Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 18:31-39
Ps 18:31-39
31 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? 32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. 36 You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed. 38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. 39 You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
1 Cor 15:26, 57 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
David wrote of his physical enemies who were trying to overtake him and kill him as he led the people of God. As he prepared to become king of Israel, it was King Saul who pursued him, to try to destroy him. Later, as the King, it was the Gentile nations all around him that sought his demise. But he put his trust in God who had taken him from the fields and had lifted him to his position as king.
We face many enemies today. Most of them are not foreign nations or even people from our own that are seeking to destroy us physically. Our enemy is the devil and he uses all kinds of trials, temptations, hardships, sickness and death to try to defeat us spiritually. When he can get us to put our trust in the things of this world or he can get us to just doubt the goodness of God and the many promises he has made to us, he has won the battle and is on the way to winning the war. One of his greatest weapons is fear, usually fear of what might be.
Jesus began many statements with the words “be not afraid.” God told Moses and Joshua to not be afraid but to be strong and trust him. David left his fear behind as he took the stones to kill the giant. Daniel ditched his fear when he knelt and prayed to God and later faced the lions in the den. They trusted God.
O Lord take away my fears and give me faith to trust you in every part of my life. While I enjoy living on this earth and do not want to leave the ones I love, help me not fear death but to look forward to being with you. I know death is the great and final weapon of Satan but I also know that Jesus has defeated death by his resurrection. Thank you for the joy and anticipation this gives me as I face the trials in this life. Use me to help others in their struggles. Keep me from being selfish with my time and the things you have given me. I pray in Jesus name.
Robert
