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- Apr 25, 2006
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19 August 2007
Psalm 71:22-24
I will praise you with the harp. I trust you, my God. I will sing to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.
I will shout for joy when I sing praises to you. You have saved me.
I will tell about your justice all day long. And those who want to hurt me will be ashamed and disgraced.
When someone has been really giving me some grief for no apparent reason, I would be lying if I said I hadn't been really tempted to just give them back a bit of what they were giving me.
I know all the advice of just rising above it and being the better person, but that can be so hard. And I must admit that there have been times when I have allowed myself to sink a bit and have a crafty dig at the other person, just as they are having a dig at me. But when I have lowered myself and had a dig, I felt a little satisfaction at first but it very quickly went and left me feeling awful.
But as I've grown as a Christian, I've found it so much easier to rise above it and the strength to do so has come from God. It's still been hard and very difficult at times, but I've got there.
And when I've got there I've wanted to praise God and shout for joy and sing praises to him. After a while of doing this, I've then found myself looking around to see what has happened to the people who wanted to hurt me and I've seen them there, looking ashamed and disgraced - just as the psalmist said.
The important thing is that I didn't set out to make them look ashamed and disgraced - that just happened as a consequence of my doing the right thing by trusting in God and ensuring I behaved in the right way.
If you continually live your life in the way God intended, then anyone who tries to hurt you will be shown up and ashamed and disgraced.
Give me strength Lord to rise above it and be the better person and to continually shout for joy when I sing of your praises.
Written by Andy Haynes
Psalm 71:22-24
I will praise you with the harp. I trust you, my God. I will sing to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.
I will shout for joy when I sing praises to you. You have saved me.
I will tell about your justice all day long. And those who want to hurt me will be ashamed and disgraced.
When someone has been really giving me some grief for no apparent reason, I would be lying if I said I hadn't been really tempted to just give them back a bit of what they were giving me.
I know all the advice of just rising above it and being the better person, but that can be so hard. And I must admit that there have been times when I have allowed myself to sink a bit and have a crafty dig at the other person, just as they are having a dig at me. But when I have lowered myself and had a dig, I felt a little satisfaction at first but it very quickly went and left me feeling awful.
But as I've grown as a Christian, I've found it so much easier to rise above it and the strength to do so has come from God. It's still been hard and very difficult at times, but I've got there.
And when I've got there I've wanted to praise God and shout for joy and sing praises to him. After a while of doing this, I've then found myself looking around to see what has happened to the people who wanted to hurt me and I've seen them there, looking ashamed and disgraced - just as the psalmist said.
The important thing is that I didn't set out to make them look ashamed and disgraced - that just happened as a consequence of my doing the right thing by trusting in God and ensuring I behaved in the right way.
If you continually live your life in the way God intended, then anyone who tries to hurt you will be shown up and ashamed and disgraced.
Give me strength Lord to rise above it and be the better person and to continually shout for joy when I sing of your praises.
Written by Andy Haynes
