Scripture – “All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. They swarmed around me like bees, but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them down. I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”
Psalms 118:10-14 NIV
Observation – The Psalmist is describing all of these threatening circumstances where his life is in danger. He says three different times “but in the name of the Lord I cut them down” and ends with “but the Lord helped me”. He knew that the Lord was his strength and his defense and that his salvation came from the Lord.
Application – The vast majority of people I speak with do the exact opposite of what the psalmist is doing in this passage. They describe some wonderful thing that is happening in their life, a huge blessing from God, then they say “but” and mention why it isn’t perfect. They talk about how great their kids are doing in sports and then say “but they need to work on their grades” or someone will compliment them on how they look due to their new workout and they say, “thanks, but I really need to focus on my cardio” or they will be discussing some big deal they just got done and will say, “but it was really hard and took longer than it should have taken”. Life is difficult and we are faced with many challenges because we are in a spiritual battle, our flesh fights against our spirit and we live in a very competitive world. When things are great let’s praise God, bless his name and say thank you and not detract from his blessings by pointing out that things are perfect, everyone knows that anyway.
Prayer – God, when we feel like everything and everyone is against us let’s remember that we can do all things through YOU who strengthens us and in YOUR name we can cut them down. When we talk about, our think about, our problems let us end with “but the Lord helps me, he is my strength, my defense and my salvation!”
What are you doing? Do it better 