A verse from a friend

Recently I got a phone call from a friend who told me that as soon as he woke up he started to ask the Lord for a verse for me because he knew that the previous night I had undergone a firestorm of insult from people close to me. Before the request was even totally out of his mouth, the Lord gave him Isaiah 51:7:

"Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings."

I can safely say I have never noticed this verse in particular in my own readings, but it was what the Doctor ordered. My friend emphasized that it was just for me because I am a person "in whose heart is [God's] law." I fill up on the Word of God morning by morning, so at least in that sense, I may feel that I am being addressed. And certainly, whatever else you may say about the words that were heaped on me that night in my kitchen, they were "revilings." So the shoe fits.

The big blessing in owning that verse for myself that day was the permission and the command-from no one less than God-to not fear, and to not be dismayed. If I did not have this permission, I would probably have spent the day in fear and dismay. But if God Himself says to not do that, then who am I to refuse His gracious offer?

The people who insulted me do not know God, so "they know not what they do," as Christ said. This also must be taken into consideration. When God sent Ezekiel out on the unenviable task of bringing the Word to people who were in rebellion, He prepared him for insult. He told him to brace himself and man up:

"… Son of man, I send you to … nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me … be not be afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words … nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house" (Ezekiel 2:3-7).

God says to Ezekiel: Consider the source. If it were righteous people who were insulting you, then maybe you should worry. But why be devastated by the revilings of people who are not even on the right wavelength? Instead, pray for them. And be at peace. Truth is on the side of those "in whose heart is [God's] law."