12 Blessed [with wisdom and prosperity] is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord,
And whom You teach from Your law,
13 That You may grant him [power to calm himself and find] peace in the days of adversity,
Until the pit is dug for the wicked and ungodly.
14 For the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He abandon His inheritance.
15 For judgment will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?
Who will take a stand for me against those who do wickedness?
17 If the Lord had not been my help,
I would soon have dwelt in [the land of] silence.
18 If I say, “My foot has slipped,”
Your compassion and lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.
19 When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Your comforts delight me.
20 Can a throne of destruction be allied with You,
One which frames and devises mischief by decree [under the sacred name of law]?
21 They band themselves together against the life of the righteous
And condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my high tower and defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He has turned back their own wickedness upon them
And will destroy them by means of their own evil;
The Lord our God will wipe them out.
Ephesians 6:10-20
The Armor of God
10 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. 11 Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. 13 Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. 14 So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart), 15 and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news]. 16 Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
18 With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people. 19 And pray for me, that words may be given to me when I open my mouth, to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news [of salvation], 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. And pray that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly and courageously, as I should.
We praise you, Father, and we thank You for Your Word in this new season of Freedom and Victory! Like Your servant David, Your compassion and lovingkindness holds us up. And like Your Apostle Paul, we take up the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation as we wield the sword of the Spirit with both hands, the Word of Faith and the Prophetic.
We pray this in the Name above all names, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen!
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe |
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