"O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no deliverance for him in God." Psalm 3:1-2
This is one of those Psalms that allows you to see very easily how the Psalms have always shined as a favorite for reading, meditating, and prayer. We can all identify with this situation and this sense that my enemies are growing and the adversity in life, whether from human sources or otherwise, is mounting and liable to overwhelm us at any moment. This particular Psalm is attributed to King David and for David it was no metaphor. David had been literally surrounded more than once by his enemies, and God always delivered him safely. But that doesn't mean that David didn't also have to be on the run for many years and fight many battles. It does mean that David was never abandoned by God. And David rested in the confidence that this would always be so. "But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My Glory and the one who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice and He answered me from His Holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For you have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be upon your people." Psalm 3:3-8 David speaks in this Psalm as though it has already happened: "You have shattered the teeth of the wicked..." David has seen it before and he is confident that he will see it again. But why should David have such confidence in the Lord? Does God love David more than He loves David's enemies? No, He does not. But David knows what his "anointing" is all about, not some mystical favor, but a particular calling of God to be King of God's people for the sake of God's purposes. The deliverance of the entire cosmos was bound up within the life of Israel, and David was the God appointed, I. E. "Anointed", king of Israel. God's good and redeeming purposes for the world were meant to go forward in David and He knew it. God would not abandon His purposes and therefore David could trust in God's deliverance. What about us? Will God deliver us from our enemies or do you have to be king of Israel for that confidence? The answer is that God has already delivered us from our enemy, the "ruler of this world" whose main weapons are deception and death. The deliverance has already occurred and the door stands open wide. All that is left for us to do is to turn around from staring into the darkness and walk into the light and freedom which is Christ Himself. In the resurrection, our enemy's teeth were shattered and salvation was granted by the Lord. Don't stand in the darkness with a toothless slave master whose only weapon left is his tongue. Come behold the beauty of your deliverer and walk out of the darkness and into His marvelous light! God has anointed you as He anointed King David and the whole nation of Israel to be the light of the world, but you can't be the light when you live as darkness. So come into the light and be saved and be free. Say yes to Jesus your Lord.
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