The Phil Files

I can’t imagine living in a city under siege in the ancient world. The terror of being surrounded by your enemies and cut off from the outside world would be awful. Knowing that they were going to wait and starve you until you were too weak to fight would rattle even the strongest warrior. But many of us, at one time or another, has clearly felt under siege by the evil one. Everywhere we turn there is a new problem. Each time we look up there seems to be another physical affliction. We got to bed wondering who would be the latest loved wounded, injured, attacked or stricken. We’re not talking about depression or pessimism, we’re talking about spiritual attack. There is only one place to go. There is only one source of hope. As I visited recently with a friend under such attack, her faith in God — the rock, the fortress the God of the Mountains — was stronger than her enemies. This Psalm is for her!

In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    deliver me in your righteousness.
  Turn your ear to me,
    come quickly to my rescue;
  be my rock of refuge,
    a strong fortress to save me.
  Since you are my rock and my fortress,
    for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
  Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
    for you are my refuge.
  Into your hands I commit my spirit;
    redeem me, LORD, my faithful God.

  I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
    as for me, I trust in the LORD.
  I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
    for you saw my affliction
    and knew the anguish of my soul.
  You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
    but have set my feet in a spacious place.

  Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
    my soul and body with grief.
  My life is consumed by anguish
    and my years by groaning;
  my strength fails because of my affliction, 1
    and my bones grow weak.
  Because of all my enemies,
    I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
  I am a dread to my friends —
    those who see me on the street flee from me.
  I am forgotten as though I were dead;
    I have become like broken pottery.
  For I hear many whispering,
    “Terror on every side!”
  They conspire against me
    and plot to take my life.

  But I trust in you, LORD;
  I say, “You are my God.”
  My times are in your hands;
    deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
    from those who pursue me.
  Let your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your unfailing love.
  Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
    for I have cried out to you;
  but let the wicked be put to shame
    and be silent in the realm of the dead.
  Let their lying lips be silenced,
    for with pride and contempt
    they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

  How great is your goodness,
    which you have stored up for those who fear you,
  which you bestow in the sight of all
    on those who take refuge in you.
  In the shelter of your presence you hide them
    from all human intrigues;
  you keep them safe in your dwelling
    from accusing tongues.

  Praise be to the LORD,
    for he showed me the wonders of his love
    when I was in a city under siege.
  In my alarm I said,
    “I am cut off from your sight!”
  Yet you heard my cry for mercy
    when I called to you for help.

  Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
    The LORD preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
  Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the LORD.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 31: My times are in your hands! — \o/

When we are in distress, when we feel that all of life is under siege, then we can begin to truly confess that our lives are in God’s hands. Without Him, apart from Him, is no lasting good thing. However, because the LORD is with us, we can be strong and take heart even during life’s most challenging times.

The LORD is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
  The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

  When the wicked advance against me
    to devour 1 me,
  it is my enemies and my foes
    who will stumble and fall.
  Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
  though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

  One thing I ask from the LORD,
    this only do I seek:
  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
    all the days of my life,
  to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
    and to seek him in his temple.
  For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
  he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
    and set me high upon a rock.

  Then my head will be exalted
    above the enemies who surround me;
  at his tabernacle I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
    I will sing and make music to the LORD.

  Hear my voice when I call, LORD;
    be merciful to me and answer me.
  My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
  Your face, LORD, I will seek.
  Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
  Do not reject me or forsake me,
    God my Savior.
  Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the LORD will receive me.
  Teach me your way, LORD;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.
  Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    spouting malicious accusations.

  I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the LORD
    in the land of the living.
  Wait for the LORD;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the LORD.

\o/ — Comments Psalm 27: I will see the goodness of the LORD! — \o/

The LORD is my light, my salvation, and the stronghold of my life. I believe that. I build my life upon that assurance. I trust this is true.

Even in times of distress, I want to be able to say with integrity and confidence, just like the psamist here, I will see the goodness of the LORD in the Land of the living. I believe the Father not only has a place prepared for me with Him eternally, I also believe that the LORD is working in my life to bless me now. Sometimes, however, I miss seeing those blessings because I am impatient or want them to come to me in different ways.

Yet for me to fully appreciate God’s blessings, I must be willing to wait on the LORD’s timing and grace. I need to be strong and take heart. I can do this, because just like the apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day (2 Timothy 1:12 TNIV).

So the challenge for me today is to wait … to trust … and to be faithful, all while anticipating the LORD’s blessings in my life. I will wait on the LORD!