Thursday Devo
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 3:5-8
5 I lay down and slept,
yet I woke up in safety,
for the Lord was watching over me.
6 I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies
who surround me on every side.
7 Arise, O Lord!
Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Victory comes from you, O Lord.
May you bless your people.
5 I lay down and slept,
yet I woke up in safety,
for the Lord was watching over me.
6 I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies
who surround me on every side.
7 Arise, O Lord!
Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Victory comes from you, O Lord.
May you bless your people.
Commentary from the ESV Study Bible:
3:7–8 What He Prays For. The singer calls on the Lord to save him now as he has in the past. “Save” (v. 7) and “salvation” (v. 8) look back to the taunt in v. 2: this rescue is the Lord’s to give or withhold as he sees fit, and not under the control of the enemies. The prayer does not replace work; instead it is what makes the work effective.
3:7 Arise. Cf. Num. 10:35; a request for God to show his favor by scattering the enemies. For you strike … you break. The singer is emboldened to ask God for help because God has regularly protected him from enemies, by shaming them and rendering them powerless.
3:8 Salvation belongs to the Lord. By looking back to v. 2, the singer remembers that it is the decision of the Lord, and not of the enemies, that makes the difference (for the same exclamation, cf. Jonah 2:9; Rev. 7:10; 19:1). your blessing be on your people. A merciful word indeed, wishing well even for the people who oppose him; but the blessing will require their defeat.
3:7 Arise. Cf. Num. 10:35; a request for God to show his favor by scattering the enemies. For you strike … you break. The singer is emboldened to ask God for help because God has regularly protected him from enemies, by shaming them and rendering them powerless.
3:8 Salvation belongs to the Lord. By looking back to v. 2, the singer remembers that it is the decision of the Lord, and not of the enemies, that makes the difference (for the same exclamation, cf. Jonah 2:9; Rev. 7:10; 19:1). your blessing be on your people. A merciful word indeed, wishing well even for the people who oppose him; but the blessing will require their defeat.
Study Questions:
- This isn't your typical prayer! This last section of this Psalm, after remembering God's faithfulness, David cries out to God to rescue him from his enemies. He asks God to fight his battles for him. "Break their teeth!" David has made his complaints known, he's remembered God's faithfulness, and now he's going on the offensive. Prayer is a weapon. When we pray, things happen in the spiritual realm. Sometimes we fail to realize all we have at our disposal. God and his army of angels are waiting to come to our aid. He WILL fight our battles for us if we let him. What is one area of your life that you need to go to battle for more often? How can we remind ourselves to pray for these things more regularly?
- Ephesians 6:12 says, "12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." We tend to see all of our problems from an earthly perspective, especially when it comes to our relationships. We get fixated on that person that is a problem for us, that hurt us, that makes our life difficult. But Paul is writing here that our battle isn't in the natural world. Rather, it is in the unseen spiritual world. If we could wrap our heads around this truth it would change the way we try to deal with things. Rather than trying to fix them ourselves, we would, like David in Psalm 3, run to our Heavenly Father. What problems in your life are you trying to fix on your own? What broken relationships do you need to take to the Father?
Pray:
- That you would be faithful to pray, believing that God can change things.
- That you would remember that our battle isn't against people, it's against evil rulers in the unseen world.
No Comments