Saturday, July 9, 2005
Psalm 5:8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.
LEAD ME, O LORD
In this world we are surrounded by enemies -- people who have hardened their hearts to the Lord and deny His holy name without any care at all. They cheat, steal, lie, and murder. They are lost in their sin and in their sinful ways. And on top of this, these are not even the greatest enemies we face! More than the human enemies who can do us harm, the Apostle Paul writes, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph 6:12). Satan and the angels who fell from heaven with him are also out to ruin us.
The enemies of Christ can be strong whether they are of the human or angel variety. They pressure us to follow the way of the unrighteous and the wicked. Perhaps this is why David appealed so earnestly to the LORD saying, "Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies." Where our enemies would lead us on the path of spiritual shipwreck, we ask God to lead us on the path of everlasting life. Where they suggest that we follow evil ways, we ask God to lead us away from those things so that we might do what He wants instead.
This the LORD certainly does -- but so much more too. For He does not simply "lead us in His righteousness" by showing us a holy path and letting us go at it on our own. No, instead He gave His one and only Son into death so that we might be declared righteous forever; placing our sins on Jesus so we could appear holy in the eyes of the Father. Now that is truly leading us in righteousness! And that is the ultimate escape from our enemies. O Lord, make your way straight before my face! Amen.
