What Can Man Do to Me?
Psalm 118:6 – The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Read: Psalm 118:1-18 [Also suggested: Hebrews 5:7-10]
“What can man do to me?” I would love to answer that question with, “Absolutely nothing.” But that is simply not true. People can do a lot. They can break into your home and steal your possessions. They can gossip about you. At a young age we discover that people can be abusive: they can act as bullies, making life almost unbearable. Unbelieving people can also attack you because you are a Christian. Perhaps you are refused a part-time job because you won’t work on a Sunday. In parts of our world there are Christians whose church buildings are bombed, or their daughters kidnapped. What can man do to me? A lot!
It is important to note that Psalm 118 does not say that life will be easy. The psalmist says in verse 13, “I was pushed hard, so that I was falling.” He adds in verse 18: “The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.” Okay, he didn’t die, but pretty close. The Lord even disciplined him. The Lord let him suffer to educate him. Imagine that: the Lord might allow someone to break into my house and steal my stuff in order to teach me something. What could he possibly be teaching me?
Notice that this verse is quoted in Hebrews 13:6 where Christians are warned not to indulge in sexual immorality or have a gross love of money. Rather, we are to trust in the Lord. You see, sometimes God 
brings tough things into your life to make you think about what is really important. It is in the tough times that you come closer to God and realize the most important thing is to know God loves you. He has your back, in a manner of speaking.
No matter what happens in life, God is always on our side. How do we know that? We know that because Jesus Christ suffered to the fullest extent in our place so that we might become God’s children. Now as our faithful high priest he intimately knows our pain and misery. He has become our “source of eternal salvation” (Heb. 5:9). Life may have it struggles, but we are never alone. Jesus Christ is on our side. He always ensures that when we trust in him our sins are forgiven, our lives are renewed, and a place is reserved for us in his eternal kingdom.