We live in the midst of an enemy and it is called the World. When I say we, I mean people who are Jesus followers. King David recognized the same problem even before Jesus came. Listen to the way he describes the difference between the World and God in Psalm 57 verses 4 and 5.
My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
We are surrounded by the World and here, David calls the inhabitants lions and fiery beasts. David is a poet and poets use symbols to tell us things. Hebrew poetry would often explain the first part of a verse in the second part.
The explanation is that these lions and fiery beasts are people. The World is made up of people, the children of man – we aren’t talking about the devil here. They are enemies that attack with their mouths full of teeth that are like arrows. Their tongues are like sharp swords.
Their first attack on Jesus followers is they try to destroy with words. Those words often hurt. They may be slander, gossip, or philosophies, empty deceit, or human traditions according to Apostle Paul.
Guess what! We don’t have to fight the way the World does. I think that is why David said he lies down in their midst. He isn’t fighting. He’s taking a nap. Verse five explains why we don’t fight in the same way as the World and that is because God is exalted above the heavens and His glory is over all the earth.
When we know God is sovereign even over the wickedness that is going on in the World, we can be at rest. That doesn’t mean we never defend ourselves or carry the battle to the World. But when we do, it is by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The message of Jesus dying for our sins, buried, raised on the third day and coming back again will prevail and give us peace in the World.
If you don’t have peace through Jesus, just follow one or more of these links to find out how.
https://tinyurl.com/short-gospel
https://tinyurl.com/Gospel-video
The World is against Jesus followers, but Jesus followers always have peace. #lions #fierybeasts #Gospel #evilworld
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