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Articles 2018-2020
David made an amazing discovery.
Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.
It was in the time of His servant being besieged, of being attacked that God made known to him His glorious and unshakeable love. Our Lord consistently reveals the steadfastness of His commitment to us in the context of opposition and evil. In our own lives, who would have thought that when we were first born of the Spirit, our God was plunging us into a war? Indeed, the table He had prepared for us was in the presence of our enemies, spiritual forces that wanted to destroy us (Psalm 23:5). On the other hand, the food He offered on that table for our sustenance and strength was the revelation (through His word and His Spirit) of His own character, His amazing steadfast love that overcomes those evil spiritual forces. And in beholding Him, we discovered the grace and the power to stand victoriously.
Adam’s failure in Eden was not just in his disobedience to a clear command from the Lord, it was also in his failure to see that the Lord himself was his refuge as well as the power he needed to reject the serpent’s lie.
And in our lives, it is in the times of difficult circumstances when the enemy assails us with temptations to sin and to rebel against the Lord that we discover surfacing within our own hearts certain attitudes and desires that clearly fall short of His glory. Often our first thought is that surely God will reject us. “Good grief! Look at what is actually in my heart!” But then against the backdrop of our own flaws, we discover a steadfastness of His love for us that then draws us into both more insightful worship as well as an even deeper commitment to Him. Here is the heart of spiritual warfare. The great conflict is revealed in the unveiling of Christ in the time of the assault of darkness and the exposing of our own failures. It is exactly here that grace shines with a glory that shuts the mouth of the enemy and gives hope to those who humble themselves before the Lord.
Unlike Adam, David realized that only God could be his refuge, his place of safety.
In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me (Hebrew, NAHAL – to lead or guide to a watering place, or a place of rest); you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
David understood that only the Lord knew fully the specific “place of rest” to which He was leading His servant. To access it, David would have to abide in Him as his refuge and trust in Him as his guide. I sometimes hear believers say that we should pursue our dreams and ask God to bless our journey. But it is not our dreams that need to be established; it is His dream, His purpose, and His destination for us that we must discover. And it is only in abiding in Him that we will ever arrive there.
Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Jesus’ last words on the cross were a quote from David’s song about the revelation of God’s steadfast love in a time of assault/besiegement. Indeed, Jesus lived Psalm 31. From Joseph and Mary not understanding Him, to His brothers not believing in Him, to the religious system considering Him a fraud, Jesus’ life resembled a besieged city – the very kind of place that God determined to reveal His steadfast love in David’s life.
Jesus not only committed himself into His Father’s hands at the cross, He had been doing so all His life (1 Peter 2:23). As a result, God could reveal His steadfast love in Christ not only in His death but all through His life as well. Whether to His family while growing up, or to the obvious sinners in Israel, or to the religious leaders of the nation – Jesus refused to let others’ misunderstanding or rejection of Him dictate His response. God was making known His marvelous steadfast love in His besieged city.
And because the cross was the culmination of a lifestyle of relational trust and dedication, Christ’s commitment of himself into His Father’s hands both in life and in death enabled Him to overcome both rejection throughout His life and then also the power of death at the cross. Here is the road to victory in the great spiritual war that we have been drafted into.
David totally rejected the rebellious lifestyle of Israel’s idolaters. His confidence was in the Lord not in some handcrafted chunks of stone (Psalm 31:6), nor the demonic powers behind them. And He would rejoice in God’s steadfast love because even though the Lord had known David’s soul in the midst of his adversities (Psalm 31:7 NKJV), He had not given up on his servant but had brought him through to a broad place (Psalm 31:8). As in all of our lives, David’s soul in the midst of his trials was probably at certain times not a pretty sight. But God refused to reject David by what was surfacing in him in those painful circumstances. In fact, He was just as intimately involved with him in the times of his failure as He was in the times of David’s success. Here is where the glory of God’s steadfast love shines through the fog of human failure to reveal the sure foundation of His purpose on earth.
Not only was God revealing the frailty of David’s love for Him, He also wanted His servant to see the failure of his friends’ love as well. To them David had become a reproach. When they saw him coming, they passed over to the other side of the street so that they did not have to face him. And some even plotted to take his life (Psalm 31:9 - 13).
God’s spiritual warfare strategy is to make absolutely clear the total insufficiency of human love as the foundation of His work among men. The revelation of human failure – both of our own and of those around us can be quite painful. How easy it then becomes to justify simply walking away from those who God has placed in our lives. “Why should I continue spending time with them? Look at how they have fallen short in their love for me.”
But in seeing the failure of man, we have only half of the picture that God is revealing. The whole point of the exercise is to make known to us His amazing steadfast love. Brethren walking away from each other in trying times when God is revealing fleshly thoughts and attitudes in His house reveals that we have failed to build properly upon His one true foundation. But those who refuse to react to the misunderstanding and/or rejection of others and cry out for the Lord to reveal himself in the midst of the crisis will make the same discovery that David did.
And so David cried out for the Lord to cause His face to shine on His servant, to manifest His presence to him like the dawning of a new day (Psalm 31:16). Indeed, it is in the time of the enemy’s onslaught that the beauty of the Lord strikes us so memorably because of the backdrop of darkness against which He shines. Clearly, Heaven’s strategy is not complicated. God is simply making himself known in Christ. And the glory revealed in God’s Son is the bedrock, the foundation upon which we are to stand both individually as well as corporately. And in these New Testament times, God is still making known the glorious foundation of the house He is constructing.
In fact, there is a great need in the Church today for apostolic and prophetic foundation-layers (Ephesians 2:20), those who take the time to behold/study and then unveil Christ the only foundation of God’s singular house. In these days and in days to come, I believe that God will raise up among us true foundational ministries who will lead the way in laying aside all other agendas, all self-promotion, and all attempts to coordinate churches around themselves.
And in order to succeed, these servants of the Lord must take time to behold and study God’s steadfast love for them in the times of their besiegement. Then taking their stand upon Him, they will make Him known through word and deed so that those who hear will be drawn to Him more so than to them. And the local churches they serve will then seek to build upon the person of Christ rather than around a gifted leader(s). Such fellowships will be centered in Christ and promoting His kingdom rather than simply functioning as participants in a particular “apostolic stream”.
The tendency of some builders in God’s house to build others into a dependency upon themselves and upon their leadership grace must be resisted. Remember, it was those known as builders in God’s house whom two thousand years ago rejected Christ in His role as the foundational cornerstone (Matthew 21:42).
Today, the enemy’s strategy is no different. Satan has no problem with the Church talking about apostles and prophets if he can keep fine-tuning our attention even just a smidgeon away from Christ, Heaven’s focus. And those who are called to build apostolically will fail to make a clear trumpet sound if they allow too much attention to fall upon themselves. To mix my metaphors, they will both give forth an uncertain sound, and they will muddy the waters.
Though the wicked would speak against the righteous, David was confident that God had it all under control (Psalm 31:17 - 19). Notice the place of safety that he discovered for those undergoing assault.
In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots of men; You keep them secretly in Your pavilion from the strife of tongues.
(Psalm 31:20 Amplified Bible)
Here is where we must flee. We must each discover that secret place of His presence where we will encounter the grace needed to not succumb to the destructive words of others coupled with the oppressive and depressive thoughts of the devil. If God would make known His steadfast love among men, we all must go through times of besiegement. Let us embrace our calling to war. It is exactly there that God will cause His amazing love to shine forth as a beacon offering hope to those who see no way out of their personal struggles.
And if our God seems slow in making himself known in your heart, consider David’s last words in this Psalm.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
Donald Rumble – April 2018
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