Ever With Me

Have you ever read a scripture multiple times with not much of a reaction, and then read it sometime later and you can relate so bad, you feel the author had you in mind when He was writing it (and of course He did!). A short while ago, in one of its usual daily prompts, my laptop flashed a verse notification at the bottom right corner of my screen. It read:

“Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.”                                                                                                                                                                              

(Psalm 119:98, KJV)

On a regular day, I might not have paid much attention to it. I might have casually read the verse without giving much thought to its latter part. But on this day, I felt like I could ‘super-relate’ with David’s exasperation (and perhaps frustration) when he wrote that seemingly vestigial part of the verse; “for they are ever with me.”

Do you wonder how possible it was for David’s enemies (in the context of this verse) to have always been with him? Like who has that time? It’s easier to take in if you consider the possibility that David’s faithful enemies who never left his side weren’t flesh and bone, but the thoughts and desires that were constantly vying to take the supreme position in his mind.

The battle of the mind: a battle many of us are all too familiar with. However, it’s a battle we are always guaranteed to win if we apply ourselves to certain principles.

In the preceding verse and in verse 98, David lets us in on how he managed his perpetual enemy.

“O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies… “    

     (Psalm 119:97-98a, KJV)

For an enemy that’s always present, you need a defense that’s always present. And David’s sure defense was God’s Word, in his heart and on his mind, throughout the day. The Scriptures are the Wisdom of the ages distilled into written form. Walking in that wisdom renders us wiser than any wile or trick the flesh may want to trip us with.

“But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts].”  

(Galatians 5:16, AMP)

Setting your heart on God is a time-tested and trusted way to secure victory against those voices in your head that keep calling you what God has not. You eventually become what you pay attention to. Choose to always listen to what God has to say concerning you. Choose to meditate on it. Let it direct your life choices.

It’s how we walk in the victory of Christ.