Fierce Men Stir up Strife Against Me

“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” (Psalms 59:1-5 ESV)

You who believe in Jesus Christ, if your faith in Christ is genuine God-given and God-persuaded faith in him, you have died with Christ to sin, and you have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin no longer has mastery over your life, but now you are living under Holy Spirit control in walks of obedience and in surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ in holy living, for the glory and praise of God, and in his power and strength.

This does not make you absolutely perfect, however, but lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin. For we are to be God’s people who have renounced secret and shameful ways, and who have renounced ungodliness and worldly passions (lusts) in order to now live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and for him and no longer for self, free from the power of sin over our lives.

[Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:44; Romans 6:1-23; Philippians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 4:2; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15]

However, if we are those who are living holy lives pleasing to God, in surrender to his will, in submission to his Lordship, and in holy living, and no longer in sin, we will have enemies. And if we are true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ who are obeying him, in practice, and who are walking in his ways and in his truth, and who are spreading the truth of the gospel to other people, and thus who are also refuting and combatting the lies which are coming against the truth, we will have enemies, even from within the gatherings of church (and/or what is falsely being called “church”).

For not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is of genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. For not all have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and so not all have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to righteousness. But many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are still of this sinful world, still living like the world in sin, and not in obedient walks of faith in Jesus Christ. For they have bought into a cheapened form of God’s grace and of his gospel message which makes no requirements for death to sin and living to God.

And/or many who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and who are following the commands of the Lord, were taught all sorts of incorrect doctrines and teachings of the Scriptures which have been passed down to them from generation to generation. And so they are holding fast to those teachings even if you are able to show them in the Scriptures, in the proper context, how those teachings are not biblical. And so they may also become your enemies if what you are teaching, although biblical, does not agree with what they have always been taught, and they may come against you, too.

So, I am just bringing in the reality here that our enemies will not all be people of this world who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. Many of them may be others who also profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are still living like the world and/or who are holding to particular teachings that disagree with the Scriptures, taught in context, or that are teaching the opposite of what we may be teaching, as serious students of the Scriptures. And for some of them this may be a serious dividing point to where they feel they must become our enemies, who renounce us strongly.

So, this is a prayer to the Lord Jesus for deliverance from our enemies. But what I can tell you from reading the New Testament, the Lord may not always or even mostly deliver us physically from our enemies. For our calling from God involves the fact that we will be hated, mistreated, persecuted, abandoned, rejected, and fought against, even to the point of death. But we are to rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ and for the sake of his gospel. But our Lord will deliver us spiritually and emotionally through these times to where we don’t cave to the pressure.

For these can be very stressful times when we have others treating us as though we are their enemies and so they attack us and even lie about us and even plot evil against us, and carry it out, too. So we need deliverance from these persecutions having their effect in our lives to the point to where we might cave to the pressure, and to where we might give up and retreat. And that deliverance will come in the form of God giving us his strength to endure, and his wisdom to continue, and the fortitude of the Spirit to continue even in the face of much opposition and difficult circumstances.

For, although the Lord does say that he will repay those who do evil with his judgments against them, those judgments may not come in our lifetime. And truly our prayer should be for our enemies for their salvation so that they don’t have to face the judgments of God. We should pray for the mercy of God in their lives in holding off his judgments so that they have time to repent of their sins and to renounce their sinful ways and to come to their senses and to surrender their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. For we should remember here God’s mercy in our lives, which we did not deserve.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Lead Me Gently Home, Father

By Will L. Thompson, 1879

Lead me gently home, Father,

Lead me gently home;

When life’s toils are ended,

And parting days have come,

Sin no more shall tempt me,

Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,

If Thou’ll only lead me, Father,

Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,

Lead me gently home, Father,

Lest I fall upon the wayside,

Lead me gently home.

Lead me gently home, Father,

Lead me gently home;

In life’s darkest hours, Father,

When life’s troubles come,

Keep my feet from wand’ring,

Lest from Thee I roam,

Lest I fall upon the wayside,

Lead me gently home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Y9cb0f76A

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