This article is a summary of Filipe Niel’s lecture at the Interactive Faithful Youth Conference 2020.
It’s an extremely difficult, delicate subject today. There’s no way of knowing what each person’s been through. Thousands of children and adolescents were abused last year; It is estimated that around 20% of the Brazilian population has been mistreated in their lifetime. Abuse leaves a past full of confusion, fear and pain. There are four possibilities in this regard: it is possible to suffer without guilt and respond well to suffering; suffer without guilt and react badly to suffering; they suffer from guilt and react well after suffering or suffer from guilt and still react badly. The first two will be addressed because they are perhaps the most common.
- Psalm 73 is not the psalm of someone who has necessarily been sexually abused.
- But it contains important elements that must be remembered when we are harmed.
- When we are abused.
- The Psalmist begins by declaring that God is good for those who have a pure heart.
- But somehow he is not one of those who have a pure heart.
- This also seems to be the opinion of many who have been mistreated: they feel dirty.
- Filthy.
- Unworthy.
- And sometimes do not see dignity and goodness in God.
Look at verses 2 and 3: the psalmist is very honest in what he thinks, confronting the facts head-on and saying: it was close to me that I did not fall; I almost tripped because I was jealous of the arrogant and the prosperity of the wicked. It is a mistake to think that time will cure everything. So you choose not to face the situation head-on. The first lesson of the psalmist is this: we must face it. the problem honestly; you must rip out your heart before God and be brutally honest.
In verses 4 through 12, the Psalmist recounts the supposed life of the wicked: they do not seem to suffer, bear no burdens, dress with pride and violence; they mock themselves and speak ill-intentionedly; they are arrogant and threaten oppression; they think they have it all; and people often admire them. Then they go to the extreme of defying God Himself, always indifferent. However, they still seem to thrive.
The Psalmist discusses his oppressors and reaches a first conclusion in verses 13 and 14: there was no point in keeping the heart pure and seeking innocence, because he was the one who was afflicted and punished. The result? Many victims of abuse look at each other and, feeling dirty, try to cover up this filth by living a life of inequity and decay, after all, why would they remain pure if they wanted to stain it?
Generally, battered people, such as Adam and Eve, who have tried to cover their nudity with fig leaves, realizing their supposed impurity created by abuse, also create for themselves?Under characters created for you to hide there. Here are some examples: good girl character, the one who doesn’t complain about anything, who survives; or “hard character,” the person who seems to touch nothing and trusts no one; or the “fun character,” who becomes the center of the party, who laughs and makes others laugh; or the “spiritual character” behind false religiosity, trying to cleanse himself from this filth.
In v. 15, the Psalmist realizes that if he continued down this path, he would have lost his true identity. You must be very careful not to abuse your life and who you are, because you will soon stop noticing your identity in the Other Strong Temptation is to try to introduce abuse into the field of reason (see verse 16). But, to be honest, the Psalmist says it’s too hard for a finite mind.
Thus, in verse 17 there is a great change in the direction of the psalm: the Psalmist, who once seemed hopeless, now sees everything differently after entering God’s sanctuary, that is, his perspective is no longer earthly and becomes eternal. If he used to see his assailants as prosperous people, he has a divine and eternal perspective (vv. 18-20). If in violence there is a person who makes him worse than the victim, that person is the aggressor, he will have to answer to the God who created the heavens and the earth, the righteous judge who created the creature he abused, and he will have to answer for it.
Soon, after changing his perspective, the Psalmist begins to notice his bad reactions to oppression and abuse (v. 21-22). His heart was literally bitter and he was envious; He admits to having reacted brutally and irrationally against God. When we change our perspective from the earthly to the eternal, we can recognize the bad ways in which we react to the sins of others against us.
Perhaps because of the sexual abuse you have suffered, you have suffered other harmful consequences such as betraying your current partner, not trusting the other person completely, etc. We see here that managing all this is part of the restoration process.
The Psalmist acknowledges in verse 23 😕 But am I still with you?. After acknowledging his own mistakes, he acknowledges that, however, in God he finds acceptance; in God, there is no contempt or shame for those who have been mistreated; in God, you are accepted. not because of abuse or what you do, but because of what Jesus did in Christ for you, he recognizes God’s attention, protection, and direction, among so many voices that try to guide the abused, the Word shows us that the Lord is the one who guides us with his counsel. You can trust and find an address in the word of God.
The Psalmist also recognizes future promises (v. 24). The Lord will receive you with honor. Someday you, who are part of Christ’s bride, who will be presented to her pure and immaculate at the weddings of the Lamb, will be able to receive a complete restoration.
In verse 25, the Psalmist speaks to himself and shows that his desires here on earth have changed: he wants to be with God. In verse 26, recognize that restoration is a process. We will have more difficult days when fear and bitterness will try to dominate again; But as long as the body and heart fail, God will remain His legacy forever. He doesn’t change and the promises for his life don’t change (v. 27-28).
Sometimes abused people are very afraid to be surrounded. The Psalmist shows that it is good and safe to be close to God; we must remember this every day. God’s sovereignty is better than the righteousness of an indifferent god.
Finally, the Psalmist declares, at the end of verse 28, that our pains and sufferings can be used by God to help others; it is possible to proclaim all of God’s actions and thus comfort those who go through the trials (2 Co 1. 3 -5). Everything you’ve been through can serve as an instrument to redeem people who have been through the same thing. The final process of your restoration is to put you in the hands of your Good Redeemer and, with the comfort of one who has gone through all the evils and compassion of us, can comfort others who are suffering.