Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Enemies

Psalms 41:5 KJV
Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

John Clark says, "It is often a good man’s lot to be evil spoken of; to have his motives, and even his most benevolent acts, misconstrued."

There are a couple of ways to understand this passage
It could be the enemies saying "When shall he die, and his name perish?" or
It could be the Psalmist saying of his enemies, "When shall he die and his name perish
?"


This morning I began to contemplate on the saint's enemies. We have them without a doubt. But we also need to make sure we carefully identify them. They are never flesh and blood, though they may manifest themselves in them.

Our enemy is the devil
Satan may use others in his attacks against me. But it is never them we should blame. The focus of our efforts in warfare ought to be the spirit of Satan leading them.

Our enemy is this world system
The world is anti-Christian and moves men and women in masses to rebel against Christ and the Christian. But it is still not the individual who is the enemy. It is the movement of the world he has been swept away in.

Our flesh is the enemyAnd I mean by that, the sin nature in us all. I must see that nature crushed in myself as much as in any man. It is not the individual my prayers for deliverance should focus on; it is the sin nature; the flesh that resides in us all.

I may, and I do pray that these enemies die and their name perish.

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