Shelter From Our Enemies
I think you will agree that living in the world today is not for the faint of heart. While you have family and friends to love and protect you, there is also an endless supply of enemies ready to trip you up; to use language of today, to “eat you alive.”
Those enemies, they are not just serial bombers, terrorists, child molesters, murderers, or an abusive family member. They can also be an unsupportive boss, self-centered relative, or even that person who isn’t really “bad,” you know, that someone who just gets under your skin. [News flash – each of us is that person to someone too.]
Those enemies, they can be corporations that prey on the weak. Those enemies, they are broken or unrealized dreams. Those enemies, they are also death of a loved one, depression, addiction, financial crises, and things like cancer, heart attacks, dementia, and a myriad of other health-related issues, even pandemics. Those enemies, they are sometimes the “what-ifs” that keep you up at night, robbing you of a good night’s sleep. And enemies, they can be things like hurricanes, tornadoes or fires that destroy most or all your possessions, leaving you literally holding an empty bag, tears streaming down your face with the painful reality of starting over.
Whoever, or whatever, the enemy is, the pain and suffering is real, and when we don’t think we have a place to “hide,” the threat seems to close in on us. And I urge you, if you are under attack, physical, emotional, or otherwise, please take whatever steps needed to seek shelter and safety!
Today, I want to offer you these words of comfort, the words of King David, found in the first six verses of Psalm 27.
v.1 – The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom, shall I be afraid?
v.2 – When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
v.3 – Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
v.4 – One thing I have asked 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 gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
v.5 – For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high on a rock.
v.6 – And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
So, will you allow those six verses, that never-ending promise from Almighty God, to penetrate your heart, allowing it to reside deep within your soul, giving you shelter, concealed safely in a tent, in your day of trouble?
(Assignment: Read Psalm 46 and 91!)
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