Psalm 89:22-23

Psalm 89:22-23 22 The enemy shall not outwit him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. 23 I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him.(NKJV)

Its hurricane season and the major news headlines mostly have to do with the latest storm to make landfall. Ike is the current storm and I’d like to ask all of you to take a moment and pray for the people caught in its path. Our post today deals with the unstoppable power of God. Think for a moment of the hurricane, there is nothing we can do to influence or stop the storm. It will take the path that it is going to take and there is nothing that we can do about it. We can choose to stand in its path and risk loss of life and property or we can move to higher ground but the storm is still coming.

God has determined to keep His covenant with David and like the hurricane, there is nothing we can do to stop it. Our verses today talk of how God Himself protected David from all of his adversaries. Think for a moment of His protection of David; He protected him from Saul, He protected him from the wilderness, He protected him from Absalom, He even protected David from himself. David deserved death for his sin with Bathsheba but God showed him grace and mercy by allowing him to live. There was nothing that was going to come between God and His promise.

Why did God make the covenant with David in the first place? Because it was part of His plan to redeem mankind. The Messiah was going to come from the line of David so that line must be preserved. These verses had their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. Think of God’s protection of His son: He protected Jesus from the diseases associated with being born in a stable, He protected Him from a king bent on destruction, He protected Him from Satan in the wilderness, He protected Him from mobs of self-righteous Pharisees and He ultimately protected Him from the power of death.

Look for a moment at Isaiah 45:21-23:

Isaiah 45:21-23 21…there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me. 22 “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. (NKJV emphasis mine)

“Every knee shall bow”, do you see what is implied in that verse? All of mankind will bow to the Lord, they will either bow as His humble servants or they will bow to Him as conquered prisoners. We can be sure that all will bow in the presence of the Lord.

Judgment is coming for the world. All of the plotting of Satan and of unregenerate man cannot stop it. Our verse for today says “I will beat down his foes before his face”, God’s will is going to be accomplished. The storm is headed directly for us and we are left with the same choice as those in the path of a hurricane. Stand naked in the storm and be destroyed or seek shelter in the solid rock of Christ (see Matthew 7:24-27)