'Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for You.
Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.’
Psalm 25:19-22
Let there be no doubt we have an enemy, a schemer, a soul-accuser, who - as the hymn reminds us - takes pleasure in our harm (Eph 6:11, Rev 12:10). But for the follower of Christ, we ‘…do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matt 10:28).’ For we have already died ‘…with Christ, and we know that we will also live with Him (Rom 6:8).’
Two days ago we celebrated in the midst of confusion and chaos that ‘the last enemy to be destroyed is death (1 Cor 15:26).’ We mocked our accuser, and his schemes by declaring that Christ is alive forevermore, and He holds the keys of Death and Hades (Rev 1:18).
Yes, even in the midst of sorrow, suffering, isolation, and death itself, we can find life. At the end of a cul-de-sac on Easter Sunday, I saw neighbors dressed for worship, standing at the edge of driveways singing together. At the edge of driveways and a global pandemic Christ is still building His Church - and the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matt 16:18). He has and will redeem us out of all our troubles.
Take heart,
AB