Bible Reading: Psalm 123:1 – 4
“Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud” – Psalm 123: 3-4(KJV).
To treat someone with contempt is to despise one as insignificant and worthless. It is a higher level of despise than mockery and scorn. Most times men in their little minds attribute respect or disrespect to someone due to their present status. They disregard and treat people with scorn judging from their current physical position. As a child of God there is blessedness in mockery or being treated with contempt. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was treated with great contempt and reproach. Bearing shame and scornful rudeness, he endured the humiliation of the cross, the mockery and contempt associated with his death. He was treated as nobody, insulted beyond measure, wounded for our transgression and bruised for our iniquity. Concerning the saviour of mankind the bible has this to say: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquitted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” – Isaiah 53:3(KJV).
My dear friend, what contempt and humiliation can be greater than this? He was mocked beyond measure yet he did not stray from his mission, he did not allow bitterness to overtake him. He held on to his mission, and to further show his depth of love, he prayed for his crucifiers right at the height of his suffering: “Father , forgive them; for they know not what they do” – Luke 23:34(KJV). We must treat reproaches and contempt the way Christ handled it. Jesus for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and all the humiliation associated with it (Hebrew 12:2). Likewise we also must of a necessity see beyond the now and put our confidence and hope on God’s eternal promises that cannot fail, endure the mockeries and contempt of men as we patiently await our glorification. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach” – Hebrews 13:12-13(KJV). The reproach of Christ is the mockery and insults associated with serving Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. God is not slack in his promise, he will do what he promised. We must believe and trust God like Job, whose very deplorable condition necessitated his wife to ask him to curse God and die. Job’s respond to mockery and contempt was… “though he slay me, yet will I trust him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him” – Job 13:15(KJV). In another place Job expressed his confidence in God: “I know that my redeemer liveth….” – Job 19:25(KJV). Your present situation is fading away and paving way for your glorification. Allow the mockery of men for it is your channel for the emergence of your glorious destiny.
Which do you believe, the Word of God or the present condition around you? You must not allow the contempt of the proud and the scorn of the scornful derail your destiny. Stay fixed in Christ for therein lies your rising and glory. Hear what the bible says about your despisers and mockers, “The sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations” – Isaiah 60:14-15(KJV).
Where you are presently is a passing phase in the story of your life. Stay focus on God and find peace in Christ. His precious promises are given for your elevation and continuous growth. His promises, as they are written, are eternal words that can never fail. Hold on to them, they have the power to build you up (Acts 20:32).
May you remain blessed.
Prayer: Father give me the grace to believe your word above the circumstances around me for your word is spirit and life.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo