What the Bible Says About Opposition: A Definition and Insight

Scripture

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Ephesians 6:10-18

2 Timothy 3:1-9: ¹ But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
⁶ For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
⁷ always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

1 Peter 5:8-9: ⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

James 4:7-10: ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
⁹ Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Romans 8:31-39: ³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6: ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Matthew 5:10-12: ¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”
¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

John 15:18-25: ¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
²¹ But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also.
²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.
²⁵ But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

Acts 4:1-22: ¹ And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
² greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
³ And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
⁴ But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
⁵ On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem,
⁶ with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,
⁹ if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
¹⁰ let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.
¹¹ This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
¹⁴ But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.
¹⁵ But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,
¹⁶ saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
¹⁷ But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.
¹⁸ So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,
²⁰ for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.
²¹ And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.
²² For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

Nehemiah 4:1-23: ¹ Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews.
² And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”
³ Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.
⁴ Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.
⁵ Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.
⁶ So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
⁷ But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.
⁸ And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
⁹ And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
¹⁰ In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”
¹¹ And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”
¹² In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
¹³ So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
¹⁴ And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
¹⁵ When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.
¹⁶ From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail.
¹⁷ who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.
¹⁸ And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
¹⁹ And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
²⁰ In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
²¹ So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
²² In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
²³ So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.

Daniel 6:1-28: ¹ It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom;
² and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss.
³ Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
⁴ Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.
⁵ Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
⁶ Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever!
⁷ All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
⁸ Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.
⁹ Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.
¹⁰ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
¹¹ Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.
¹² Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.”
¹³ Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”
¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
¹⁵ Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
¹⁶ Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
¹⁷ And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
¹⁸ Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
¹⁹ Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.
²⁰ As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
²¹ Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever!
²² My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
²³ Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
²⁴ And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.
²⁵ Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you.
²⁶ I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.
²⁷ He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.
²⁸ So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

1 Samuel 17:1-58: ¹⁷ Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.
³ And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
⁴ And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
⁵ He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
⁷ And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.
⁸ He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
¹⁰ And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.”
¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
¹² Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul, the man was already old and advanced in years.
¹³ The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
¹⁴ David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul.
¹⁵ but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
¹⁶ For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
¹⁷ And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.
¹⁸ Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.
¹⁹ Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
²⁰ And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry.
²¹ And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army.
²² And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.
²³ As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
²⁴ All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.
²⁵ And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.”
²⁶ And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
²⁷ And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
²⁸ Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
²⁹ And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?”
³⁰ Then he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
³¹ When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.
³² And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
³³ And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,
³⁵ I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
³⁶ Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.
³⁷ And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail,
³⁹ Then David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.
⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
⁴¹ And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
⁴² And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.
⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”
⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.
⁴⁷ And that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.
⁴⁸ When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.
⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
⁵² And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.
⁵³ And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.
⁵⁴ Then David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
⁵⁵ As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
⁵⁶ The king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.”
⁵⁷ And as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Exodus 14:5-31: ⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
⁶ So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,
⁷ and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
⁸ And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.
⁹ The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.
¹¹ They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
¹² Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
¹³ And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
¹⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
¹⁶ Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
¹⁷ And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.
¹⁸ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
¹⁹ Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
²⁰ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
²² And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
²³ The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
²⁴ And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,
²⁵ He clogged their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”
²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared.
²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.
²⁹ But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
³⁰ Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
³¹ Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Psalm 27:1-14: ¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
² When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
³ Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
⁴ One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
⁵ For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.
⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
⁷ Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
⁸ You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
⁹ Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!
¹⁰ For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.
¹¹ Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
¹² Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.
¹³ I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
¹⁴ Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Isaiah 54:15-17: ¹⁵ If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you.
¹⁶ Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose.
¹⁷ no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”