Deliver Me from Those who Work Evil

Psalms 59:1-5 ESV

 

“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;

    protect me from those who rise up against me;

deliver me from those who work evil,

    and save me from bloodthirsty men.

 

“For behold, they lie in wait for my life;

    fierce men stir up strife against me.

For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

    for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

Awake, come to meet me, and see!

    You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

    spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah”

 

Who are our enemies? If we are followers of Jesus Christ they are all who oppose the truth of the gospel and who serve as enemies of Jesus Christ in their refusal to bow the knee to him in submission to him as Lord of their lives. They are those who will not surrender their lives to Christ, who will not abandon their sinful practices, and who will not obey the Lord in doing what he commands that we must do as his followers.

 

And these are not only those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but many of them are those who do profess faith in Jesus Christ, but it is a false faith stemming from a false gospel which is teaching that we do not have to turn away from our sins, and that we do not have to obey the Lord, and that we do not have to submit to Christ as Lord in order to have our sins forgiven and to have eternal life with God.

 

And so many of them are opposing those of us of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, who are walking in his ways in obedience to him, and who are sharing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those around us, and with the people of this world, and with the people of God who are not walking as they ought, and with those who need to be encouraged and strengthened in their walks of faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

And some of them are coming against us in various ways either to attack us, or to try to trip us up in order to discredit us, or to speak evil against us, and to sin against us in various ways hoping that it will break our resolve to keep walking in fellowship with our Lord according to his will and purpose for our lives. For these enemies serve Satan and they are doing his dirty work.

 

Psalms 59:6-10 ESV

 

“Each evening they come back,

    howling like dogs

    and prowling about the city.

There they are, bellowing with their mouths

    with swords in their lips—

    for ‘Who,’ they think, ‘will hear us?’

 

“But you, O Lord, laugh at them;

    you hold all the nations in derision.

O my Strength, I will watch for you,

    for you, O God, are my fortress.

My God in his steadfast love will meet me;

    God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.”

 

Even though they are rebuked for their wrongdoing, and even though their sins are called out for what they are, and even though their sins may even be exposed somewhat, still they continue in them. And even though the wrongness of what they are doing is presented to them, and it is shown to them the harm that they are doing to others by their sins, still they continue in their sins. They keep returning to them over again.

 

Many of them put on a show of righteousness on the outside for everyone to see, hoping to fool them into believing that they are not doing evil, and as a coverup for the evil that they are doing, much like the Pharisees of the time of Jesus’ life on this earth. But they hide what they do in secret in hopes that no one will see and that no one will know the true evil that they are doing and speaking when no one else is looking.

 

But the Lord laughs at them, not because he thinks that what they are doing is funny, though, for he certainly finds no humor in their evil deeds. But he laughs at their audacity to think that they can hide their sins from God or that they can outsmart God in what they are doing. He laughs at them in derision (disdain, contempt, mockery) of them that they think that God does not see or that he does not know or that he will do nothing about their evil.

 

Psalms 59:11-13 ESV

 

“Kill them not, lest my people forget;

    make them totter by your power and bring them down,

    O Lord, our shield!

For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

    let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

    consume them in wrath;

    consume them till they are no more,

that they may know that God rules over Jacob

    to the ends of the earth. Selah”

 

The Psalmist’s prayer here resembles a prayer I have prayed many times for my enemies. I do not wish for them to die, for I want them to live in the hopes that one day they will humble themselves before the Lord in repentance and that they will surrender their lives to Jesus Christ and that they will walk in his ways and in his truth. But I have prayed for them to be disciplined by God in order that they might turn and be saved.

 

Psalms 59:16-17 ESV

 

“But I will sing of your strength;

    I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.

For you have been to me a fortress

    and a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

    for you, O God, are my fortress,

    the God who shows me steadfast love.”

 

We should not let our enemies and our opposition discourage us and dishearten us to the point to where we abandon our walks of faith in Jesus Christ and we end up going back into sin. We must trust the Lord Jesus with our lives no matter what evil our enemies do against us. And we must trust the Lord to deal with our enemies in his timing and according to his will and purpose for their lives and for our lives, too.

 

And we must remain steadfast in faith and purpose regardless of how many enemies come against us to oppose us, providing that we are walking in the ways of the Lord and we are indeed doing his will. And we must keep praising our Lord and thanking him for his goodness to us, whether it is in song or in speech or in writing. For God is good all the time, even when we may not see his goodness and even when enemies are coming against us.

 

But in it all we must rely on the Lord and on his strength to endure, to be steadfast in faith, to be courageous, and to be bold and clear in our presentations of the truth of the gospel. And we must continue to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Our lips should always praise the Lord. For God is our refuge always, but especially in times when enemies attack us.

 

[Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; Matt 5:10-12; Lu 21:12-19; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; Jn 15:1-11]

 

A Believer’s Prayer

 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

 

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

 

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

 

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

 

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