The Lord - my place of Refuge

Psalms 7:1-7

Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.   Lord my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands— if I have repaid my ally with evil or without cause have robbed my foe— then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust.  Arise, Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies.  Awake, my God; decree justice.   Let the assembled peoples gather around you, while you sit enthroned over them on high.

Jesus speaks to all who will listen, telling us who wants to harm us, who our real enemy is, but then He explains very clearly why He came to Planet Earth to take on the form of a man, you will find this in John 10:10.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  The thief is only one of his names, Satan also goes by the devil, and he is not all knowing.  He does not know your thoughts, but he does have the ability to talk to you, and his voice sounds like yours.  So often the followers of Christ have ideas that come into our mind and we take ownership of them.  They sound like this, you are so much better than these people, you deserve better than _________, and you fill in the blank.  It may be a job, your wife, church, or family.  A follower of Christ needs to stop and ask where did that thought come from?  Or the thief may tell you, you are a loser, have no worth to anyone and the world would be better off without you.  I ask once more this question, is that coming from Jesus?  The answer is a big no!  It is coming from the one who is the deceiver, and his end goal is to destroy you.

One would be wise to cry out to the Father as David did, make sure you are taking refuge in the Lord, knowing you are no match for this enemy, but Jesus is, for He gained victory over him when He shed his blood on the cross as a covering for sin.  Yes, Satan was defeated at the Cross and he knows his time is short, so he is after you and all that you hold dear.

Did you notice that David has searched his soul?  We are told in 2 Corinthians 13:5-6, these words from the apostle Paul.  “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!  I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.”  

The prayer of every follower of Christ should be 2 Corinthians 13:5-6, for the enemy is very real and has his sights on you and your family, so run to Jesus!   Arise, Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies.  Awake, my God; decree justice.    My prayer for you and me is that we awake to our need to run to the Father and ask that He fight our battle against this evil enemy that is always trying to destroy us, and the body of Christ, His Church.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice