Psalm 41: A God Who Fights For Me
This summer on More Than Sundays, we turn our attention to the Psalms. We have asked our writers to write about their favorite Psalm with the intention that it will provide our readers with encouragement, insight, and wisdom. Please enjoy!
Let’s face it: This world is filled with heartaches and struggles. The world is a broken place, and many of us grapple in tenacious situations just to make it to more sticky and muddy situations afterward. We suffer from heartbreak, rejection from jobs and schools, racism and sexism, grief after losing a loved one, and abuse and injustice. The list goes on and on.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that those who follow Christ don’t suffer in this world, and that’s not true at all. One of my favorite people who ever lived (Bruce Lee) once said, “Don’t pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” God doesn’t promise us an easy life, but He does promise us He will be with us when we face trials. All we have to do is trust in Him. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV).
As a Christian woman, I’ve had my share of suffering and struggles. I endured sexual abuse as a child, and then as an adult woman, I found myself on the receiving end of a domestic violence case – both of these were from men who took advantage of me. I grew up with an alcoholic father we never relied on and a mother who provided for us but also detested and berated my dad (giving me the wrong example of how a wife should treat her husband). I endured the loss of both my parents who each lost their battle to cancer within 4 years of each other, and I grew up with brothers and no sisters where I became a target for womanizing jokes about myself and women in general – and they still do it. All of this happened while I believed in God. When we endure such horrendous things, it is very difficult to understand the goodness of God – that He is indeed with us. However, reading His Word is vital to climbing out of such tragic events that occur in our lives, and that’s what I did as an adult. One of the comforting scriptures I read that helped bring me some kind of peace was Psalm 41 (NIV):
“Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble. The Lord protects and preserves them – they are counted among the blessed in the land – he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.
“I said, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord; heal me, for I have sinned against you.’ My enemies say of me in malice, ‘When will he die and his name perish?’ When one of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it around.
“All my enemies whisper together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, ‘A vile disease has afflicted him; he will never get up from the place where he lies.’ Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.
“But may you have mercy on me, Lord; raise me up, that I may repay them. I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.”
I quiver in joyfulness reading, “He does not give them over to the desire of their foes.” God is for me. God fights for me. He wishes me no harm. Those who hurt me will receive His judgment, and all I have to do is trust Him. He will deal with each of them as He sees fit. In the meantime, He will comfort me and restore me.
Psalm 41 was written by King David who was being hunted by people who wanted him dead. King David was in despair knowing he had so many enemies who wanted him captured and killed. He turned to our Heavenly Father during his affliction and torment and prayed God would rescue him and bring him healing. I admire King David’s humility to God – praising God for His everlasting love and for His endearing protection on him and trusting in God to provide His protection. We aren’t meant to go through trials alone. God is our greatest protector and our greatest healer, and in reading Psalm 41, hearing King David cry out to God, I was elated and reassured that God is not far from our reach. No matter our circumstance He will protect us. All I need to do is cry out to Him. I needed to be reminded of that. God is for me. I needed to know someone was in fact by my side protecting me. While I was receiving harsh blows and while I was tormented and hated, God was working to bring healing and protection for me. All I needed to do was pray and trust Him. So I did. God doesn’t forget the weak and the oppressed; in fact, He’s much closer to them in their moments of mistreatment: “Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?” (Jeremiah 5:25-29, ESV).
Reading through Psalm 41, God blessed me with His truth about how He cares for the oppressed and the suffering. He is a just God who protects us from our enemies. I didn’t doubt His presence in the midst of my going through the pain and darkness the abuse brought. To be honest, it is because I felt His embrace. I truly did. He was with me during my being treated like I was absolutely nothing. I’d close my eyes and remember remnants of His promises; I felt the hairs on my arms standing up, and I knew He was right there. It brings tears to my eyes just remembering this, that my God was holding me close. I was in the arms of my truest Savior.
God is a no-nonsense kind of Father, and I am thankful for His love and protection for those who are mistreated and abused. I have comfort knowing He is aware of the ill treatment many of His people are facing. How could I feel so lonely and forgotten after that? He is close to the brokenhearted: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18, NIV).
Through the trials I faced, and putting my trust in God, I learned how weak I truly am. Without God, I am weak, and God helped me to accept that it’s okay to admit we are weak. For so long, I idolized my own strength and self-reliance, and as dark as it may sound, the abuses I endured only proved how vulnerable and easily broken I can become. I am not strong without God. Although I still have triggering traumas, I know now I can rely on God. He is my strength. It is through my weakness that He is strong. God has unveiled His truth to me so that I can find peace through my trials and weaknesses because He is there on the other side. And in the midst of my trials, as God fought for me, He has also restored my marriage with my husband. God guided him away from his own darkness and struggles, and God sought after him, saving him, just like He was fighting for me. I am thankful for my struggles because without them, I wouldn’t know Him. It’s like that beautiful lyric says, “I am thankful for the scars” (Scars). And in my suffering, I know I am not alone because my God is never far; He is right beside me. I just need to seek Him, always. God is a miracle worker and a truth speaker. God always fights for us.
References:
“Scars” – I Am They (2018); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET-JOFXZ6T0