Text: Psalm 94:16-23
“Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?” (v. 16). We read this psalm, and this question quickly becomes very much our own. Though we may not face hordes of armies waiting to take us captive or slaughter us like God’s people of old did, we still inhabit a wicked and evil world. There are those who seek to silence our voices in the public square, and there are those who wish to keep faithful Christians out of government offices and other jobs. On not so grand a stage, there are simply those who deny believers the right to speak of Christ in public by simply wishing others a Merry Christmas. There are wicked and evil people in this world who stand diametrically opposed to us.
Just as there is wickedness and evil in this world, perhaps increasingly so these days, there is a wickedness that rages in our own hearts. This evil in us is the very thing which leads to our own death. It is the wicked one, Satan himself, trying to bring our souls to the land of silence. It seems from without and within that we cannot escape evil!
Then we cry out with the Psalmist, “Who rises up for me?” and we are answered. It is the Lord. A stronghold and a rock. The one who conquered the wicked one upon the cross. Christ Jesus is the one who stands for you in the face of all evils.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, rock of my refuge, help me to find strength and comfort in You alone as the wickedness of this present world and the evils of my flesh continue to assail me. Amen.
(Matthias Wollberg, Sem IV)
Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne
κήρυξον τὸν λόγον. Preach the Word.