Sermon Central
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Got Enemies? Series
Contributed by Thomas Swope on Dec 2, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: A study of Psalm 7 verses 1 through 17
Psalm 7: 1 – 17
Got Enemies?
1 O LORD my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me, 2 Lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this: If there is iniquity in my hands, 4 If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, or have plundered my enemy without cause, 5 Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, and lay my honor in the dust. Selah 6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! 7 So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You;For their sakes, therefore, return on high. 8 The LORD shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me. 9 Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just; For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. 10 My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. 13 He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts. 14 Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit and dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. 17 I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
Who do you rely on? Do you rely on your own abilities? I have this brother in law who is a medical doctor. He is pretty well set for life financially. I have tried to point them to our Great and Holy God, Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – but they will not respond. The answer I always get is ‘why do I need God. I have accomplished all my success by myself.’
The bible says in the book of James chapter 1, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
People, like my brother in law, may think that it has been their own doing that has led them to success and prosperity but you and I know that ‘everything’ if from the Divine Will of El Shaddai – Almighty God.
David realized this fact also. Look with me at verses 1 and 2.
1 O LORD my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me, 2 Lest they tear me like a lion, rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
David knew that not only his success was from Jehovah Hireh – The Lord our Provider – but, in addition, he knew our Holy Creator as El Roi – The Strong One Who Sees!’
Yes, our Great and Holy God is Omniscient. He knows all things. He knows all about our enemies. You might say, ‘I do not have any enemies’. If you can realistically and honestly say this, I would guess that you might not even be a Christian. Look at these two verses;
John 15: 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you”
John 17: 14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
Not trying to be mean folks, then how can you in any way say that you are exempted from what our Holy Lord and Master has said? You need to examine yourselves to see if you are really in the faith.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this: If there is iniquity in my hands, 4 If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me, or have plundered my enemy without cause, 5 Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, and lay my honor in the dust. Selah
David is aware that our Father God, Adoni Yahweh, at least knows the truth, that he is innocent of seeking Saul’s death. He is guilty of no ‘iniquity’ in this regard. Iniquity is the opposite of ‘right’ and indicates what is crooked and distorted. Indeed he has never done evil against anyone who was at peace with him, and he has spared Saul’s life more than once, in spite of the fact that he is his enemy without genuine reason. Happy is the man who can say from an honest heart that he has treated fairly those who have treated him fairly, and even those who have treated him unfairly, as David could.
