“Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me” (Psalm 7:1).

With this psalm (quoted above), David penned a heartfelt plea to God.

David faced the baseless accusations of his enemies, but he knew with absolute certainty that if God would not save and deliver him, no one would. His enemies would overtake and devour him, tearing him apart as a lion rips its prey to pieces. 

How true for you and me as well. 

Our spiritual enemy, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, looking to devour us. His attacks against God’s children fall into two main categories: temptation and accusation. 

He wields both weapons with deadly skill, and he excels at using them against us. He switches from one to the other with devastating speed. As soon as we fall into temptation, he strikes with pointed accusations that pierce our hearts with guilt and shame.

Are those accusations baseless, like the charges David’s enemies made against him? No. 

Have we not given in to the desires of our sinful hearts time and time again? Yes. Have we not consistently fallen short of God’s glory day after day? Yes. 

God, help and forgive us, yes. 

But this is our prayer, our heartfelt plea to the only one who can rescue us from the devil’s attacks: 

“Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me” (Psalm 7:1).

Dear Christian, we take refuge in the powerful promises of the Lord our God. In his Word, he shows us exactly what he has done to save and deliver us from our enemies—he sent us his Son Jesus, the only one who could possibly rescue us from sin, death, and the devil. We take refuge in him. 

Jesus lived a perfect life in our place. The devil tempted him, just as he tempts you and me, but Jesus was without sin. The devil had nothing with which he could accuse him.

Jesus died the death we deserve for our sins. He stretched out his hands on the cross and bore the wrath of God for the sins of the whole world, including yours and mine. He paid for all of our sins. He took them away, removing them from us forever.

Jesus rose again from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. His resurrection changes everything for us. Because Jesus lives, we too shall live. 

And now, the devil has nothing with which he can accuse us, because, as Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” 

No condemnation.

Jesus’ perfect life is ours. All of our sins have been forgiven. He has made us his brothers and sisters—dearly loved children of God. Heaven is our home. Until we get home, then, this is the prayer that we pray over and over again. 

This is the prayer we pray as we turn our attention away from our sinful selves and away from the devil’s temptations and accusations. This is the prayer we pray as we focus on our Savior-God and what he has done for us:

“Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me…” (Psalm 7:1).

And he does, dear Christian. He does.

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