Psalm 59
Sunday, 5 December 2021
I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God -Psalm 59:9 [GNT]
Believing in the Lord and His word is good, but trusting in His authority and power goes beyond the expression of the word, “believe.” So many people believe God, even the demons do, but not all trust in the Lord to be the commander in chief in the battle of their lives. We sometimes do our level best to fight spiritual battles, by shouting and sweating like the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. We forget that we have a God who is all powerful equipped to face the strongest challenge in heaven and on earth, He is our Defender. When we believe God, we do well; but when we trust in Him and the authority of His word, then we are like Mount Zion which cannot be removed but abides forever. The sure protective power of the Lord our Master is encompassed around those who trust in Him as their Defender.
The expression of the psalmist gives us a clear picture of the confidence and trust he place in the authority of the Lord our defender. Faith and confidence in the authority of His word, provokes God into great action in the defense of his children.
Billions of people all over the world believe in “God”, but yet consults mediums, engages in sorcery, depends on charms, superstitions, etc, as the best solution for their lives. TRUST is completely out in these situations. For God to be given the opportunity to show the strength of his supremacy as the “minister of defense” in our lives, TRUST is to be the protocol officer. Elijah knew about this very much, so he went up to the people and said, "How much longer will it take you to make up your minds? If the LORD is God, worship him; but if Baal is God, worship him!" But the people didn't say a word. ( 1 Kings 18:21). The people didn’t say a word, simply because they were confused. This is what is happening to so many people even some so called believers of the Christian faith—wanting God to secure and defend them and at the same time believing and holding firm to something else.
For God to be our Defender there is no demilitarized zone. We are either with Him with sincere Trust in the authority of His word or we follow the voice of our flesh and traditions of men. Since pleasing God is the first purpose of our life; our most important task is to discover how to do that.
In Noah’s day, the entire world had become morally bankrupt. Everyone lived for their own pleasure, not God’s. God couldn’t find anyone on earth interested in pleasing him, so he was grieved and regretted making man. God became so disgusted with the human race that he considered wiping it out. But there was one man who made God smile—the Lord was pleased with Noah (Genesis 6:8).
There are five acts of expressions that always put a smile on God’s face for his children and prompts Him to rise up to their defense without any delay.
When we love Him supremely out of the depth of our hearts.
When we trust Him completely
When we obey Him wholeheartedly
When we praise and thank Him continually
When we use our ability and resources, with Him in our mind.
Prayer: Lord! Help me to place my trust and confidence in You, and the authority of Your word that I may see You as my Defender.