THE ENEMIES OF OUR SOULS

Psalm 143:9-10:

 

Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
I have fled to you for refuge!

Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!

Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!

 

God delivers us from our sins, the enemies of our souls. The enemies of lust, greed, blasphemous speech, gossip, lying are mere tips of the iceberg of our remaining sin.  We need to flee to Him. We must run to the foot of the cross of Jesus where there is the judgment of our sins in His body, and forgiveness through His blood. We find that there is an abundance of Grace from God

Jesus and our father are our refuge from these sins that war against us. Our hearts and minds are deadened to our evil works, even in our redeemed state. “O Lord deliver us from our sins!” should be our plea.  We should wait upon the Lord who hears our cry (Psalm 40). God is our deliverer, our Savior. His name is Jesus, Immanuel—God with us!  The Lord Jesus has promised to always be our deliverer when he promised us before his ascension, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

God does not leave us exposed to our sins, but teaches us His will.  The Holy Spirit of God can make us sensitive to our sins if we only avail ourselves of the means that the Father has ordained.  The Holy Spirit teaches us as we read and meditate on the Scripture that we read; He  teaches us as we seek to obey God’s Word in application of the Truth that we take in.  “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

We do God’s will because He is our God, and because we are His people. It is the sovereign work of God in us the makes our paths level.  We do not toil and labor as in an uphill climb, but on the level ground of God’s Truth.  John Gill comments on this verse saying, “. . .as the Targum, where honesty prevails, and honesty prevails, and honest and upright men live. . .the way to eternal life, to heaven and happiness; the land where only truly righteous and upright persons dwell; such will be the new heavens and the new earth, as well as the ultimate state of glory, (2 Peter 3:13); and to this the Spirit of God is the leader and guide of his people, (Psalms 48:14).”