Psalm 5:11-12   Blessings for the righteous
   The Psalm ends on a very positive note.  The skirmish has ended, David is not beaten, the Lord’s will and way shall prevail.  So we may sing with joy and thanksgiving that we too have been preserved and kept and are walking the straight road of holiness.  The darkness of our enemies cannot touch us for we find refuge in the Lord.  This verse may refer to the prayer shawls worn by Jewish men and which were their individual “tent of meeting” with God.  “Cover us Lord, spread Your protection over us so that we are never left vulnerable like sitting targets for the enemy’s arrows. Lord we love Your name and we want to rejoice in You, forever.”  His NAME is who God is. His NAME is His character, His existence, His revealed qualities and everything that we know of Him.  When we call on the NAME of the Lord, we call on everything that He is and so we love His NAME!   What a comfort to know that in this journey of trials and tribulations we can trust in Him, He is the Lord!  His grace and favour are our shield, if He is for us, who can be against us? 
There are many believers who do not feel righteous, they look at themselves and their actions and secretly bewail the fact that they are constant failures who struggle with sin and never manage to completely be free of the battle within. But that’s the whole point! The man who wrote this song was no different, his life’s journey was full of ups and downs and failures as well as successes. The righteousness of the godly is not borne out of their own efforts for if it were at what point could we claim that we had achieved it? Righteousness is ours by faith, a quality that is given not earned. Our righteousness, as believers in Jesus Christ, is given by Him to all who believe. So we can say “Lord, bless the righteous. Put up Your shield and guard them with Your favour.” And He has! And He will! 

Thank You Lord for the times You bring us through the “dark night of the soul”, when our enemies seem to mount up against us and the hostile voices clamour louder and louder. Thank you that in these times we discover the power of Your Name and the welcome that is ours within the safety of Your presence.  we believe that in You there is complete security and protection, Your favour is all around us and the enemy darts cannot harm us.  We will rejoice in You and be glad – for ever. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more