Psalm 138:1 I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You.

Recently I was listening to the Bible being read and I heard this verse. It got my attention. Just what are the gods that it was speaking of?

What are the gods we have to deal with, our enemies? Our enemies only become gods when we prefer them to God even for a moment. Enemies because they want to destroy our soul, take us away from our Shepherd, or otherwise ruin our lives and the lives of those we touch.

Enemies such as: need for acceptance, need for vindication, anger, self-pity, self-centered, self-confident, controlling, covetous, envy, gossip, fear, impure thoughts, impatience, etc. These are all enemies that we allow to be gods when we listen to them and give them control even briefly.

The throne of our heart does not belong to them. It doesn’t even belong to us. It belongs to God. He created us with a throne in our hearts that was meant for Him.

What can I do?

• Bowing before God in the awareness of my enemies, other gods.
• Standing up to them and choosing God Almighty.
• Ignoring their taunts and threats and enticements.
• Turning my back to them and offering myself to God.

Before all the gods that want my obedience, I bow in surrender and worship to the Almighty God. I turn from what wants my attention, and while the gods are watching, I worship God and give Him my allegiance. It may be an actual physical bowing, or an inner bowing in our heart. It is surrendering of my will.

What are the gods?

When we give into temptation, anger, worry, etc. we bow before something that has dethroned God. It has become more important than God. It becomes an idol, or we are the idol. We become the idol when we think we are more important than God and think what we want is more important than what God wants (even briefly).

All the above is founded on unbelief. It is based on having no faith in God, not trusting Him to know what is best. It is not believing He is in control of every detail of our lives. You see, everything in our life that we do is based on either faith or unbelief. Everything. Think about it this week. Let me know what you think.

Although many of us are not even aware of the throne, like me we are guilty of dethroning God at times. For that I am ashamed and sorry. Now that I know, I want to honor Him before me and all my enemies. I want to praise Him whenever I’m tempted by the gods to live apart from God even for a minute. I want to reach for His hand to help me. I want to turn to and worship Him whenever “me” is tempted to take over.

Words to light your path this week

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Romans 6:13 And do not present your member as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you…

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”

Prayer – Most kind Father, Help us to see that temptations are lies meant to take us away from You. They are our enemies. May we stand boldly in worship to You when we are surrounded by thoughts that are not from You.

For further reading on temptation: Beware Of the Least Likely Temptation, Oswald Chambers