Day 121/365- 2 Samuel 22:1-4

"He Saved Me From My Enemies"

David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.
I called on the Lord , who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. (2 Samuel 22:1-4 NLT)

I've always had a hard time understanding exactly how to apply the Psalms of David that talk about his enemies. It may be my growing up in the USA & being spoiled because no one is trying to kill me. It's makes it even more difficult in the context of the way Jesus speaks of our enemies & how we should treat them. David is glad that his are defeated by God & we are supposed to love ours. How are these ideas reconciled?

God used David as a means of his holy judgment. God used his people to carry out his wrath for consequences of people's sin. They were upholders of the righteousness of God. Needless to say, this is not our role today.

So, how should we apply these texts about our enemies?

I think there are a couple of helpful ways to apply these Psalms in the Bible. First, we have a very real enemy in the Devil that lives to steal, kill, & destroy. We should pray that God would destroy his work, keep him from harming us, protect God's name & his kingdom from him, protect lost people & the oppressed from him as well as many other things. He is a very real enemy & crying out to God because of him is a good application of these verses.

Also, a lesser thought of application that I see great value in is to see these enemies of the Psalmists as our enemy that is known as the flesh or sin. Our old man that needs crucifying everyday is our enemy. We need to view sin, especially sin that we struggle with as our enemy. Sin is not something to cuddle up to it is something that has to be destroyed!! It must be eliminated. It must be killed or it will kill us! Next time you read a Psalm that talks about enemies, see how you can make it your prayer against the Enemy & your sin. I think it will give us a fresh perspective on ourselves & our battle with sin & Satan.