Psalm 46: 10 says “Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
In my opinion being still is one of the hardest spiritual disciplines to cultivate. To exalt someone or something we must raise it or them in rank, power, or character. It means we elevate, or lift high them by our praise, or we glorify them.
In the recent years, I have had to learn a valuable lesson. I have been betrayed by a trusted friend and then I was gossiped about and maligned to a whole circle of people. As is common with most people when they are falsely accused or being lied about, my first reaction was to defend myself and to tell my side of the story. It hurst when this happens, but Jesus suffered in the same way, He truly identifies with our pain, anger, and disappointment.
The Word gives us wise counsel and countless promises when these things happen. Let me share some of these scriptures with you:
Jeremiah 51:10
The Lord has brought about our vindication; Come and let us recount in Zion the work of the Lord our God!
Isaiah 54:17
“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
Luke 18:7
now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?
Psalm 26:1
A Psalm of David.
Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
So, when I found myself in this situation, instead of running around town, telling people my side of the story, I chose to be still and to trust the Lord to vindicate me. I know some of the ways He did, and I am sure He is still vindicating me in ways I do not even know. It was hard. I noticed people who have never even met me looking at me funny and I knew why. It really hurt.
Just the other day, my husband was falsely accused of doing sloppy work by a client. He knew he had done a good job, and had done everything right and again, we decided to trust the Lord when we were threatened with legal action and when she left a terrible review that hurt our good name. The client got someone to review the work, who reported that there was no wrongdoing on my husband’s part. The client stubbornly refused to offer an apology, even though she was proven wrong and again we had to make the choice of pursuing justice for ourselves, or to trust the Lord to vindicate us.
My friends, understand this…it may seem like the unrighteous, the scheming people who take what does not belong to them or who assassinate our good names with false accusation or blatant lies are getting away with it, but we serve a God Who does not sleep, Who does not lie and Who does not tolerate injustice. His Name will be exalted in every nation and every knee will bow before King Jesus.
Ephesians 4:26 AMP says:
Be angry [at sin—at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behaviour], yet do not sin; do not let your anger last until the sun goes down.
What does this mean? It means we do not turn a blind eye to sin, immorality, corruption, abuse, and every other ungodly behaviour but it also means we do not take the law into our own hands, or also commit sin because of our indignation. Sometimes it seems to me even Christians live by the motto “if you can’t beat them, join them”.
We are called to live by a higher standard. If the world sleep with people they are not married to, or cheat in business, or steal from one another or lie and gossip, or do anything that contravenes God’s law we cannot be joining in that. We need to walk in holiness, and take our concerns to God and above all, pray for the grace to wait patiently for the deliverance of the Lord.
Sometimes it looks like being quiet and sometimes it looks like acting…whatever the case may be, we obey the instructions we receive from the Lord.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for God’s wrath [and His judicial righteousness]; for it is written [in Scripture], “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. Rom. 12:19 AMP