Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. Psalm 13:3, 4.
Eternal Father, and our God, our hearts rejoice, because before we call upon You, you have already considered us. Thank You dear God in the name of our savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
In our devotional yesterday we talked about the importance of knowing that our Heavenly Father considers us. Suffering does not seem as cold and unbearable when we realize that we are not being overlooked, or ignored, by God.
We want to continue to build on that thought as we look at another aspect of the psalmist’s struggle. Yesterday we listened to him plead with God to enlighten his eyes. We took that as a request for God to open his eyes to the unseen; to the situation behind the situation. The reality of what is taking place. Remember, from where we stand the scene might be very discouraging, but when our eyes are spiritually enlightened we will be encouraged, and enabled to endure! This could be the difference between life and death, as David expressed.
Today, we will look at another concern of the psalmist. What will the enemy think when he sees me, who claim to be a child of God, looking as if I have been abandoned by the Most High! He might come to the conclusion that he has prevailed! How often we humans struggle with what the enemy might think! I wonder if we are aware of how much sleep we lose, and how much energy is wasted in our surmising.
Whether or not the enemy thinks that he has prevailed, that does not make it a reality! We know that as children of God, all things, not some, but all things, work together for our good (Romans 8:28)! Because of this reality, we can never suffer defeat! No one can prevail over us, if our reality consists of everything, good and bad, eventually working out in our favor!
We can repeat the words of the prophet Micah: “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8).
This way of viewing things is having, not only our eyes, but also our minds, enlightened! That is why we are admonished to think on the positive! The things that are worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8)! We know how the story is going to end. Think on these things!