Getting Away From Your Enemies

Hide me in the protection of your wings, away from the wicked who are out to get me, away from my deadly enemies who are all around me!
-Psalm 17:8b-9

The first time I heard that I have enemies, I was surprised.  It was in a song that quoted Psalm 18:3.

"I will call

Upon the Lord

Who is worthy to be praised

So shall I be saved

From my enemies"

"Who were these enemies", I asked.  I was filled with God's love.  My life was one of thankfulness and worship.  Why would anyone be my enemy?  I didn't understand.  I was the type of person that didn't make enemies.  I wanted to be friendly to everyone and if someone was anything close to evil, I wanted to just give them a wide berth or look away.

Another way to look at it, is that when you are so overwhelmed with grace and thankfulness that your sins have been forgiven, you are not very judgmental of others and you believe God can save anyone and it is just a matter of time.  It is probably a good thing to not focus on evil, to not focus on the negative; and that is where I was at.

As time went on, I learned about the demonic.  I learned that the devil and demons have two favorite deceptions.  For one, they want us to think they are everywhere, in everything (behind every bush), and more powerful than they actually are.  Secondly, they like to be hidden and have us believe they don't exist.

When I first heard that song that mentions, "my enemies", I was embracing deception number two.  The truth lies between the two deceptions.  There is a devil and their is demonic activity in the world we live in, and they are our enemies.

So, here is the bad news.  If you are God's child, you have enemies, and they are out to get you.  Peter called the devil, the enemy, in 1 Peter 5:8.  All Christians have an enemy, because he is Christ's enemy.

When David prayed about his enemies in Psalm, 17 and 18, he was praying about people, most likely.  Are the enemies of the Christian demons or people?  The answer is yes.  The demonic are always your enemy.  People are sometimes your enemies.  Your brother or sister in Christ is never your enemy, even when they act like it.

What was David talking about when he asked God to, "hide me in the protection of your wings"?  Is there a place where we go invisible to our enemies or are safe?  Yes there is.  Francis Fragipane calls this the "place of immunity".

There is a place of immunity for the believer, a spiritual fortress in Christ that shelters us from the attacks of the devil. For those who abide in this stronghold of God, the onslaught of the wicked one does not touch them. Here, in this secret dwelling with the Almighty, we are hidden from the effects of the accuser's tongue; we are sheltered from the assignment of the destroyer.

We can choose to dwell close to God and find protection from our enemies. Does it work with human and spiritual enemies? Yes.

God wants to protect us from the wicked who are out to get us and who are all around us. We get away from them by drawing near to God. If you fight, in your own strength, you will be hurt badly. But if you draw near to God, you get to be away from the wicked, even while they are in arms reach.___________________________________________________________________________
The work of art, shown above is, "Under the Shadow of His Wings", by Gladiola Sotomayor.