FRIDAY 16th
Psalm 54
NIV (v4) – ‘Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.’
ESV (v4) – ‘Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.’
Yesterday we looked at the psalm that says that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God, a phrase that is so apt for the day in which we are living in, and as a result we will find that we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, as those who use God’s word as a foundation on which to build our lives will be continually attacked and ostracized. There is no doubt that it is the enemy of the soul attacking humanity and seeking to destroy the moral fabric of society and to attack the Church of Jesus Christ, to discredit what we believe and who we are in Christ Jesus, but firstly we can be assured that however ferocious his attack will be toward the Church and the individual believer, he will not prevail, for we have the promise of Jesus ‘that I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’ and we stand on the assurance that God’s promises will never fail, and as the enemy has sought to attack the Church over its two thousand year history, the Church is still growing and being built as the message of the gospel is being preached all over the world and many are still yet coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, we have the continual promises found throughout Scripture that we have the Lord God as our helper, he is our strength, he is our shield, he is our protector, and our verse says today, something that we can apply to ourselves, ‘Behold, God is my helper, the LORD is the upholder of my life (or as the NIV puts it) the one who sustains me.’
One of the ways in which the LORD God helps us is by giving us an armour, an armour we can put on to protect ourselves against the attack of the enemy, we read of it in Ephesians 6, and I remind us of it here by showing the verses ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints . . .’ (Ephesians 6:10–18)
May we ensure that we take up and put on this armour, we need it, we need to stand tall, stand firm and stand strong, we are God’s army and we do battle in the name of the Lord. Let us take all that God has made available to help us as we live for him, his word, the fellowship of the saints, the power of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and his righteousness.