Guidance for Victory

Ever felt like this before?

Psalm 5:8 (NIV) - Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.

Most of us cannot say we have real physical enemies like King David did, unless we work in law enforcement or are leaving a former life of crime. But many of us know what it is like to have so little room for mistakes in our lives, to face tricky situations where we are on the edge of things going wrong.

And that is when we realize how much we need God to lead us!

I’m talking about seasons when time is so tight, when we have so much to do, many issues to manage, and all are important. I’m talking about times when we have just about enough money to pay for everything but we cannot afford anything else going wrong. And let’s not forget the times we have to deal fairly with family members who are so different, and what is right for one would be unfair for the other (like my two sons, for example).

In tight situations like these, time spent in the presence of God is vital. It sometimes baffles me how people can say they need God’s wisdom, strength and peace, and yet when I ask about their prayer and Bible time all I get from them are blank stares. Did they think God owed it to them to zap them full of wisdom and strength while they were pretty much ignoring him day by day?

David knew where he had to be in order to receive God’s leading. Look at the verse before his prayer for guidance.

Psalm 5:7-8 (NIV) – But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.

This is what God says to us when we are discouraged facing tough situations:

Isaiah 41:8-9 (NIV) - “But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you.I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.”

God reminded the Israelites of that time that they were his chosen people, chosen not because of who they were or what good they could do, but because of the covenant God already made with Abraham. Likewise we too are already chosen by God,

Colossians 3:12 (ESV) - Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…

… chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) - So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

When we spend time in the presence of God, seeking him for direction and waiting upon him for his strength, he gives us victory over our enemies.

Isaiah 41:11-12 (NIV) - “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.  Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.

We may not have literal enemies that rage against us physically, but unpaid bills and creditors hounding us aren’t exactly a walk in the park either. A crisis that threatens to tear the family apart or serious illness can make us want to run and hide (through drugs, alcohol or even TV).  But God promises us victory.

Some people (including me) want to wake up the next morning and suddenly discover all our problems disappear. We find a few million dollars suddenly credited to our bank accounts out of nowhere, we open the newspapers and discover that the people threatening us in court got swallowed up in an earthquake overnight (one we miraculously slept through somehow) and the argumentative spouse and defiant kids repented in their sleep and woke up as absolute angels.

And all without us doing anything on our part.

But the passage in Isaiah tells us that we are to search out our enemies, to proactively confront them. In the account of King Jehoshaphat’s victory in 2 Chronicles 20, the victory came from the LORD, the people received the victory through faith expressed in their praising God, but they still had to march out to battle and be ready for confrontation.  

Isaiah 41:13 (NIV) - For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you.”

God says he will help us. He is there for us in the midst of it all. And if we seek him and spend time in his presence through worship, prayer and the Scriptures, we are able to receive his specific guidance to lead us through serious problems and tricky situations.

And those situations won’t last forever. Follow closely after God and obey him. One day you, like King David, will joyfully proclaim:

Psalm 18:18-19 (NIV) - They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Be blessed!