Read Psalm 118:10-18 10All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 11They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 12They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 13I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. 14The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” 17I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
Four times the psalmist recalls the surrounding enemy afflicting him. We’re not sure what historic event the psalmist might be referring to here, but we do know that we can hear these words coming from Christ on that Good Friday. All the nations, including his own, surrounded him, accused him, attacked him, and murdered him. Yet I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord was to be Christ’s faithful cry.
Have you ever felt surrounded? Like everyone and everything is against you?
What if in the name of the Lord you could cut them off with the same faith as the psalmist and our Lord? In Christ you can. How? The key to the puzzle is in verse 18 – The Lord has disciplined me severely.
The surrounding was the Lord’s discipline. So how do we overcome our surrounding enemies? Sometimes the answer is by looking inward at our faithfulness or lack thereof. We cut off the enemy by accepting responsibility, then moving forward in active faith, obedience and service, knowing that the right hand of the Lord has done valiantly at the cross of our salvation.
To live is Christ doesn’t prevent us from being surrounded by an enemy that wants our spiritual death and destruction. But it does allow us to cut him off through ongoing, daily, faithful repentance and awareness of our own heart’s weakness without fear, for we will not die, but we shall live eternally.
You: Have you ever felt surrounded and cut off?
You in Christ: How does our union with Christ allow us to look inward at our own faithlessness as a way to “cut off” our Enemy?
Christ in you: Where can you see recent faith or faithlessness in your life? Be honest with God about it.
Pray: Jesus, you were surrounded and so am I in you. But you have done valiantly and rescued me so that now I can stand against the work of the Enemy in my heart and mind. May your glad songs lift my troubled heart. Amen.
To Live is Christ 