"Be gracious to
me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the
shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. I will cry to God Most High, To God who
accomplishes all things for me. He will
send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. God will send forth His lovingkindness and
His truth"
(Psa. 57:1-3).
Hey Gang: is this not
a terrific verse to begin this day with?
As I have read the Psalms I have been drawn to the word "refuge"
and the phrase "under His wings". Strong's tells me there are eighteen
references to God being our refuge in Psalms and six references to the
"shadow of God's wings".
The following verse comes from a chapter that is titled
"The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God". It is a Psalm of David, probably penned when
David was in the wilderness of Judah:
"When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches,
For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand
upholds me." (Psa. 63:6-8).
Wow, is that not a power verse?
As the times become more unsettled and perilous times
increase we need to prepare to quench the fiery darts of Satan. Again we turn to Paul for counsel on how we
can be assured that our protective devices are in place and strong. Step one in his action plan: "In addition to all, taking up shield
of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one" (Eph. 6:16).
And his second step in his action plan: "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand
firm against the schemes of the devil;For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places (Eph. 6:11-12).
We turn to Psalms once again to find out the why's and
wherefores for the need for preparing our shields for warfare against the enemy: "For, behold, the wicked bend the
bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the
upright in heart" (Psa. 11:2).
Hey folks, let this old codger give you a wee bit of
warning- we may think that we are
sufficiently covered and do not need to spend time alone in our prayer closets
and additional time keeping our armor up to speed, but no matter how long you
have walked with Christ, you will face Satan's fiery arrows. As a matter of fact I can attest from many
years of warfare with the evil one, the closer your walk with the Lord the
sharper his darts!
Soooo, my good friends and neighbors, A cautionary note: At times you may think you are the only one
under such attack. Satan does not
discriminate; he attacks every saint of God -full bore- waiting for that
opportune time to enter your house with his cousins. Keep in mind that God is our only refuge and
strength and the only safety zone is safely tucked up and 'under His wings'.
Don't forget to stop and smell a posy or two in route from
one business stop to another.
Blessings,
Gramps
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