TUESDAY 20th
Psalm 57
NIV (v6) – ‘They spread a net for my feet—I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves.’
ESV (v6) – ‘They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves.’ Selah
In our psalm yesterday we saw that it commenced with the author crying out for mercy, he commences this psalm in the same way, David is crying out for help the heading says as he was fleeing from Saul. He continues to say that the ungodly had set traps for him, but because of the help that God gave to him, they themselves fell into the trap, David is delivered, and he burst forth in song, ‘I will sing and make melody! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.’ (vv7,9)
In verse 6 David says, ‘They set a net for my steps’, those who hated him and were on Saul’s side were doing all they could to capture David, a net was laid, a pit was dug, hopefully they would ensnare him in the net or trap him in the pit, but God rescued him.
The devil would love to get hold of the children of God, and he does all he can in setting a net to capture them or to dig a pit to trap them, he does it through subtle ways, placing temptation in the way and things that on the surface look good and okay as bait, and once the bait is taken, he persist with all means possible to trap and to ensnare further. He masquerades as an angel of light, while all the while he is a demon of darkness. Remember how subtle he was with Adam and Eve, making what was forbidden look good and pleasant and rewarding, till in the end they gave way to his subtilty and fell into the temptation and disobeyed God. Let us be aware of his subtility and be aware of anything he may seek to do to hinder us in our walk and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Taking the Scriptures that I closed with yesterday, as we continue to delight in the way of the Lord, he will order our steps and keep us from falling.
But there is another aspect I want us to consider today, and it is this, the devil would love to get hold of the children of the children of God, that’s right, our own children, our own young ones, those who are babes, infants, children and youth in our household of faith, and he will use any and every means possible to trap them and to ensnare them, we who are Christian parents and we who are members of the household of God, in particular in our local Church fellowship need to be upholding the young people and children in our prayer, we need to be upholding the young families in our prayers, but at the same time parents should be doing all they can to ensure that they are not allowing their children to be exposed to so much of what the enemy is using as bait today, and so much of it comes through the medium of television. If you watch many programmes today, they all portray immorality as the norm, the whole concept of what proper marriage and relationships are all about and meant to be by God’s design is gone out through the window, our children unless they are taught will never know that which is right from wrong, the devil has laid the traps, the devil has dug the pits, we have a responsibility to pray for their souls, so that the One who came to the aid of David and delivered him, will also come to the aid of our children and youth and prevent them from falling as prey to the wiles of the devil. As we have been concentrating on prayer in our prayer meetings recently for the children and the youth, may we continue, praying fervently.
We need more than ever to be alert – the devil not only works in subtle ways, but he also goes around like a roaring lion, seeking who he can devour, resist him firm in the faith. Resist him by praying fervently.
V11 ‘Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!’
Be exalted, O God, let your glory be seen in our Church family.