“Arise, O LORD, confront him, bring him low; Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword” (Psa. 17:13).
“He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts” (Psa. 7:12).
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psa. 18:2).
We may all have different ways of thinking about God. We have created a persona or an image of Him that we can relate to based on what we understand about God. We may not think of God the way David did. As a man of war, David saw God fighting for him against his enemies. His enemies were numerous and frequent. David was not a man that couldn’t handle enemies. He was a man of war, valiant in fight, according to the Bible. You know about the famous fight with Goliath (1 Sam. 17:48-51). Maybe you know about his scrap with the lions and bears trying to take the sheep (1 Sam. 17:34-36). Do you know what people back then said about David? “Then one of the young men said, ‘Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the LORD is with him’” (1 Sam. 16:18). Moreover, Hushai said, “You know your father [David] and his men, that they are mighty men and they are fierce, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is an expert in warfare…” (2 Sam. 17:8). Even though he is an expert in war, he does not rely on this to save him. He relies on God. Repeatedly, the Psalms portray God and a source of refuge, protection and deliverance from the oppressor.
How are you doing with your enemies? We may not have arch enemies or the type of enemies that are trying to kill us. We do have a lot of struggles or things that otherwise seemingly hinder our forward progress. Are you allowing God, with His arsenal, to work on those things in your life? Do you believe that He has the power to do something about it? Read this passage from Philippians and think of God as David saw Him. Think of the God the Psalms speak about. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Psa. 4:6,7). It will be peaceful for you, it will not be so for your enemies and those struggles/anxieties in your life. It is little wonder that David could write this from Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”