“O Yahweh, how my adversaries have become many! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’ Selah.”
It is no easy matter to maintain our faith and peace when reversals seem to multiply against us. Our lives are on a fast track downhill. One ill tiding falls close on the heels of another. No small part of these manifold blows is the knowledge that everyone is taking note of them. Everyone who has had any peeve, envy, resentment, or ill feeling toward us is taking courage from our miseries, and prophesying total ruin.
David’s son, Absalom has succeeded in mounting a rebellion against his father and has enlisted much support. He has gathered such a host of the king’s enemies that the man whom the Lord loves is obliged to flee. Political bootlickers and news pundits, sensing David’s job performance approval has sunk to new lows, prophesy his case to be hopeless. “Not even God can help him now”!
Amazing! The arrogance of men! God may be God, and He may be supreme, sovereign, and omnipotent; but after all those attributes are merely theological shibboleth. Nobody really counts on them as reality when they must be applied to the hard facts of circumstances. A few people may be overruled by God. Even a large number may be set aside by God’s power. But when it comes to a great multitude of people… all of them against us, is it not foolish for us to hope in God putting all those people’s opposition down?
But that is precisely what David did.
“I was calling to Yahweh with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for Yahweh sustains me” (Ps. 3:4-5)
Nothing yet had changed on the public scene. The gainsayers were still shaking their heads. Enemies were still gloating. The rebellion was still growing, and David was still retreating. But the outcome of the battle was settled, and David was resting peacefully in that.
One fact outweighed everything else that was happening:
“Salvation belongs to Yahweh; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah.” (Ps. 3:8)
There is not enough flesh on earth, nor enough demons and devils in the heavenlies to overthrow God’s salvation. It is exclusive and His alone to withhold or grant. Blessed is that man whose hope is in God.
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Conrad Murrell
Conrad Murrell served in evangelistic ministry for over 50 years and was powerfully used by God in many Assemblies of God and Baptist churches in the United States and around the world. Throughout that time, Conrad pastored churches in Texas and Louisiana, successfully hosted numerous Bible conferences, engaged in continuous itinerant preaching, and diligently evangelized throughout the United States and Mexico. In addition to his fruitful ministry, he also wrote several books, many of which are read worldwide today. Mack Tomlinson's biography of Conrad Murrell is a testimony of God's grace and truth in the life of a man called by God for the proclamation of the Gospel.
Conrad Murrell was a significant contemporary and friend to two of the 20th Century's leading experts on revival, Leonard Ravenhill and Richard Owen Roberts, as well as a dearly loved co-laborer and associate of several other significant evangelists of our age, such as Manley Beasley and Al Whittinghill. Like them, he was a committed, passionate, and anointed itinerant minister. He was a man's man, a man of conviction and grit, but most importantly, he was God's man—a man completely devoted to his Lord and Savior.
December 23, 2023
More from Conrad Murrell
God’s Sanctifying Wrath: Psalm 5:3-6
Love is not merely an attribute of God: it is the essence of His Person.
Praying To God: Psalm 5:1-4
It may be observed that prayers may be divided into two kinds: Expressed and Unexpressed.
God Will Protect: Psalm 4:5-8
All of man’s attempts to find joy and peace apart from God have been met by failure. The present attempts
will fare no better. Only God Himself is absolute good.
God’s Mercy To Sinners: Psalm 4:1-4
Sinful men have no righteousness of their own. Their hope of audience with a holy God is His own righteousness imparted to them through faith in Christ.
No Other Hope: Psalm 3:4-8
Jesus promised that he who believes in Him shall never die. When those who fear God and trust in Christ lie down, they know that they will arise.
He Will Restore: Psalm 3:1-4
The righteous do not always march forward victoriously. They do not always shout with the voice of triumph and joyously sing the song of the conqueror.
A Majority of One: Psalm 3:1-4
Truth and reality are not discovered by a majority vote. They are not created by the sum total of all the wisest and informed of men.
Kiss The Son: Psalm 2:10-12
Present-day kings of the earth should not be thought to be heads of state. That may have been true in times past, but power is rarely in their hands now. The Hitlers, Stalins, Titos, and Sadam Husseins may have a short day, a passing flash of glory, but they are soon overthrown in today’s world climate.
The Decree Of God: Psalm 2:7-12
The blessed person is the wise one who puts his trust in the Lord. “Kiss the Son.” Receive Him as your King.
The Laughter Of God: Psalm 2:1-6
When God speaks to wicked men, they hear no voice from heaven. Rather, they experience His displeasure. He terrifies and troubles them.