Psalm 25:1-8
In You, LORD, my God I put my trust.
I trust in You; do not let me be put to shame nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in You will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.
Show me Your ways LORD, teach me Your paths.
Guide me in Your truth and tach me for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.
Remember, LORD, Your great mercy and love, for they are all from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
according to Your love, remember me, for You LORD, are good.
Whenever a statement is repeated in the Bible especially, I pay attention. Therefore, David’s repetition of his trust in the LORD was thought-provoking. Clearly, David is concerned about his enemies triumphing over him, yet he begins his prayer by declaring and repeating his declaration of trust in the LORD. Amazing.
Only then does he ask God to not let him be put to shame in defeat, to not give his enemies triumph over him.
As I’ve stated before, I am not a Bible scholar per se. I simply and prayerfully read the Word and ask God to show me how to apply it to my own life. And, yes, I am far from perfect! 😊
Anyway, I digress. As I read the second part of the verse, “nor let my enemies triumph over me”, I thought, “Who are my enemies? I am not a soldier or a queen. I am not in battle" And therein lay my mistake. Remember Ephesians 6, the chapter on spiritual warfare? Remember verse 12?
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities,
against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Ephesians 6:12 KJV
Who is our enemy, our true foe? The defeated one, of course. What do we struggle with that keeps us in the bubble the defeated one has created for us?
Hate? An addiction? Shame? Rumination? Doubt? Fear?
Let us repeatedly confess our trust in the LORD, pray for Him to give us the victory and then move onto truly trusting Him, even if our knees our quaking.
Let us act on our trust in the LORD, even if our heart pounds in fear.
Let us break out of the bubble and move forward in the LORD’s victory this year!
Let not our enemies triumph over us!