"He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth." Isaiah 53:7 NAS

So have you felt like a wondering sheep at all lately? Have you had to stand before your accusers lately? Have you taken a spiritual beating for what seems to be for no reason? Maybe at work or in your family you have been oppressed, ridiculed or persecuted for your beliefs in Christ.

Maybe you were taunted because you stood up for what was right and the best solution was to be silent. The word oppressed in the Hebrew is nagas (naw-gas') and means to drive (an animal, a workman, a debtor, an army) and by implication means to tax, harass, tyrannize. The KJV usage is to distress, driver, exact (-or), oppress (-or), or taskmaster (1). We all feel oppressed sometimes.

It seems that today we live in a time where everyone feels that they must defend ourselves. Sometimes when we are oppressed or afflicted we may feel we should strike back. Our flesh and pride scream out that retaliation and retribution are in order when we are wronged.

We know a few things to be true as we live in these sinful human bodies. First we know we are stuck in them until the Lord's return. Second we know we will be wronged, we may be tormented, we may be beaten with hurt emotions or even bodily harm and we will be rejected because of our faith in the Lord. We may get yelled at, sweared at and jeered at. So how are we going to respond?

In 1 Peter 2:23-24 we see a glimpse of how we are to respond. It says, "...and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed (NAS)."

Here is the answer for us to live by: We are to keep entrusting ourselves to the one who judges righteously. For me this means something I have trouble with and that is: just keeping my mouth shut. Then there is a second response we can live by. This principle can end many problems.

We find this response that Jesus did in Philippians 2:8 where it says, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Ok did you read that slowly enough to see the key point? It says, "He humbled Himself..."

There are times when we need to just be silent, humble and trusting ourselves to the one who judges righteously. He knows our hearts and our intentions and He is our defender. Trust Him in that today or whenever you face trials of hardship or when you feel like a sheep being sheared. Have a great day in the Lord Jesus Christ and stand on Him.

Notes:
[1] Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary (OT:5065). Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.