By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“When God sends destruction on the ungodly, he commands deliverance for the righteous” – Matthew Henry

I used to feel that a lot of the Psalms were unrelatable. It seemed as if most of the Psalms were filled with David’s prayers for God to destroy the enemy that is pursuing him or asking God to give him victory in battle. I used to skip over verses about fighting, enemies, and destruction, but then I began to realize just how applicable those verses are to our everyday struggles.

We may not be fighting giants, but we battle anxiety, depression, and the unknown. We may not be going toe-to-toe with Philistines, but we contend the attempts of the Enemy to discourage us and tempt us to sin. We may not be fleeing from Saul, but we run from our past regrets, our shame, and our mistakes.

I believe that the Psalmist’s prayers to God in regards to his enemy can offer us some insight into our own struggles.

Look at Psalm 3:

“Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’”

Have you ever had days, weeks, or months where you cried out to God because it seemed as if the foes that lined up against you were too many? Have the mountains that rose in front of you ever seemed insurmountable? Have you ever felt as though God would never deliver you from your hardships?

Even now you may be feeling the arrows of Stress fall all around you. You may be standing in the shadow of the giant, Anxiety. You may be running down into the valley to battle with the Unknown once more.

In our everyday lives, our foes are many. The numbers that rise against us are great. It is easy for our faith to dwindle and for us to believe that God may never deliver us. But there is good news.

Continuing on into Psalm 3:

“But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.”

Even though our foes may be great in number, our Lord hears our call and is our shield. Even though we head out into battle, the Lord sustains us and provides all of our needs. Even though we are assailed on every side, the lord comes to rescue us.

We each face our own foes and fight our own battles.

But we have a Deliverer and He is our God.

Parents: Read your children the story of David and Goliath. Explain to them that we each have giants that we face but God is our Deliverer and will help us fight our battles.