Dear Christian, You are not an Enemy of God

Sometimes I think that God is not happy with me when I don't get it. I know that He has my best in mind and His way is perfect for my life but then when I fall, I don't feel like I deserve Him being ok with me. I still make it right with Him and He is so faithful and gives me the peace and grace to move on. But it happens again and I feel once again like God is disappointed with me. I really struggle with this but God knew exactly what I needed to get me going on the right path.

Last week I started to read 2 Samuel 22, one of my all time favorites. I like it for verse 31,

"As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him."
 

But I am going to focus on verses 8-25 where David is describing God coming down and rescuing him from Saul using the imagery of Exodus 19. In verse 8 of 2 Samuel 22, David uses the images of the earth shaking and trembling to describe God's anger. The following verse smoke comes from His nostrils and a devouring fire from His mouth. In verse 12, darkness and thick clouds are around God. When God speaks, He sounds like thunder as in verse 14. God is also like a warrior shooting down arrows in verse 15. This is also found in Psalm 7:13  

"He also prepares for Himself instruments of death;
He makes His arrows into fiery shafts."





David continues on in verse 16 describing how God separates the channels of waters by "the blast of the breath of His nostrils." This imagery of course is from Exodus 15 verse 8 when Moses praises God for parting the Red Sea.

But as I compared the two scriptures, the images David used to described God rescuing him from evil people. God was not happy that the man that He called a man after His own heart was being hunted down to be killed. God is a just God. But the verses used in Exodus were images used to describe a holy God connecting with His people. He was only approaching Israel in His holiness. Going back to Psalm 7 verse 11

"God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day."

 

 

God is only displeased with those who have rejected Him, those who are not believers. Their constant rebellion and rejection of Him in their lives bring His wrath and anger. YOU and I are not enemies of God but loved and treasured by Him.

As I read on in 2 Samuel 22, David confirms this in verses 17-20.

 

 

He sent from above, He took me,
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me;
For they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me
 

 David goes on in verses 21-25 and showed me why he was rescued by God. David trusted God and obeyed His commands. Knowing the story of Saul and David brings insight on these verses. Saul did not glorify God. Saul did what was right in his own eyes. David, on the other hand, not perfect, but draw near to God obeying God in everything He did. He had the chances many times to kill Saul but he didn't because Saul was God's anointed at that time. The outcomes of both men show the correlation  between someone who obeys God vs those who do what is right in their own eyes. Psalm 24 verse 3-5 shows that.

 

 

"Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation."
 

It is our hearts and focus. What was David's focus in verses 22-25?

 

 

David kept God's ways.

David held onto the statues and judgments of God

David refrained from sin.

 

 

It is the same for us Christians. God is not displeased when we fall. Our sins have been forgiven. We are His. We just need to remember who we are in our brokenness and what Christ did on the cross to fulfill that. It is a constant reminder to humble ourselves before Him everyday asking for His help. All the mean while we need to continue to just draw near to Him in His word and through prayer. We need our focus to not be on ourselves but Christ and His words for who we are.