Finding God's Presence ~ How Does God Respond When the Enemy Attacks His Child?

by Nan Jones   @NanJonesAuthor

Our God is sovereign. Mighty. Magnificent. And in the midst of that glorious power is a Father's love for His child. That's hard to comprehend, isn't it? That the Creator of the Universe could respond fiercely as only a Father can when we cry out to Him in distress? It's mind-boggling.

I love the example the Lord gives us in Scripture. In Psalm 18, David spoke the words of this psalm on the day the Lord delivered him from the hand of his enemies and from the hand of Saul. I pray the words of David's heart will touch you and inspire you to realize the depth of God's passionate response when we cry out to Him. This incredible imagery has helped me take God out of the proverbial box and understand more about His great love and to understand just how mighty He really is.

"But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
    yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from His sanctuary;
    my cry to Him reached His ears.
 

"Then the earth quaked and trembled.
    The foundations of the mountains shook;
        they quaked because of His anger.

Smoke poured from His nostrils;
    fierce flames leaped from His mouth.
        Glowing coals blazed forth from Him. 

 He opened the heavens and came down;
    dark storm clouds were beneath His feet.

Mounted on a mighty angelic being, He flew,
    soaring on the wings of the wind. 

 He shrouded Himself in darkness,
    veiling His approach with dark rain clouds. 

 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around Him
    and rained down hail and burning coals.

 The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded
        amid the hail and burning coals. 

 "He shot His arrows and scattered His enemies;
    great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused. 

 Then at Your command, O Lord,
    at the blast of Your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
    and the foundations of the earth were laid bare."

Can you feel the power? The passion to help His child?

God's response to David's need was so great, His strength caused an earthquake. God's wrath towards the enemies of His child oozed from Him as smoke from His nostrils and devouring fire from His mouth - not because God is an angry God full of revenge, but because He is a God of love and His child needed Him.

Something else that catches my attention is that God shrouded His approach in darkness - thick clouds shielding the brightness around Him. In the natural, David would have seen dark storm clouds surrounding him in his distress. 

But he opened his eyes to see.

He opened his eyes to know and understand that God will always respond to the cry of His child. David taught himself to stand on the promises of God - to know the God in whom He believed.


"He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
    He drew me out of deep waters. 
 He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
    from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
    but the Lord supported me. 
 He led me to a place of safety;
    He rescued me because He delights in me."

What a perfect ending to an incredible retelling of God's intervention!

The Lord would say to us, "I have rescued you because I delight in you."

Oh. My. Goodness.

SELAH. Pause and think about it. 

A Tweetable to Encourage Others

Where is God when the enemy attacks me? @NanJonesAuthor offers a glimpse. (click to tweet)

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