Close to God, Far from Trouble

Based on Psalms 35-36, Acts 25

"This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me."

Psalm 35:22

There is a desperation in the Psalm to be close to God. To hear Him. To not be distant from Him. And this is one of the reasons why:

"For with thee is the fountain of life: In thy light shall we see light. O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; And thy righteousness to the upright in heart." Psalm 36:9‭-‬10

...Because with Him is the fountain of LIFE! We will be in LIGHT & not darkness! When we know Him and are close to Him, we experience His lovingkindness in magnified ways! When we are close to God, we are wrapped up in His goodness, and trouble becomes distant from us! Even if we are in the presence of our enemies, He is there with us:

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." Psalm 23:5

Paul knew that even planted among persecutors, God was giving Him favor in their sight! Since he walked so close with God, his perspective was not set on the pressure in his situation. His perspective was on Jesus & HIS power! So even amidst trouble, Paul was far from it!

"But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him." Acts 25:25

"For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him." Acts 25:27

Paul was certainly a puzzle to the leaders of his day! He had many enemies, but no one could figure out why! When we are in God's presence, and His light & love are radiating through us, it's hard for people to stay angry with us! Even if they don't agree with us, it's hard for them to really know why...and that's just the way God works! Even if the leaders & officials didn't exactly like or agree with Paul, they were drawn to him because they were being drawn to Jesus THROUGH him! Whether or not they listened, that was on them, but Paul was doing all he could to stay close to Jesus, and in turn, far from trouble!