A Psalm for Triumph Over Persecution

You are not alone. If your cause be just, God is on your side and will bring you through the darkness of unjust treatment. But, if you are in the wrong, God will shepherd you and call you to repentance. Possessing a heart softened by His grace, He will receive you into His light.

You will want to ask yourself, 'what I am called to learn from trials and unjust treatment?' You must commit to praying for those who mistreat you.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Though your persecutors' behaviour may disgust you, and cause you much suffering, you must love them and pray for their salvation. It may be that you ask God to provide them with opportunities to reform their lives, to cease behaving as tyrants, to stop being emotional vampires, to stop weaponizing their wounds to attack others.

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (1 John 4:20)

So often, when people have no faith in God, they become the very thing they hate, and so make other people's lives miserable. People can be possessed by their fears and frequently misuse legitimate processes to hurt others. Heed the Lord's commandments to love one another as He, Jesus, loves us (St. John 13:34).

Go the extra mile!

If we enter into our suffering, we can make a space for God to touch our lives. Jesus knows our suffering better than we do. He has taken upon Himself the suffering of all people for all eternity - the past, the present and the future, until the Last Judgement - so His wounds allow room for us to participate in His life. He is always present to us. By His grace, we can be present to Him and through the Holy Ghost share in His Divine Life, conformed to His will and transformed by His gifts of love and mercy. We will be made more like Him, and in Him we enter into the embrace of the Father. Amen.

Call on the Lord; seek His protection. Trust in Him to bring good out of the evil perpetrated against you and other innocent people. Stay close to Jesus. Pray, too, the Holy Rosary for peace, guidance, strength, consolation, and reconciliation.

CXL

To the choirmaster

A Psalm of David

Identifying The Opposition & Their Methods

Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men,
who plan evil things in their heart,
and stir up wars continually.
They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,
and under their lips is the poison of vipers.

Calling On The Supreme Ally

Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from violent men,
who have planned to trip up my feet.
Arrogant men have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net,
by the wayside they have set snares for me.

Acknowledging The Power of God

I say to the Lord, Thou art my God;
give ear to the voice of my supplications, O Lord!
O Lord, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
do not further his evil plot!

The Lord Protects His Faithful

Those who surround me lift up their head,
let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
Let burning coals fall upon them!
Let them be cast into pits, no more to rise!
Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

Gratitude for The Lord's Assistance

I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the afflicted,
and executes justice for the needy.
Surely the righteous shall give thanks to thy name;
the upright shall dwell in thy presence.