Hear, O Lord, my cry for mercy. (Ps. 140:6)
DAVID’S ENEMIES WERE NUMEROUS. If he wasn’t fleeing King Saul, he was fleeing the Philistines. For many of David’s younger years, he was hunted and hounded by people who resented his skill in battle and his popularity among the common people.
We can understand why he would cry out for mercy. It only makes sense that this talented young man, who understood that he was destined to be king, would plead for God to rescue him from those who devised evil plans against him.
You probably are not being chased by enemies. You don’t sense the hot breath of some sinister villain against the back of your neck. But let me assure you, an Enemy is looking for ways to taunt, trap, and trip you in your walk with God.
Peter said it this way: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Pet. 5:8–9). Satan is too crafty to use a direct, frontal assault. He “masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). He wants to lure us into his trap before we know what is happening. This is why we must be alert and depend on God for the additional grace and strength He is able to give.
Ask God to equip you today to resist the Enemy.
Ron McClung serves as assistant general secretary for The Wesleyan Church and lives in Fishers, Indiana, with his wife, Carol. They have two sons, nine grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.
© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
