In Ezekiel 8 and 9 Ezekiel is taken to Jerusalem in a vision. He is shown the abominations that the elders and people are committing against God. The people believe that they are free to do these things because they think that God cannot see them. They are mistaken.

We hide our sin in dark places. We believe that no one sees. We think that we are safe and will not be found out. But God knows each of our sins, whether committed in the open or in secret. God knows our hearts.

God has a man dressed in linen mark the heads of those few faithful who remain in Jerusalem. Then God sends six men into the city to kill anyone who does not have the mark.

God does not punish the righteous. Time and time again God separates out the faithful from the sinful. God marks His own. May we be marked with the mark of Christ. May we be numbered among the righteous and faithful.

Psalm 119:121-144 struggles with the fact that just because we are faithful we are not immune to suffering. The writer believes that because he has kept the precepts of God he should not experience the oppression of the wicked. Often it is the case that the faithful are oppressed by the unfaithful. The writer affirms that even in his suffering he delights in God’s word. The scriptures can provide the strength we need when we are suffering.