VICTORY FOR THE KING
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank You for the victory over our enemies.
Read PSALM 21
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 The king rejoices in your strength, Lord.
How great is his joy in the victories you give!
2 You have granted him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips.
3 You came to greet him with rich blessings
and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
length of days, for ever and ever.
5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;
you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.
6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings
and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord;
through the unfailing love of the Most High
he will not be shaken.
8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;
your right hand will seize your foes.
9 When you appear for battle,
you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
and his fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
their posterity from mankind.
11 Though they plot evil against you
and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.
12 You will make them turn their backs
when you aim at them with drawn bow.
13 Be exalted in your strength, Lord;
we will sing and praise your might.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Which are the areas where you need the strength of God?
Warfare is a continual aspect of David’s reign. He does not experience the peace that Solomon will enjoy. There are enemies on every side, and he knows that unless the Lord acts for him there will be no victory. All that David has is from God. Without him he would be nothing. God consistently supports him. He has joy from his relationship with God.
For David, enemies are people and communities that oppose him and seek to destroy him. Few of us will have responsibility for leading armies into battle, but we are all faced with enemies of the Gospel and personal attacks on our position as Christians. Paul reminds us that the weapons of our warfare are spiritual. Above all, we recognize that from our own flesh there is warfare against the work of the Spirit within us. It is in the light of such warfare that we can make the words of this psalm into a prayer. David knows that his survival is wrapped up in the destruction of his enemies. For our part, we look to see sin and evil defeated. When people oppose us, we do not seek their destruction but rather the victory of God in their lives that will transform them from enemies to friends.
We are at a very different point in salvation history relative to David. Many of us live in a comfortable world where there is little suffering required of us as followers of Jesus. This psalm urges us to engage in warfare so that the victory of Christ over sin, evil and Satan may be demonstrated in our personal lives and in our communities. We must recognize that we need God’s strength in our spiritual warfare just as much as David did in his realm.
Apply
Pray for your spiritual enemies to be destroyed.
Closing prayer
Lord, we acknowledge that You are our standard bearer, going before us as we engage in a warfare that transcends all the fighting down here.
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