“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. But You, O Yahweh, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was calling to Yahweh with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.”
This Psalm of David, written on the occasion of his flight from his traitorous son Absalom, affords us an opportunity to identify with a truly God-fearing man in our own often adversities and sore conflicts.
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. They, at seasons, find themselves fleeing from the massing hordes of enemies like this sorrowing and mourning monarch. He who sat on the throne yesterday is today fleeing for his life while the cursing Shimei flings dust and rocks at him (2 Sam. 16:5-14).
Adversaries sometimes multiply themselves. They increase. At what time we hope for respite, woe piles up on top of other woes. We scarcely have heard about one until news of another assails us. The significant word here is many. Many trouble us. Few or none comfort us. Many rise against us. It seems everyone has jumped on the bandwagon of persecution. Let one chicken in the yard get a bleeding wound, and all the other chickens will quickly peck it to death. If this is a shame in worldly circles, what a disgrace it is among the professed people of God! Many there are who say, “There is no help for him in God.” Men either say this because they believe that there is no help in God for anyone… that God is only an illusion, a fanciful prop for the weak and foolish. Or they say it because they believe God has now forsaken their victim, and that He will not defend him against their vicious attacks.
All of this clamors to take away the faith of the God-fearing man. Shall he cast away his faith because many have turned against him and declare that there is no help for him in God? Never! Not for the God-fearing man. He fears God and no one but God. “But You, O Yahweh.” His God is only One, though his oppressors are many. God is a shield for me. Arrows may fly from a hundred directions. The one shield of God is sufficient to thwart them all. God is my glory. Though men rob me of my crown, my throne, my possessions, my home, my family, they have not yet touched my glory; for I glory in nothing but the God of my salvation. God is the lifter up of my head. God will be my ultimate victory. He will restore me.
“There is a lifting up in honor after shame, in health after sickness, in gladness after sorrow, in restoration after a fall, in victory after a temporary defeat”
– C. H. Spurgeon
Our defeat and flight, our retreat, is temporary; our victory, permanent and final, for the Lord has heard our cry.
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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.
Psalms | Restoration | Temptations | Trials
January 20, 2024
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.
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.
A Singular Savior: Psalm 3:1-2
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.
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.