How do we survive in an evil world? What do we do when surrounded by overwhelming forces of evil? How do we respond when pursued by evil? How do we handle our internal struggles? How do we travel through the devil’s maze without getting lost?

Old Testament stories allow us to see the world order through the lens of divine revelation. The stories reveal the physical realities of spiritual warfare. The wars Israel fights are seen from an eternal perspective. They are spiritual wars fought out on earthly battlefields. We behold Moses struggling with the forces of darkness as he leads God’s people out of Egypt. The ten plagues are about the God of the Hebrews vs. the gods of Egypt.

Old Testament stories give an eternal perspective on the human experience. We are allowed to witness the clashes between the world order and God’s order. We are allowed to witness firsthand the battles raging in the hearts of those caught up in the battles as they seek God. It is the theme of every story. Their spiritual struggles were not divorced from reality.

The world around Moses and the Israelites understood the Exodus as a battle between heaven and earth. Rahab the harlot expresses the fears of Jericho to the spies she is hiding.

Joshua 2:8-14

8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."

14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land." NIV

Rahab knew it was a battle between heaven and earth. She knew her life was hanging in the balance. She saw it as a battle she must survive. Although she made a deal with the spies, she knew she was making her deal with the Lord God of heaven. It is no accident that we find her name mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine the battle raging in Rahab’s heart as she struggled to save her family? She knew the city would be destroyed. The city was melting in fear as Israel marched around the city. Rahab simply entrusted herself and her family to God. Try to imagine sitting there with the scarlet cord hanging out the window on Jericho’s wall signaling the spies of your whereabouts. Imagine hearing the sound of the trumpets and feeling the earthshaking as the walls fell—you are hunkered down in total dependence upon God. As she is hunkered down her entire world literally collapses around her. Surreal wouldn’t begin to explain how she must have felt as she crawled out over the ruins of Jericho. Imagine what it felt like walking out of the devastating destruction knowing God saved you. Imagine the least likely person in the city coming to God—but she did it.

The book of Psalms reveals the inner thoughts of those seeking God in a hostile world. We are allowed to witness firsthand the battles raging in their hearts. We see their inner struggles. We see those struggling to allow their faith in God to become an authentic guide to sustain them in their daily battles. The Psalms reveal the intensity of the inner struggles of believers.

Psalms 5:1-12

Give ear to my words, O LORD,

consider my sighing.

2 Listen to my cry for help,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait in expectation.

4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;

with you the wicked cannot dwell.

5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;

you hate all who do wrong.

6 You destroy those who tell lies;

bloodthirsty and deceitful men

the LORD abhors.

7 But I, by your great mercy,

will come into your house;

in reverence will I bow down

toward your holy temple.

8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness

because of my enemies —

make straight your way before me.

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;

their heart is filled with destruction.

Their throat is an open grave;

with their tongue they speak deceit.

10 Declare them guilty, O God!

Let their intrigues be their downfall.

Banish them for their many sins,

for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;

you surround them with your favor as with a shield. NIV

Psalms 5 is a morning psalm of David. The Psalm gives us a front row seat into the thoughts of David’s heart as he faces his enemies. David brings his faith to bear on his life. He awakens in the morning with an intense realization of the daily battles he faces. His enemies surround him. These are not foreign enemies—his most vicious enemies were in his own household. He knows the battle begins and ends in his own heart; it’s where it will be won or lost.

Our modern ideas of faith are restricted. We have our private meditations, Bible study, and church attendance. Yet, there may be an astounding dichotomy between these activities and the way we live. We find it difficult making a paradigm shift from doing church—to being God’s people in real life. Our hearts are left unchanged. We go to church to praise God. We leave to return to the world’s values to sustain life. The clamor of our lives blinds us to God’s presence. We may not even see ourselves involved in spiritual warfare.

Jesus came into a confused religious world. The Roman world worshipped whatever gods there may be. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were looking for God to usher in the Messianic kingdom. The Pharisees came questioning Jesus concerning the kingdom of God.

Luke 17:20-21

20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." NIV

Jesus simply says the kingdom of God is within you. God is closer than you think. We are looking for God in all the wrong places. You can’t trace the borders of God’s kingdom on a map. His kingdom begins within my heart—within your heart. We seek to see God as he is filtered through the teaching of exciting churches. To often the mere excitement drowns out his presence as he seeks to come alive in our hearts.

Solomon built the most magnificent temple in the world. It was dedicated to God with great pomp and ceremony. The prayers offered at the temple dedication were God honoring and soul searching (1 Chronicles 6:1-42). Yet, the offerings Solomon made throughout his life seemed to have had little to do with how he chose to live. There was an astounding dichotomy between his God given worldly wisdom and his faith.

The book of Ecclesiastes reveals the tremendous chasm between Solomon’s belief in God and how he lived. The two rarely met in his experiences. God’s grace was bestowed upon him. He was the wisest of the wise. It made little difference in how he lived. He not only built a temple to the God in whom he believed. To appease his foreign wives he built shrines to their heathen gods. He denied himself nothing the world had to offer. Yet, he felt he had nothing worthwhile.

Discovering God’s mercy begins by realizing every battle we face in life is God’s battle. The question is will we allow him to rule our hearts. Notice how David went up against Goliath, who had all Israel frozen in their tracks.

1 Samuel 17:37

7 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." NIV

1 Samuel 17:45-47

45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." NIV

Every battle begins and ends in our hearts. It doesn’t matter, if I am herding sheep or ruling as a king the battle is God’s. We make the battles God’s when we enter into the battle to give God the glory. From start to finish David’s battle was a spiritual battle between the earthly forces of evil pitted against the God of the universe. Yet, the real battlefield is centered in David’s heart as he trusts in the Lord.

Years later as this same grown up shepherd boy writes Psalms 5 we find him relying upon God’s deliverance. David’s enemies are out to destroy him. David is totally trusting God to stand against his enemies.

Psalms 5:4-6

4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;

with you the wicked cannot dwell.

5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;

you hate all who do wrong.

6 You destroy those who tell lies;

bloodthirsty and deceitful men

the LORD abhors.

These words are written as David wrestles with his personal struggle with the evil seeking to engulf him. They are not words from a sanctimonious attitude of self-righteousness. David is always mindful of his personal failings. As you read through David’s psalms you understand he was well aware of his personal failings.

Psalms 6:1-5

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint;

O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

3 My soul is in anguish.

How long, O LORD, how long?

4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me;

save me because of your unfailing love.

5 No one remembers you when he is dead.

Who praises you from the grave? NIV

The basis of coming to God is God’s unfailing love—mercy. We may think we are not righteous enough to come to God with our request. No one is. David recognizes God takes no pleasure in evil. He knows he can only enter into God’s presence through God’s mercy. He is acutely aware of his personal failings.

The Israelites were suffering persecution in Isaiah’s time. Evil was raging all around and it seemed as though God had hid his face from them. They were going into Babylonian captivity for their sins against God. They were suffering from God’s judgment on Israel. They were in a place where they could see no evidence of God’s presence. Yet, the remnant of the faithful was determined to live in expectation.

Isaiah 8:17

17 I will wait for the LORD,

who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.

I will put my trust in him. NIV

During our personal struggles we may come to believe God has hid his face from us. We must believe God is moving in our world to refocus our lives on what is truly important. John’s revelation sought to prepare Christians for the Roman persecution of Christians with these words.

Revelation 13:9-10

9 He who has an ear, let him hear.

10 If anyone is to go into captivity,

into captivity he will go.

If anyone is to be killed with the sword,

with the sword he will be killed.

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. NIV

Daniel spent most of his life in Babylonian captivity. It was a period when God actually hid his face from Israel. It was during this period Daniel writes, "Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay . . . "—(Daniel 9:17-19) Daniel recognizes the only way for him to approach God is through his mercy. It is the only way to discover salvation. That is exactly what Daniel does throughout his life. Oh how God’s glory is revealed through Daniel’s life.

I think Daniel knew something about David’s struggles. David writes:

Psalm 5:7-8

7 But I, by your great mercy,

will come into your house;

in reverence will I bow down

toward your holy temple.

8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness

because of my enemies —

make straight your way before me.

Matthew 7:7-12

7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. NIV

Troubles are troubles regardless of their character. We may think the biblical stories are too ancient to be relevant? The precepts revealed through each story have modern day application. The precepts only come alive for us through meditating on God through Scripture.

Each day brings its own diverse problems for each of us. Jesus says, ". . . each day has enough troubles of its own" (Matthew 6:34). Job says man born of woman is full of troubles. We may think the SAINTS who jotted down their thoughts or those who penned the Scriptures were immune to problems. This was never the case. They were usually always writing about their problems as they struggled to believe—struggled to live righteously. It is the theme of every biblical story.

The psalmist sees the big picture. He knows the potential of evil raging from without and within. He reminds himself that God is in control. He lays out his desire with eager expectation. His prayer is centered in the mercy of God. He prays "Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies—make straight your way before me." He doesn’t come to God with a well laid out plan to defeat his enemies. He simply asks God to lay out his righteous path before him. He desires to clearly see the path God makes for him. He takes his thoughts captive as he focuses on obedience to God.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV

Our spiritual battles become the very context out of which our worship flows. Throughout the Bible we see the lives of the faithful become the very subject and motivation for worship. Their battles became their avenue to reliance upon God.

The psalms become the subject of worship. The psalms were written as private meditations about the spiritual battles the writers faced. The psalms are journals of their private hymns of praise. They are sung by the choir. They are read as prayers. They are reminders of who God is and how he sustains them. God is worshipped as their lives become the subject of worship—the content from which worship flows. Their lives become the content of praise to God.

David’s troubles and his reliance upon God is the theme of his psalms. He rises in the morning expectantly laying his life out before God. His head is not buried in the sand. He is intent on focusing his life on God—intent on making God his refuge. These struggles become the subject of worship as the psalms are written for his personal worship and read or sung in corporate worship. God is certainly the object of their worship, but the content of their lives became the heart and soul of worship.

Today we go to church expecting the church to make it all exciting. David had his private meditations about the battles he faced read aloud in the assembly. His life created the excitement for worship as he shared his thoughts and struggles with the assembly. His God given victories made worship real, exciting and personal. We see this in the Corinthian letter.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. NIV

The life experiences of first century Christian’s were the driving force of their worship and fellowship. Paul’s problems force him to rely on God who raises the dead. It was there he found deliverance. His deliverance becomes the motivation for the Corinthians’ worship as they read what he pens to the assembly. The problems of the first Christians drove them to not only rely on God, but on each other as they helped one another through prayer. As they helped one another through prayer they were inspired to give thanks to God for his gracious favor granted in answer to those prayers.

Worship must be seen as a way of life to be embraced among believers that overflows into the assembly of the saints? I am perplexed when I read First Corinthians. The church in Corinth was overwhelmed with problems. Second Corinthians reveal they were well on their way to solving their problems. I am confused when the same Corinthian letters do not have the same effect on the problems of modern day Christians. What is the problem? Is it that we study the Bible for knowledge? Is it that we preach it to impart knowledge? We try to understand the subjects of speaking in tongues—spiritual gifts—gender roles to abide by in and out of the church. We debate the resurrection. Simply discussing these subjects is enough to divide most churches. Yet, it was the very discussion of these subjects that brought unity to Corinthian believers.

We use the Bible to teach us how and what to think about religious subjects. Yet, the dichotomy between how we think and how we face our personal problems are miles apart.

Why not invite God into our lives to fight our battles. The stories of the Bible are the means of developing faith. What God did for them—he will do for me. God’s mercy is available—if I am willing to walk in his righteous paths.

Psalms 51:1-2

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin. NIV

Psalms 51:10-12

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. NIV

Isn’t it amazing, this psalm of David, which he writes after his murderous adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, becomes the subject of worship? As we look into his heart thousands of years later, his words become our hope and inspiration.

Why shouldn’t our lives have the same impact upon others as we seek God together in spite of all our failings?

It could be your life. Just remember. Your personal battles can become God’s battles. When you allow that to happen, God is glorified and victory is assured.