Once upon a time, I worked at a successful fashion manufacturing company. The attitudes of my colleagues varied from mild mannered to drama queen and it seemed that the latter were the ones who were always getting ahead. Management didn’t pay attention to you if you were the quiet, diligent employee. But if you caused a scene at the weekly meeting, you were sure to get noticed and that recognition sometimes turned into a promotion. The math doesn’t make sense but that’s the reality of the industry. I had so many coworkers who stole promotion after promotion I had worked for right out from under me. Was I angry? Of course! What did I do about it? Nothing… Well, not exactly nothing, I prayed about it, “God avenge your servant! You said you would give me increase and favor! Lord, they’re persecuting me, smite them!” It’s easy to pray when you know exactly what to ask for. I was praying in my righteous indignation and calling heaven down on my enemies.
My prayers were mostly unanswered but there is one prayer that will work every single time you pray it. It’s in Psalm 3 written by David. It’s the first psalm to have a title: A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. David’s son Absalom was out to murder him, the events of this are told in 2 Samuel 15-18, but the heart of David at that difficult time is recorded in this psalm. David’s enemy was not one that he wished upon himself. Imagine having your own son out to get you! Other people saw the trouble he was in and instantly judged him. David talks about this in the first few lines of the Psalm:
Adonai, how many are my foes!
Many are rising up against me!
Many are saying to my soul:
“There is no deliverance for him in God.”
People looked at the situation and thought David deserved what he was going through because of his past sin. His sin was committing adultery with Bathsheba. So, they thought God wouldn’t help him because of that. The thing is though, they didn’t know David and they didn’t know GOD! Preacher Girl, people might look at the trouble you’re in and think you’re deserving of it because of what you’ve done but they don’t know you and they don’t know your God!
God calls David a man after His own heart. In Psalm 51, another psalm of David, he says this about God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so, you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” You see, when you sin, you don’t sin against other people, you sin against God. Sin is a slap in the face of holiness. And there is only ONE who is Holy, our God. So, although people might hate you and judge you, know that God makes a way to forgive and deliver you. What good news for us that God isn’t consulting with the people who hate you. Your deliverance doesn’t depend on other people.
So, how do you pray against your enemies? The way you pray is to ignore them! Don’t think about them - think about HIM! In Psalm 3:3 David says this,
“But You, Adonai, are a shield around me, my glory and the lifter of my head.” So, PG when your enemies are looking to tear you down, remember this:
You oh God are my 360-wraparound shield – You are my 365-day shield - if they come from any side, You are there oh God!
You oh God are my glory - my Chabod – The weight of your glory rests on me.
You oh God are the lifter of my head – if God has lifted up Jesus, then He lifts me up because I am in Jesus and Jesus is in me. My countenance cannot fall because my God is there to lift up my head!
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