Psalm 140:1 says:
1DELIVER ME, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men;
"Deliver me" is the Hebrew word, "chalats", which means: to remove, to withdraw, to rescue, but can also mean: to equip, to make strong, to arm for war! David asks the Lord to deliver him from "evil", the Hebrew word, which means: bad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, unkind and wicked, "men" referring to mankind. Then he says "preserve me", the Hebrew word, "natsar", which means: to guard, to watch over, to keep, from violent "men", the Hebrew word, "iysh", which refers to a male, a man (in contrast to a woman). So David was concerned about men and women who were evil, but only men who were violent! You can tell we live in different times now, with all of the very violent women we hear about in the news! Then in verse 13 he says:
13Surely the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence (before Your very face).
AMEN! The righteous are those who are in right standing with God through the precious blood of Jesus the Christ! We WILL give thanks to His Name and dwell (live and abide) in His presence (face to face with the One, True, Most High, Living, Almighty God of the Bible)! I wouldn't trade THAT place with anyone in the world! AMEN!
I LOVE the story in 1 Samuel 5 where the Philistines put the Ark of God and put it next to their dumb idol, dagon. It wasn't enough that the presence of the Lord knocked that dumb idol to the ground. When they put it back again, God made SURE that they knew that HE was God by knocking it over and breaking it's hands and head right off! Guess what? OUR God IS GOD! AMEN!
Then I will leave you with 2 Corinthians 13:14:
14The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).
Shalom in Him!
