My Biggest Enemy

"We may be wise to acknowledge that the greatest adversaries we need delivered from lie within..."

““Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries…” – Psalm 27:12

This was a wise and humble plea from Israel’s greatest king. It is pride that will keep a man from asking God for help. While it is clear from the text the adversaries David had in mind were the murderous men seeking his life, we may be wise to acknowledge that the greatest adversaries we need delivered from lie within. God has declared that everything in this world could be summed up into three categories: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:9). Notice that all three of these enemies really come from within. The lust of the flesh refers to the base sinful desires of the old nature; the lust of the eyes refers to the pursuit of vanity; the pride of life refers to the desire within to be exalted in the eyes of others. Of all the enemies we face, these pose the deadliest threat to us. It is by appealing to these evil desires within that our enemy without, the prince of this world, has his grounds to establish a foothold. It is by grabbing these desires of the old nature and violently stirring them up in us that our enemy influences us to sin. But there his power ends. He can do no more than influence and hope that we yield. Thus the bible declares “resist the devil and he will flee…” (James 4:7). The wisest thing we can do in living a life of resistance to the devil is to acknowledge that the real adversary we need help resisting is the selfish, lusting, wanting, old nature within. Oh God, deliver us from this wretched man! (Romans 7:24). This is our most dangerous threat. May God grant us the wisdom to look to Him for deliverance from this wicked adversary as David looked to God for deliverance from his. We must not be ignorant; exhausting ourselves fighting the enemy without if we have not first declared war on the enemy within. Note the statement "the will of my adversaries". We must acknowledge that the will of our sinful nature will never agree with the will of God. Our will and our desires are corrupted and if we are left to them they will eventually destroy us. Me must overcome this enemy within! Through Christ we can; and when we are delivered from this enemy within - then our enemy without will be left with nothing to work with. Lord, give us wisdom to see that the greatest adversary we need delivered from is the one within. And to this we pray “Lord, do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries."

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