I’ve heard it said that ministry can be the loneliest job on planet earth.
Who said it?
Fellow ministers, that’s who. And they never tell you this stuff when you’re in seminary because we wouldn’t listen if they tried! At hat point we all believe the Church (Big ‘C’) is filled with smiling believers who have no problems and end each service holding hands and singing Kum-By-Ya.
Hardly.
Are there times like that? Sure, many–minus the cheesy camp songs. But there are also real people with real issues, real pain living real lives. And most seminarians aren’t at their first church more than a week before getting hit between the eyes with a 2×4 with the following letters written the length of it…
R-E-A-L-I-T-Y
And how do we often respond to the 2×4?
One of 2 ways…
Both were actually present in my quiet time yesterday. I was in Psalm 109…Check it out:
Psalm 109
Help Me, O LORD My God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1(A) Be not silent, O(B) God of my praise!
2For wicked and(C) deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me(D) without cause.
4In return for my love they(E) accuse me,
but I(F) give myself to prayer.[a]
5So they(G) reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
So, the situation is that the Psalmist—in this case, David—is being faithful but the people of Israel are not—at least some of them.
Enter reaction number one…
“Get’m God!!”
That’ my summery of the next 15 or so verse. You can read it for yourself here.
But then David cools off a bit.
Verse 30 and 31 are as follows,
“30With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will(AV) praise him in the midst of the throng.
31For he stands(AW) at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.”
The focus has shifted back to where it always should have been—God.
Why was it ever off? Because David was experiencing one of the greatest of all pains–rejection. Those he loved didn’t love him back. Those he was faithful too were unfaithful in return. Those he accepted (quirks and all), rejected him.
Ever feel like that?
Like a reject?
It hurts, huh? But there are smart ways to deal with it and poor ways to deal with it. Jesus always dealt wisely with it–never letting it get to Him–always expecting a heavy dose of rejection with only a smidgen of acceptance. The rejection never threw Him off mission.
Why?
Becasue fans are fickle. Fans reject. Followers are faithful. They may slip from time to time, but they always return and resume their chasing of the God who saved them.
Always.
And remember, Jesus isn’t interested in growing His fan club.
Yes, Jesus always handled rejection the right way. David was well experienced in both. The right way and the wrong way.
In fact, David is a little skitzo. Look back at verse 4…
“3They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me(D) without cause.
4In return for my love they(E) accuse me,
but I(F) give myself to prayer.[a]
5So they(G) reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.”
Thought I’d hide it in between verses 3 and 5 so you could see what a small thought blip it really was.
“But I give myself to prayer.”
David, in the midst of a rant against his enemies says he prays.
- Prays for peace.
- Prays for calm
- Prays for love.
- Prays for his enemies
You won’t see these specific prayers in this Psalm, but trust me, this is where David usually ends up when he’s being faithful to follow God. The more he sticks with this reaction. The better things get for him.
Us too!
Next time you are falsely accused, find hatred in response to your love, or are just plain treated unfairly…
Pray for those who persecute you. You will be the one who benefits most.