May 4

Psalm 123
The summer before my eighth grade school year, I went to a one-week-long Christian youth camp. The Holy Spirit began to convict me there that the Lord wanted me in a relationship with Him, not just my compulsory church attendance. I determined then that that was what I wanted. I did a thing that the Baptists call, ‘rededication.’ As much as I knew how at that age, I offered myself to our Lord. I knew that I should somehow be a witness for him, but did not know how to do it. So I began carrying my Bible with me to school as a declaration that I was a follower of Jesus. (I would have benefited much more if I would have read, studied and applied it as much as I carried it.)
The result was that among my peers, I developed a reputation. From a few it was a reputation of admiration. Most could not have cared less. Others held me in contempt. Some found ways to express their contempt by the statements they would make. Generally that contempt expressed itself in being ignored by those who did not want to follow Christ. It could be that they felt condemned by me. I hope not. I can honestly say that was never my intention. However, Friedrich Nietzsche, (a man whose philosophy I hold in contempt) said: “Man is more sensitive to the contempt that others feel towards him than to the contempt that he feels towards himself.” Perhaps that was true of me. I really don’t know. I hope it wasn’t true. One of the side benefits of that reputation was that I was never tempted by a peer to join in their immorality. Sometimes a downside was a feeling of isolation. How should a follower of Jesus handle the contempt that Jesus and Paul said is bound to happen to a Christ follower?
Dictionary.com defines contempt as:
1. the feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.
2. the state of being despised; dishonor; disgrace.
As a believer in the USA, it is really the major kind of persecution that I have experienced for the name of Christ. The Psalmist is feeling that kind of contempt. He says, “I will lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the Heavens.” The one place that he can gain relief from the contempt of His peers is gazing into the face of the Lord of glory. It is only in lifting up our eyes upon Him that we get the relief we need or desire from the contempt of others. Does that mean that He will take their contempt away? No! It means that when I have gazed upon His glory it changes me! Their contempt becomes a mute issue in comparison to the sweetness of His glory.
I have four dogs. Occasionally I feed them from what I am snacking on. Whenever they realize that I am snacking on something, they will surround me. Their eyes will be intently focused on the food in my hand. Wherever my hand goes, their eyes are following. They know that if they watch long enough and closely enough that they might receive some tasty morsel. When we are wounded by the contempt of others for the name of Christ, it is time to stare intently upon His glory until we receive the mercy we need from Him. When He reveals His glory to us, its sweetness causes all contempt of others to melt in comparison. Oh, He is sweet! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john