Read the Word:
Psalm 9:9-20
Meditate on the Word:
There are many ways to be oppressed. One can be physically oppressed by violence or threats of violence. One can be mentally oppressed by insults and name-calling. People can be deliberately excluded from groups and events. People can be financially oppressed by those who take advantage of their desperation, such as predatory lenders. But the most pernicious of oppression is spiritual oppression.
Often, spiritual oppression is subtle enough to not be recognized. It can be the devil’s whispers of accusation that “God cannot possibly love you.” It can be the constant reminders of past sins from which you know you don’t deserve forgiveness. It can be persistent temptation. Spiritual oppression is a very heavy burden to carry. Since we often do not recognize these things as spiritual oppression, we can fall prey to the lie that it is our fault. Our fault that we feel this way, our fault that we have these thoughts, our fault that we constantly feel the compulstion to sin. But if we recognize it as spiritual oppression, we can ask for the Lord’s help.
Pray the Word:
Pray, as the psalmist does in v. 13, “Be gracious to me, Lord; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me.”
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