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All of His Enemies

           For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:1-2)

           For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

     

   “When the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” That phrase makes me laugh. It would have made more sense to if it had said, “all his enemies including Saul.” Saul tried to kill him repeatedly, and to cheat him whenever possible. But David apparently didn’t consider Saul to be his enemy. That takes us back to what I’ve been saying about Ephesians 6:12. Our enemies aren’t the people – even if they’re determined to kill us.

          During the time that David was beset by his enemies and by Saul, he cried out to the Lord. There were times he said, “Shatter their teeth!” But, as has also been mentioned in this blog recently, as David looked back after it was over, he recognized how much and how often he’d been protected, provided for, strengthened, sheltered, and saved.

          As I look back over the years, I can see some of this as well. Incident after incident over the past forty years, I can see God’s hand guiding. In fact, after several years of this guidance, I was complaining to God that I was afraid that I would miss the “exit” or turn. He brought to mind incident after incident, asking “Did you miss the exit?” about each. When He finished the list, He said, “So what makes you think I’m going to let you miss the next exit?”

          Um…

          But even as I think about the protection, provision, strength, shelter, and salvation that David was given, and the guidance that I’ve been given, I find myself wondering why I don’t seem to seek these things on a daily basis, and why I expect to be disappointed every time I do. And the answer is – we have enemies (including ourselves) who distract us. That’s what we need to battle.

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