Tuesday, April 1
Scripture: 2 Samuel 16-18, Psalm 91
Over and over, God protected David; in 2 Samuel 16-18 God does it again. This is GodStory and OurStory-the faithfulness of God's presence and protection for His people.
God continually tells His people to not be afraid (365 times in the Scriptures, one for each day!). I must admit, however, that there is a root of fear that I am asking the Lord to chisel out of my life. Let's face it, evil happens upon us. BUT GOD has promised to always be with us and He is our salvation! He may not always intervene in the ways we hope or expect, but He is always with us and promises to protect us from our enemies.
I pray we are learning to trust these promises, even to our death. Just like God provided protection for David in the very moment it was needed-a way for David to hide from and be victorious over his enemies-we can trust that God will hide us, protect us and save us from ours. In this passage, David hopes that the Lord will "restore his covenant blessing" to him, as God has promised to do for all of us. David says, "It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today."
GodStory and OurStory collide when we trust that God will protect us in HIS WAY, not ours. Psalm 91 is one of my favorite passages. I love the imagery of God's wings protecting me, enveloping me in the shelter of His Most High shadow. In earthly moments, He is our protector. For eternity, He is our Salvation. He is constantly restoring to us His covenant blessing, that He loves us and He saves us-Christ is our eternal restoration of the covenant blessing. He shelters us and has "shown us His salvation." May we live in the truth that God is restoring His covenant blessing to us daily and for eternity, that we are sheltered under his wings and in His mighty, ever-present shadow, so that we need not be afraid of our enemies. Amen.
~Nedra Lahr
Daily Prayer Focus: All who work in banks and finance, making financial decisions for York city