Psalms 91:13, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."
The whole Psalm 91 has fascinated me from the first. Throughout the Psalm, the idea God gives us is of peace and safety, refuge and fortress. At no time do we feel unloved, unprotected or unwanted if only we can see that these verses apply to us. Even the angels are commissioned to use their powers to deal with the foe on our behalf, shielding us from harm.
In this verse, we notice that God is talking about creatures that can kill by attack or poison. Frankly, I was unsure of this because the first thing that came to mind was going out into the field and finding a snake ready to bite me. I have never had a snake bite me so I can only go by what I have seen happen to others. If they are venomous, the person is in serious trouble if help isn't available quickly. But now, God is telling us that we can walk on these creatures without harm. Come on!
When I questioned God about this very thing, He reminded me that He always talks about spiritual things first so I should look there before I do anything else. Hmmm, this is a different deal now. The picture I got from the Lord about lions helped me to change how I looked at that part and then the other picture was about snakes, serpents or dragons, as the KJV translation calls them.
Lions run in prides. They are a community. The head of the pride is the male who defeated all other males so that he alone could reign as king. If there are other males in the pride, they defer to the king. Spiritually speaking, the problems we encounter can be like a pride of lions, a community of difficulties that show up and overwhelm us. The head or king lion roars out and we quake in fear of that situation. But the king got to his position by defeating the other males that came to fight. You must defeat the head lion though spiritual means. When you do, the rest will move off and find other places to stop. We can always apply the Word of God to our problems. God tells us that we can have peace and security if we will only come into the refuge instead of living out in the open like the lion pride does. As the verse says, we can walk on them and not be harmed.
As for snakes, I did not want to deal with this because I really hate snakes. I am ashamed to admit it but I am afraid of them. There is no real reason because I have never encountered one close up yet there is my fear. God says that we do not need to have that. We can defeat it by applying the Word of God to the situation. At this time, I am working with God to get rid of that fear. Did you ever notice that though fear comes nothing has happened to you yet? That reminds me of a scripture that says "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." (Job 3:25) That says that we MUST overcome the fear because if we do not, that which we fear will show up. Sounds to me like we are calling it to us. God says we need to defeat it.
In fact, God reminded me of Acts 28:1-6 where Paul and the rest of the group from the ship had wrecked on the island of Malta. No person died. They only lost the items that were on the ship with them. The natives found them on a cold, rainy night and built a fire, welcoming them and helping them to get comfortable. Paul was gathering wood for the fire when a venomous snake bit him on the hand. The snake stayed attached to his hand. The natives noticed this and decided that he must be a murderer because of the snake. They waited for him to keel over and die. But Paul, who was a man of faith in God, shook the snake off into the fire and went about his business. The local people were shocked when they saw that nothing happened to him so they decided that he must be a god.
Paul put his faith into action and the snake was of no effect. God wants us to do the same thing. We need to step on our lions and show them who is boss of our lives. We must throw our snakes into the fire where they belong. I can hear it now. "But how do I do this? My problems are overwhelming to me." Ah, we have such an awesome Father! He invites us to visit with Him daily, hourly, minute by minute because He wants to be in every little detail of our lives. He loves us that much! We tend to feel small with trivial problems and situations. After all, how can we bother the Creator of all things with something that small, right? God wants us to give Him ALL of our problems and situations. He is the fixer of all things! If only we could grasp that He WANTS us to defeat our lions and snakes and He is there to help us do it! He gives us the tools to handle this thing. And do you know what happens when we defeat that lion or snake? We become the overcomers that God has called us to be. What an amazing thing!
Come to the Lord today. Visit with Him, telling Him all about your situations and problems. Bring that lion or that snake with you. Stay a while. Dwell in the presence of the Father in safety and security. Enjoy the love of the Father. Cast off those lions and snakes into the pit where they belong. Be the overcomer that you were born to be. At that point, you won't care if it's a lion or a snake because they are defeated foes. Hallelujah!
back to the home page of Lura's Bookcase
Then perhaps you should Check out Freenet an anonymous peer to peer publishing system that is very resistant to censorship
For more Sermons, Teaching, Preaching, Bible Studies, and
general Christian Writings, Please visit the Front Page of Lura's Bookcase
and be sure to stop by A Peculiar Place
for more Bible Study, Teaching, and general Christian articles
Please be sure to visit our sponsors:
