Psalm 59:9 “Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.10 The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.”
This is something to think about—the prevention of God. It’s a big part of his dealing with us. This psalm was written while men were sent by Saul to watch the house and kill David. God’s prevention made the difference in David, Saul and the entire nation of Israel. We might say God has his hands full, but what is a lot to us is nothing to him; nevertheless this was a critical time. The devil worked on everyone’s heart, even David’s. He had his strong and weak moments. Here David called him “the God of my mercy.” What would we do without his mercy!
Every time there was a plan to get rid of David, God got in the way; he prevented it—rather he intervened. David was fast, but God steered those swords when Saul tried to nail him to the wall. Look at the difference the Lord made when David met Goliath. When David wanted to go a certain way, God steered him to his way. We need to be thankful for a God who intervenes. He loves us that much. We ought to pray that God will be so in charge of our lives that he will stop us; he’ll prevent us from the wrong way.
None of us likes for anyone to get in our way. The slow driver we can’t get around gets in our way; we get so aggravated. All the aisles at the store will be empty but the one we want to go down. We have to wait. We want them to get out of our way. Sometimes we get in God’s way. It can be by sin. It’s never a wrong when God gets in our way. We may not like it all the time, but God does it because he loves us. Here is a lesson to learn. God is one who deliberately gets in our way. David said “the God of my mercy shall prevent me.” God will get in my way if he needs to, and that act in and of itself shows mercy. Aren’t you thankful for that?
We have the plain instruction of what to do. The Bible is the whole counsel of God. If we read it, we should set ourselves to its direction. When we don’t do so, be thankful for a God who intervenes. God still gives us choices, but sometimes he stops us. We think he’s getting in our way. He’ll never get in the way of our serving him. He will get in our way if we are out of his will. The devil causes the confusion, but God knows what’s going on when we don’t. It’s good for him to get in our way during these times.
We don’t have to know the reason. God doesn’t have to explain. His decision is best. What we consider interference is actually intervention. When things don’t go the way we wanted, we get mad at God and ask him why he interfered. We don’t know what could have happened. Thank him for the intervention. The unseen hand of God turns us around. Why did he interfere? He didn’t. He intervened. He didn’t have to step in, but he showed mercy. He could squash us, but he intervenes.
God is pleased when we consider him; he intervenes in the nick of time. It’s not just those wrecks and accidents we may have been saved from. Every day of our lives we live in the intervention of God. We don’t realize it a lot of the time. Consider where you might be without it. His ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
If we ever had a prayer it should be “Lord, get in my way as much as you need to.” God is so focused on us that he will. “Lord, help me to recognize it.” He does it for our good. We fall way short of knowing what to do; let’s simply let him be the God of our mercy.
David said “but I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.” David knew that God’s prevention, his intervention was with him every morning. He sang out loud his praise for God’s prevention.
Are you ready to pray for prevention? Do you have enough courage to pray for it? Are you submissive enough to pray “Lord, whenever, however, and to what degree you need to, get in my way; please show me your mercy?”
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 