Ask police officers what the most anxious and fearsome call to answer and it will be, hands down, domestic squabbles.  A man can beating on his wife, but the minute an officer of the law steps in to subdue him, the wife will turn in anger towards the officer defending her.  Wait, what?!  Drunken brawls increase with minds affected by the abuse of alcohol and drugs which then multiplies the chaotic, dark violence to extend to their surrounding neighbors who just want peace.  We hear and read of innocent victims who are at the wrong place and the wrong time who are maimed or even killed by gunshot or broken glass flying.  Children, with no defense, are those caught in the middle of seemingly endless cycles of domestic abuse. 

However, as a former public school teacher, I observed how some kids caught up in the crossfires of violence react one of two ways.  They became bullies who copy the abuse to others. It was not hard to see where these responses originated.  But, I also saw some kids rise above their parents and grandparents’ abusive dark thinking and evil deeds done to themselves and others to announce; “No, I will not live like that.” 

I saw kids who desired better options for their lives.  These kids spent time to observe the lives of others, seek helpers, ask questions, while watching other options available to them in living life.  I applauded and encouraged those who wanted a different way to think with a healthier mindset who had a desire to stop the generational cycles of hate their parents had of themselves and all others who got in their way. They didn’t want to participate in or become like their abusive parents, always at war, with constant negative, sarcastic responses to the world, fueled by hate, envy, pride, jealousy, and other immoral characteristics that produced acts of evil that had formed in their families.

Can you hear those crying out to the Lord who just want to live in peace? God does indeed hear and works on their behalf.  I’ve seen it with my own eyes. This Psalm prompts memories of what I have seen and experienced both in the world and within the church collectively.  The church is not exempt from abuse. The church is not perfect but perfectly forgiven by our Perfect Father God who is perfect in all His ways and seeks to restore us from evil.  He hears us, sees our tears, and knows our hearts! 

Most times, He will call us to be the one who helps those who are trying to break the cycle of hate to escape the mental, emotional, spiritual as well as physical abuse.  We are called to stand in the gap for those abused by systems and generational abuse. Ask God for wisdom and His Holy Spirit living in us will indeed guide us to truth with discernment to see life’s “red flags” of danger.  Most times, we are first called to be aware, “guard your hearts’, putting others’ interests ahead of your own, to truly listen with care to the cries of the helpless caught in the middle of quarrels.  We are called to be instruments of peace with the peace of Christ living in and through us.  Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life who supplies us with His peace in our everyday living when we desire and seek to have the mind of Christ who is Peace.

Inspired by God, the Apostle Paul wrote;

“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.” Colossians 3:15-17, MSG

Psalm 120, The Message

A song of ascents.

^1-2 I’m in trouble. I cry to God,
    desperate for an answer:
“Deliver me from the liars, God!
    They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth.”

^3-4 Do you know what’s next, can you see what’s coming,
    all you bold-faced liars?
Pointed arrows and burning coals
    will be your reward.

^5-7 I’m doomed to live in Meshech,
    cursed with a home in Kedar,
My whole life lived camping
    among quarreling neighbors.
I’m all for peace, but the minute
    I tell them so, they go to war!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“There is so much godless speech in our world today that believers must be careful what they hear and how it affects them. We must not only turn away our eyes from worthless things (119:37) but also turn away our ears from hearing foolishness. “Take heed what you hear” (Mark 4:24). When we are slandered and lied about, we must leave the matter with the Lord and trust Him to work.

The Psalmist was dwelling with Jewish people who were behaving like people who lived outside the covenant blessings of God. Any Jew who feared God and respected the Ten Commandments would not bear false witness against another Jew or seek to slander his or her name. It would be difficult to dwell with these foreign peoples, but it would be even more difficult to dwell with Jewish people who acted like foreigners.” —Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Study Bible

We are taught to live in peace with believers and with unbelievers around us.  Jesus reiterated Truth when he preached; “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”—Jesus, Matthew 5:43-48, NLT

The psalmist was a peacemaker and tried to encourage his godless Jewish neighbors to be peaceable, but they were more intent on making war. His loving words only made them more and more angry. Many problems in families and churches are caused by professed Christians who do not have a real and vital relationship to Jesus Christ and only focused on “getting things done” in the church. They are not humble peacemakers but arrogant troublemakers. Until God changes them or they decide to go elsewhere, the dedicated believers must be patient and prayerful.

“I’m all for peace,” the Psalmist cries out.  Are we?  What form of peace are we seeking?  The peace that comes to our hearts when we get our way which is easier; or the peace of Christ that is unlike the peace of the world—the peace that extends from the heavens to earth and back again (harder but more rewarding).  I want HIS cycle of peace, don’t you?

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”—Jesus, John 14:27

Lord,

Thank you for the peace you give and sustain in me as I seek you each morning. Thank you for the ways your peace overrides our over thinking that hovers over us at times by evil who tempts us with seeking our own form of peace which is not peace at all.  May our minds contain your peace through the day and forever.  Lead us, Lord. Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls and restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work within us daily. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen