Psalm 56:11 reads, "In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?" The implied answer, "Nothing," doesn't seem to ring true given that the news is filled with women getting raped, retirees being fleeced, Christians being exterminated and innocents being trafficked by slave traders. It seems that man can do a lot.
It would seem obvious that there are many victims of man's evil. But things are not necessarily what they seem to be. To begin with, the verse doesn't ask, "What can man do to me?" The verse actually is asking, "[Since] In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?" Do you see the difference?
When we truly trust in God's sovereign power, the power to control and direct the outcome of everything, how is it that man can do anything to me that God does not allow? And, what power can man truly have over us when nothing "in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:39)?
Certainly evil men can do a lot to this physical body. Evil people can inflict suffering upon good people - they can even take our lives. But given that our lives "our only a mist that appears for a little while and disappears" (Js 4:14), what real power do evil men possess over us?
The fact is that suffering and death are a part of this fallen world. Regardless of what men do, you will face suffering and you will die. These are not things that anyone in particular has to do, they will come. And, even death comes very soon. Just ask anyone of age how fast life passes by.
Man can only do what is limited to this brief journey on planet earth that will be happening even if you never suffer at their hands, life on this blue orb necessarily brings it on. So, knowing that suffering and death are givens and that God, who loves us, is in ultimate control, why would we fear? What is it that man can do to us that makes any lasting difference?
Jesus was very straightforward about this: “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more?" (Lk 12:4). Yes, man can cause us physical harm to this decaying body but he can do nothing to our spiritual self that lives forever. We can only be true victim if our hope is in this world. When our hope is in Christ, we are victorious over sin and death. Man's power then is only an illusion that appears for a little while and vanishes. Jus' Say'n.
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