"And Then..."

"Lead me, O LORD, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make Thy way straight before my face." (Psalms 5:8) If you did not understand the "Two Hands" part of what I was saying in yesterday's post, that's okay; because it was mostly just an inside joke, regarding my own inadequacies. And Then; we press onward into what comes next! Who are "mine enemies" that David is referring to in this verse above? Well, one enemy for sure is the accuser of our souls, who is none other than the devil himself. However; we have another enemy that we have with us always; and if you need a hint, you need only to go and look in a mirror; because the biggest enemy that we have against the Spirit, is our flesh!!! Do you see the implications that are being made here yet? The word used here by David for that of his "enemies" is a word that is used exclusively by him, and it appears five times within the Psalms. It is a word that means twisted, as in to twist like a rope, as in to bind up, or to go in a circle; to be hard or to make firm, as in a bad sense; to press together, as in to oppress like an enemy or adversary. Do we need God to lead us or what?!! I see the issues of my heart as being the things that I have a habit of doing wrong; which are triggered by certain moments of my past; not necessarily by the object of desire, but more by the impulse within me to respond to something that I am familiar with. I believe that this is David's 'Polar Bear Alert', in which he is asking God to blaze a trail for him, and to help him conquer the bad habits that continually cause him to stumble. If you are not familiar with what a 'Polar Bear Alert' is, then you should read "Counter Attack" by Jay Carty. In his book, Jay shows 2 Corinthians 10:5 as our tool to use for tearing down strongholds in our lives, which says, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ". If we were to continue to Paul's writing to the very next verse, then we can really get a more clear picture of what David is talking about here, when he says, "Lead me, O LORD, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies"; because in 2 Corinthians 10:6 it says, "And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled". And, just in case you might think that David is speaking of actual other people, well, so be it; but the point is still the same; whereas, we must ask God to lead us in His righteousness, so as to not give our enemies anything to accuse of in! Then; as to David saying, "make Thy way straight before my face"; the general premise to what David is speaking about, is that of looking straight ahead, as to not be stumbled by those things which distract him from God's righteousness. We need something else to be focused upon when we are tempted! If that be the cross, then so be it! But we must have something that we are to use that will guarantee our bad habits are not surrendered to! Our own 'Polar Bear Alert'...