But there is a kind of persecution that those who experience it, feel like they have been personally targeted. And it soon becomes obvious to them that in order for

​

them to be delivered from such persecution that they need to be personally vindicated.

​

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear (endure) it.”

 

It is true that all persecution is such as that which is common to man. But it is also true that some are able to endure more than others, so that the intensity of the persecution may vary from one individual to another.

 

2 Corinthians 12:7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”

 

It is also true that for those who are seeking and receiving spiritual revelation from the Lord, in order to keep their pride at bay, the Lord allows them to endure greater persecution than others, but never more than that which they are able to endure.

 

We see this with people who are placed in high positions of spiritual authority. They have to endure greater waves of persecution, in order to keep them from giving into the pride that follows their high position which would cause them to fall.

 

That is why the Bible warns against installing untested novices in high positions of authority, for they will not be able to endure the level of persecution that naturally follows such high positions.

 

Psalm 43:1 “Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!”

 

It is clear from the opening of Psalm forty-three, that the psalmist is dealing with the kind of persecution that has targeted him personally.

 

Here we see an opportunity to learn how to deal with this kind of personal persecution and how to discerned the difference between this kind of persecution and that which is common to man.

 

It appears that the origin of this temptation was an ungodly nation who had targeted individuals like the writer of the Psalm for personal attacks.

 

It also involved a deceitful and unjust man who was personally, unjustly, and deceitfully, attacking the writer of this Psalm and those like him.

 

Psalm 42:10 “As with a breaking of my bones, my enemies reproach (revile) me, while they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’”

 

The difference between the temptations which are commonly natural to all believers, and the persecutions that arise out of an ungodly nation is the unleashing of the demonic hordes that are able to afflict a nation who has turned from God to the wickedness of this world.

 

Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

 

These demonic hordes target those who are spiritual and who are able to warn the nation of the dangers into which it has fallen.

 

Judge, after judge, after judge, keep ruling against the will of the American people. It seems that no matter what good moral laws we pass, what constitutional amendments we write and vote into law, all it takes is one federal judge to declare it null and void.

 

The high stakes of this spiritual warfare are enormous, for the future of the nation, and to a lesser degree, the future of the world is being decided.

 

Psalm 43:2 “For You are the God of my strength; why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

 

Like the psalmist, we end up feeling rejected and left out by God Himself. How can we stand up against these demonic hordes that are running rampant against our nations?

 

Let’s take another look into our opening text.

 

Psalm 43:3 “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle.”

 

Light, or enlightening truth from God is the only thing that is able to drive away any and all demonic hordes from our midst.

 

However this powerful force of deliverance needs a dwelling place, a tabernacle in this earth in order to be successful.

 

In order to become a tabernacle for God’s delivering power, we have to enter into His holy hill and abide with Him in His tabernacle.

 

We dealt with this in the previous lesson; according to Psalm 24, only those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not lifted up their souls to idols nor sworn deceitfully are able to receive this power.

 

Psalm 24:3-4 “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.”

 

Now, more than ever before, fellowship with this world system can have disastrous consequences on our ability to powerfully intercede against all the evil forces that war from within our nations governments against the Word of God.

 

So that we see the interaction between the corporal and the individual.

 

The ungodly nation and the deceitful and unjust man.

 

David was just an individual, but he refused to compromise with the sin of idolatry. God rewarded his faithfulness by making him king of the nation of Israel, and David drove that nation into its highest glory.

 

Saul, the first king of Israel became an idolater—for his disobedience was as the sin of witchcraft—and he severely and personally persecuted David aiming to destroy his life.

 

How did David overcome the personal persecution that aimed to destroy him personally and the purpose that God had for David’s life?

 

Psalm 26:4-5 “I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, nor will I go in with hypocrites, I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked.”

 

Notice how David begins Psalm twenty-six the same way that the other psalmist began Psalm forty-three, Vindicate me, O Lord.

 

Psalm 26:1 “Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip.”

 

Under king Saul, both the nation and the king persecuted David, for Saul pursued David with Israel’s army for the purpose of killing him.

 

David prayed to the Lord, and I’m paraphrasing: Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have not walked in their idolatry; that is what he meant by I have walked in my integrity. He continued, I did not sit with them, and I will not sit with them, the idolaters and the evil doers. I will not be a part of their wickedness, no matter how much it costs me.

 

David triumphed over the man by refusing to partake in his idolatry, and by faithfully waiting on God and not taking matters into his own hands. He pleased God—and God gave to him the nation of Israel as his reward.

 

The greatest desire of David’s heart was to build a dwelling place for the glory of God to rest while here on the earth!

 

It is safe to say that God had already found a dwelling place here on the earth in the heart of David.

 

Psalm 43:4 “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.”

 

It does not matter whether it is David, the sons of Korah, or us; when we make our God our exceeding joy, renounce all idolatries, and cry out to God for vindication—God’s dwelling place takes residence within us.

 

The anointing oil distilled from the fragrance of our songs of praise breaks off the oppression of the enemy and we are able to enter into the hill of the Lord with thanksgivings in our hearts.

 

Isaiah 61:3 “To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

 

There is no doubt that the nations of the world that once honored the Gospel of Jesus Christ, have turned their backs on the God of the Gospel; they have decided to follow the god’s of their own making and imaginations.

 

They now live with open reproach and contempt against those of us who have kept the faith of our founding fathers.

 

They have elected for themselves leaders that represent their contempt against us in the way they govern. They have deceived and continued to deceive those who should know better, into keeping them in power.

 

They have no regard for truth. They do not care how much misery they inflict upon those whom they deceive. Their hatred towards God has no bounds since their father is the devil, who was a liar and a murderer from the very beginning.

 

But we know them, we know the spirits that drive them, and we have no part with them. Let the dead bury their own dead.

 

As for us, this is our heartfelt prayer:

 

Oh Lord, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead us. Let Your light and Your truth bring us into Your holy hill and into Your tabernacle.

 

Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all day.”