Read
(A song and a psalm by David.)
With God on Our Side
1Our God, I am faithful to you
with all my heart,
and you can trust me.
I will sing
and play music for you
with all that I am.
2I will start playing my harps
before the sun rises.
3I will praise you, Lord,
for everyone to hear;
I will sing hymns to you
in every nation.
4Your love reaches higher
than the heavens,
and your loyalty extends
beyond the clouds.
5Our God, may you be honored
above the heavens;
may your glory be seen
everywhere on earth.
6Answer my prayers
and use your powerful arm
to give us victory.
Then the people you love
will be safe.
7Our God, from your holy place
you made this promise:
“I will gladly divide up
the city of Shechem
and give away Succoth Valley
piece by piece.
8The lands of Gilead
and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is my war helmet,
and Judah is my symbol
of royal power.
9Moab is merely my washbasin,
and Edom belongs to me.
I shout with victory
over the Philistines.”
10Our God, who will bring me
to the fortress
or lead me to Edom?
11Have you rejected us?
You don't lead our armies.
12Help us defeat our enemies!
No one else can rescue us.
13Only you give us victory
and crush our enemies.
Reflect
Here we are in victory lane.
David, while not having the victory yet, is anticipating being in victory lane because he is asking for God’s help to claim the victory he seeks. Sure we are sometimes in distress and fearful of failure. Of course we face stresses in our lives that look like they will overwhelm us. But what matters is who we turn to first when those troubles arise. Is it people we know who we think can help or is it God himself we turn to (vv 12-13)?
What is the victory you need to gain? Can you name it or better still write it down in black and white? Who are the enemies you need to trample and overcome? Can you name them?
We have access to a God whose love for us is higher than the heavens and whose faithfulness reaches to the skies and whose glory is over all the earth (vv 4-5).
Our weakness, fear and failure must be the platform from which we launch ourselves into the embrace of the One who will save us by his right hand and who delivers those he loves (v 6). “Through God we will do valiantly…” (v 13 NKJ)
Why should we feel defeated when we can do everything through him who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13)?
Why should we worry about our needs being met when he says, God will meet all our needs through his glorious riches in Jesus Christ (Phil. 4:19)?
David held on to a God who is real, who he spent time worshipping and praising and who in turn acknowledged David as a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22).
Shall we join with David today?
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Respond
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. The glory and power are yours alone. Today I will bow before you in worship and praise your name only. Do valiantly for me that I may serve you and rejoice; in Jesus’ name I ask this.
James Paterson
James works as a visual artist. His current body of work is a series of metal wire sculptures called Prayer Machines which are whimsically ambiguous machine-like objects that give expression to mystery. “I love to share the gospel message, using art as a bridge, to encourage people in their relationship with Jesus.” He and Lynn have four young adult children. Publications Jim’s Grandiose Big Bible Picture Book (Bastian Books ,2007)