Psalms 17:13-14 KJV
Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
From men which are thy hand ....
The construction of the text is undeniable. God uses the wicked as his sword to chasten and refine His own. Job saw God use Satan as His sword. God often used the nations of the Philistines and Assyrians as chastening swords in Israel and Jerusalem finally saw God use Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar as a chastening sword in among them.
However, here, is what I was blessed by this morning; the Psalmist prays, and thus gives us precedent to pray in a similar fashion, that God would deliver us from His very own sword. True enough, God uses the wicked and men of the earth to chasten and refine His children, but we, who are His children, are free to ask the Lord to deliver us from them.
Father, we need chastening, we need the discipline that comes from judgment and we are happy to acknowledge Your rightful use of any creature on this planet to bring about that chastening sword. But this morning I beg that we be delivered from them. Father, have mercy upon us and cast down the enemy, though he be used as Your rod!
Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
From men which are thy hand ....
The construction of the text is undeniable. God uses the wicked as his sword to chasten and refine His own. Job saw God use Satan as His sword. God often used the nations of the Philistines and Assyrians as chastening swords in Israel and Jerusalem finally saw God use Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar as a chastening sword in among them.
However, here, is what I was blessed by this morning; the Psalmist prays, and thus gives us precedent to pray in a similar fashion, that God would deliver us from His very own sword. True enough, God uses the wicked and men of the earth to chasten and refine His children, but we, who are His children, are free to ask the Lord to deliver us from them.
Father, we need chastening, we need the discipline that comes from judgment and we are happy to acknowledge Your rightful use of any creature on this planet to bring about that chastening sword. But this morning I beg that we be delivered from them. Father, have mercy upon us and cast down the enemy, though he be used as Your rod!
No comments:
Post a Comment