LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Wednesday 14th July 2021
(Day 19 of 40 Days of Power)
RUN THROUGH A TROOP
Scripture Reading: Psalm 18:28-37
For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. (Psalm 18:28-29)
The introduction to Psalm 18 says that David wrote the Psalm when the Lord delivered him from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. In the Psalm, David recounted the many adversities he had been faced with and extolled the power of the Lord to rescue him.
1. The Lord enlightens my darkness. David recognised the Lord as the one who lighted up his path. When he was surrounded by darkness, God made a way for him. Armed with this confidence in God, the psalmist felt invigorated. With God, he could face an army or break through a wall of defense.
2. I run against a troop. A troop refers to a band of warriors. In ancient warfare, armies faced each other in battle formations. Each army formation had to prevent the other side from breaking through their line of defense. David acknowledged the Lord as the One who enabled him to break through the defenses of his enemies.
Today, we do not have armies coming against us in battle formations. However, we also confront situations that present themselves against us. These could come in the form of problems, challenges or threats that stand in our way. Like David, we will run through every situation that stands against us.
3. I leap over a wall. The walls David had in mind in this Psalm were the walls surrounding cities. In most of his battles, he had to scale over the wall of the enemy’s cities. In our situation, the walls we leap over are not the same as those of David. We leap over man-made systems designed to keep us away from the promises of God. These walls could be racial discrimination, cultural taboos or societal rejection. By our God we will leap over the enemy’s walls.
David shows us that God has a way around all the resistance of the enemy. He lights up our darkness and makes us to run through every resistance of man and the devil.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are my light. By your power I will run through enemy barriers and leap over every obstacle. In Jesus’ name, Amen.