for no reason. Jesus was perfect and still got that kind of treatment. He got it because people are ignorant and foolish. It is not your problem. David experienced it, and Jesus experienced it, and we all experience it because some people are just not thinking of their responsibility to love their neighbor as themselves, to treat others as they would like to be treated. Sin and hatred are just more deeply embedded in some people than others.<\/p>\n Your takeaway is to remember that such experiences are opportunities to reflect on what Jesus felt for us so long before we learned better. You don’t let it ruin your life and outlook. People are ignorant. Our go-to thought needs to be “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!<\/em>” They are the kind of people who would give you vinegar to drink. You must offer a cup of cold water if the opportunity presents itself. You have a reason for being kind to others. They have no reason for their behavior, but let them be the ones to face regret someday, and let not your heart be troubled, as the future is going to be bright for you because you know your good reasons to be kind now! We will all reap good or bad according to what we sow (Galatians 6:7-9). They have no reason for their attitude choices. You have excellent reasons for yours! Remember that!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton In Psalm 69:4, David was disturbed that people hated him “without a cause.” Why do people act this way? Why do people reject and hate others when there is no call for it? He could understand it from some people if he had hurt them in some way, but feeling snubbed…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[572],"class_list":["post-92334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-persecution"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93522,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-prayer-from-a-pit\/","url_meta":{"origin":92334,"position":0},"title":"A Prayer from a Pit","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill Boyd On a visit to Jerusalem, I was taken to a church that was built over the traditional house of Caiaphas. In the lower parts of that church, there is a cistern. An ancient tradition says that this cistern is where Jesus was kept the night before his\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":22104,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/given-the-way-homosexuals-are-treated-why-would-anyone-choose-to-live-their-life-being-hated-unless-they-cant-help-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":92334,"position":1},"title":"Given the way homosexuals are treated, why would anyone choose to live their life being hated, unless they can’t help it?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: According to\u00a0your article, homosexuals choose their lifestyle, they are not born that way. Given the way they are treated in 99% of the world, hatred, violence, death, discrimination, etc, why would anyone choose to live their life being hated and defiled? God does not create people to go to\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":92542,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-jesus-taught-in-parables\/","url_meta":{"origin":92334,"position":2},"title":"Why Jesus Taught in Parables","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Roger D. Campbell No one ever taught as Jesus did (John 7:46)! When He taught people, He often employed parables. By doing so, He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 78:2; 49:4). Jesus was neither the first nor last person in history to teach via parables, but He used them\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":32791,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hostile-fulfillment-of-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":92334,"position":3},"title":"Hostile Fulfillment of Prophecy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford In Acts 13:27, Paul makes a fascinating claim about the Jews of Jerusalem and their rulers. He notes that even though they did not identify Jesus as the Messiah or recognize Him in the prophecies of the Old Testament, they fulfilled those prophecies in their bad\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":43868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-people-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":92334,"position":4},"title":"Why Do People Die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God warned Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of one particular tree - Genesis 2:15-17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet despite the warning, both Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As a result, death then entered the world - Genesis 3:19 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because man had sinned,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61818,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-jesus-literally-forsaken\/","url_meta":{"origin":92334,"position":5},"title":"Was Jesus Literally Forsaken?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Did the Father literally forsake Jesus at the cross? The Aramaic phrase spoken by Jesus on the cross, translated as \"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?\" is often taken to mean just that (Matthew 27:46). Generally, the idea is that since Jesus was made\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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}