Psalm 105:14-15

¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:

¹⁵ "Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm."

This passage is from Psalm 105. Here, God speaks of how He protected the Israelites.

Some observant Christians may see a contradiction.

The prophets certainly underwent harm. The Israelites certainly were oppressed - they were slaves, for goodness' sake!

Reading the verse in context:

¹³ [the Israelites] wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.

Now, we could hardly call going from one conquerer to another "wandering."

Or could we?

You see, God was always in control of the Israelites' situation. He realized that, though it appeared that the conquerers were ruling the Israelites' destiny, He was protecting them and guiding them. Though it appeared that the prophets were being abused by the people, God only allowed certain harm to come their way. When extra abuse was introduced, God said "No - do my prophets no harm."
Only the things He allowed into their lives happened. Only the places He gave them they went. Their conquerers were really powerless; God was in control, doing what was best for the people and for His glory.

Now, imagine that you are an Israelite. Have you any "conquerers"? Have you imagined anything to be a controlling factor - friends, school, weather, whatnot? Realize that God sees everything - EVERYTHING - that is happening in your life right now, in the past, and in the future. He not only sees it, but He has set it up like that and it's for your best, for His glory, and for the good of those around you - all at once.

Changes your perspective, huh?