Daily Meditations

Psalm 3:7       Heaven is open, the Lord is on the throne, He hears my cry, I do not have to fight this war, I am not defenceless, furthermore, now that I know this, I may make a request.  “ Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.” Have we considered the incredibly powerful forces that are for us in this battle ground of spiritual warfare? A cry from the heart of a righteous man or woman is heard in heaven and there is an immediate response. The Lord will never leave us defenceless; He will answer and save us from our spiritual enemies. Never forget, our battle is NOT against flesh and blood but spiritual forces in the heavenly realms.  Why would anyone ask God to break the teeth and strike the jaws of their enemies?  Why not go for their throats or even their hearts?  We should remember that this cry comes from a man who, as a youngster, had fought against ...

Psalm 3:5       Having established his standing before God, David can now lie down and sleep in peace. No matter how dark the situation, God has it under control and therefore he is at rest.  Many of us have suffered the curse of sleeplessness, once it visits us it is a job to shake it off. That wretched alertness that comes in the early hours when a thousand and one thoughts and anxieties fill our heads – jobs undone, conversations to be had, bills unpaid, the list goes on. As our anxiety level rises so sleep becomes impossible and the intensity of the “voices of fear” increases. The Satan loves to get us into this kind of miserable routine and it is the opposite of the place of rest that is our by right. Our only hope is the Lord, to pray to Him and, one by one, lay each of these burdens down until there are none left. We have to rest in His promises and that means imbibing His truth, learning it, meditating on it and then trusting Him to deliver! I know...

Psalm3:3-4    The foes who are against us are indeed many and there will be those who will say that God will not deliver us.  Jesus was surrounded by the hosts of sin plus armies of demonic fiends and the twin enemies of death and hell. But when the serpent dashed his sting into the heart of the Lord, he lost His power, just like a bee when it stings us. It is easy in such situations, to throw in the towel, to let the enemy win, to believe that the battle is already lost.  Countless numbers have taken that route, especially in the face of popular opinion and so we do well to learn from David;  “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he hears me from his holy mountain.”  Of course, if we are not walking rightly before God and do not have confidence in His salvation, we cannot pray these words, so it pays to consistently be in the holy place with Him.  Such a ...

Psalm 3:1-2     The Satan uses flattery, deceit, trickery and lies to undermine Christians, he has been doing it for centuries. People you think you can trust, turn out to be plotting and scheming and instead of gearing up for a fight we sometimes need to take a lesson from David and “get out of there”, trusting that the Lord has it all in hand and He will let righteousness and justice prevail.  There is a tendency with some believers to regard this whole “spiritual warfare” business as a bit of a joke, they compare us to medieval warriors going out to fight the hordes of an imaginary enemy.  You will not find much of that kind of talk in the Scriptures, instead we are urged to stand firm or, sometimes, just “run for it” all the while trusting in the Lord. It is He who will battle and fight for us.  My take on this is that the Satan doesn’t bother those who do not bother him! David turned and fled when Absalom declared himself; you...

Psalm 3 The shield around us        This is a wonderful Psalm for those who feel that they have been unjustly treated. Sometimes, in life, we may feel that all of the world is against us and that the Satan has backed us into a dark place from which we cannot be rescued.  We do not know who to turn to or who to trust, even our friends and family have sided against us.  Where do we turn?  Who can help us? The historic background to this song of hope, by King David, is the bid by his son Absalom to take over the throne of Israel.  Absalom had used deceit, trickery and lies to steal the hearts of the people and it seems that David continued to only see the best in his son while all this scheming was going on. 1 Samuel 15.  When the king heard of his son’s duplicity and that the allegiance of the people had transferred to Absalom, he did not stay and fight but left the city and the throne.  The Ark of t...

Psalm 2:12     Here is a curious instruction commanding the rulers and leaders to, “Kiss His Son or He will be angry ……….” In the time of David, a kiss was a sign of submission to a higher being. Thus, worshippers kissed their idols, humble peasants kissed the feet of their king and lesser courtiers kissed the hand or the cheek of their “betters”. This verse is therefore asking for the obeisance of all appointed heads of state in acknowledgement that there is One who is greater, to whom they owe allegiance. The consequences of ignorance or disobedience are frightening! The Son will be angry, the reign of the ruler will lead to destruction.  Rulers, more than any of us, are accountable to the Lord who will take action against them. There are devastating verses in Revelation 6:15-17 that show that this is no idle threat. “ Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves an...

Psalm 2:10-11  It is in the light of this judgement and the ultimate rule of righteousness that the rulers and kings of the earth are warned to be wise.  The Satan will never back down, the evil spirits that serve him will remain in rebellion but there is still time for kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, emperors et al. to acknowledge the true Lord of the universe.  They should do so with fear and trembling and maybe our Queen Elizabeth has done that?  “ Listen all you rulers, pay homage to the Son, serve Him, honour Him with awe and reverence. If you do not, your destination is destruction and you will be held accountable and be judged for the way that you used your power.” How tragic it is that these men and women of influence unknowingly come and go within the plan of God; they believe that they earned their privilege and responsibility and that it was borne out of their own invention and supremacy. But the Bible teaches that all of...