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"O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress.  My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies."

~ Psalm 59:9-10

 

This psalm was written by David when King Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him (1 Samuel 19:11).  David notes, that in this circumstance, he will turn and watch for the LORD his Strength (v.9).

Verses 7 and 12 caught the attention of my mind and heart.  In all their “howling” (v.6), “prowling” (v.6) and “bellowing” (v.7), David speaks of his enemies as having “swords in their lips” (v.7) and elaborates this to mean their words of “sin”, “pride”, “cursing” and “lies” (v.12).  This made me think of Jesus and the sword in his mouth (Rev. 1:16).  His sword is the very Word of God (John 12:49-50), the Word that is Spirit and Life (John 6:63), the Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12), and the Word that will slay all of his enemies and deliver all of his chosen ones (Rev. 2:12; 2:16; 19:15; 19:21).  Be encouraged by this great truth!

For those who love God and live according to his ways, this life is full of enemies.  We do indeed have hardships, trials, consequences, persecutions, discipline, et c. because of our own sin, but as David notes, sometimes we have strife and distress due to “no transgression or sin of mine…no fault of mine” (v.3-4).  Our suffering in these times is because of the claim of the Name of God and our identity with his Son Jesus Christ.  We are hated because God is hated.  We are reviled because he was reviled.  How blessed it is that the LORD is our Strength and fortress (v.9,16,17), he will meet us (v.4,10), he shows his steadfast love (v.10,16,17), he will deliver (v.1-2) and we will sing praises (v.16-17).