In spiritual warfare we're often unaware of the dangers that beset us. The harm to our inner person that can come when we yield to that which is wrong, or fail to follow God's way.
For some reason, yesterday I spent a lot of time in Psalm 31, particularly in these verses. I was thinking of the scene in The Passion of the Christ, of Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane, and being tempted by the devil there, and uttering petitions to his Father, probably from the words of this psalm, "Shelter Me, O, Lord. I trust in you. In you I take refuge."
The time was not an easy one for Jesus in the garden. Do we have our times which though they cannot come close to plumbing the depths of Jesus' experience, still are most difficult? I do.
I am thankful that we have that part of Psalm 31 I was dwelling on, all of Psalm 31, the rest of the psalms, and all of Scripture. We need it all, because we can't live in the low places too long. But we need to be open to what God may be trying to do, or teach us in those "places" during that time. We need also to remember that change by its very nature comes often with tremendous difficulty. For a good number of reasons.
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6 comments:
Ted,
This was my prayer this morning! Thnank you so much brother for your encouragement and prayers. God answers prayers as I went to the nuerologist yesterday and found out that all of my tests were normal. This part of Psalm 31 has been such a prayer of personal strength and help as I have been "in the low places" lately. God bless and hope you have a great weekend! :-)
My instinct in low places is not to run to scripture but to do as Adam and Eve did and hide. Never a safe place to be. Good post and good reminder that scripture is always the safest place to be.
Kinney,
Praise God for that! Am praying for you brother.
Yes, what a rich psalm, and what a helpful passage to me during those times when it can seem hopeless.
I really want to grow in praying the psalms. I was delayed in getting the next portion of "The Bible Experience" from our public library system, so ended up replaying Job and the psalms I have now. So rich. And good to go over them again.
But also thinking of the opening scene of Jesus praying in the garden during the movie. So I tried to find the passage and decided it must be this one. Great portion to meditate on, and how very much we need all of Scripture, every part.
Susan,
Yes. Of course you'd turn to Scripture soon, and to God. But I know full well what you mean! One feels alienated and just out of sorts, so why bother? But then we get hold of ourselves and realize, by the grace and working of God, that indeed we must turn to God, and a big part of that is turning to the word. I'm just rambling on stuff you know, but it's good to keep keeping on in what we know, to remind ourselves, and keep after it, in the way of the Lord.
Thanks.
I was thinking about your point on safety, Susan. Yes, we are safe only as we continue in God's word every day, in an interactive fellowship or seeking of God and his will in our lives.
Jesus praying, "Save me from the traps they set for me," precedes the rest of what I pulled off a website in quotes from the movie, as I look at those clips just now. On the film those words are just before the devil appears with his temptations. This shows that indeed the Lord's words in the film are from Psalm 31. No doubt that was an important psalm for our Lord.
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