Wednesday, August 20, 2014

SIH’s Think On These Things: Psalms 27:12

SIH TOTT ICONPsalms 27: [A Psalm] of David. The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident. One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. Hear, O LORD, [when] I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.[When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. Hide not thy face [far] from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.[I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. 

As we will see in our series, King David addresses many of the same issues that each and every one of us faces when we are in the midst of the most difficult, fearful situations of life. May the Lord honor this study in His Word, by granting to us the truths of this Psalm and their practical application to our life.  

EXPOSITION:  

In our text for today, David now continues his prayer, coming before the Lord with his requests…  

Psa 27:12 KJV Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.    

Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies:

Another way to describe David’s request of the Lord is …“Do not hand me over to the selfish desires of my enemies” In this request we can learn at least two different principles:  

First of all, David recognized that the Lord was the One with the ultimate control of his life. He was under the Lord’s control and, therefore, the only way David would become a victim to his enemies would be it his Lord allowed it to be so (the Lord “delivering” him to his enemies).  

Secondly, David recognized that his enemies desires were based upon selfishness. The Hebrew word translated “will” describes the natural, carnal will of man that is greedy, selfish, and demands satiation. This selfish will of fallen man is in direct opposition to the will of His Lord who, due to His great love for us, He only works for our benefit and His glory.  

If we put these two truths together, David could rest assured that, if he fell into the hands of his enemies, His Lord would have to allow it to take place for David’s benefit.  

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory;While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal.(2 Corinthians 4:16-18)     for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

David describes his enemies in two different ways: First of all, David describes them as “false witnesses”. In other words, they were men who lied about David’s deeds and motivations. David loved the Lord and sought to serve Him with his life, but was pictured as an evildoer who was motivated by selfish interests.  

Secondly, David describes them as “such as breathe out cruelty” This description teaches us that the enemies of David were cruel by nature, naturally being hateful, unforgiving and abusive to all that were around them.  

Can you imagine what these people were like? They were mean people motivated by selfishness. Their only concern was themselves and would go to any lengths to secure benefits for themselves. Probably all of us have run across people that were similar to these people.

However, the enemies in David’s day were thirsting for his blood, desiring to take his life. For us today, normally, those who are abusive around us will not desire nor attempt to kill us.    

APPLICATION:  

What can we learn about dealing with the fearful times of life from this devotional?   Well, first of all we need to always remember that, if we are one of the Lord’s, we can rest assured we are secure in His hands. No one can take our salvation from us, nor can they remove us from His sovereign control in all areas of our lives.

Because of this we can rest assured that NO evil will befall us unless it is for our good and His glory.  

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand.(John 10:28-29)  

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.”   (Romans 8:28)  

Secondly, those who would oppose us and wish us harm are, in actuality, helping us to remember how blessed we are as the people of God. The slight discomfort we might feel when we are being opposed by others is a small taste of what it would be like if the Lord we served a selfish tyrant.

However, thanks be to our Lord, we serve a gracious, loving, kind, and merciful Lord that only desires the best for His people… and brings the best to pass everyday of our lives. What a wonderful Lord we serve!   When we think of these things, it helps us to realize that we do not have things as bad as we may sometimes think!  

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