The LORD has awakened me in the fourth watch of the night to pray. "What shall I pray?" I asked Him. I heard the Spirit clearly say, "The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against His Anointed One." I knew He was speaking His Word from Psalm 2. So I arose from my bed and began to decree Psalm 2:Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against His Anointed One.
"Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."
The One enthroned in Heaven laughs; the LORD scoffs at them.
Then He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath, saying, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill."
I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, "You are my Son, today I have become your Father. Ask of Me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear and trembling.
Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him."
The One enthroned in heaven laughs! Does this not give us hope? For me, it recalls a time when I was on watch on the rooftop on the Mount of Olives, and we were reading this psalm over Jerusalem. We got to verse 4 and we were greatly inspired to go to the four corners of the rooftops, overlooking all the Muslim neighborhoods and the people who worship the false god Allah and wrote "God has no son" inside the dome of their temple. And we laughed! At each corner of the rooftop we let go the laughter of the LORD God of Israel, who knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning! We scoffed at his enemies. He has installed His King on Mount Zion, His holy hill. It IS His land, given in covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants. And He has given His Righteous King, Yahshua, all the nations for an inheritance, the ends of the earth for His possession.
In today's news the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain. North Korea has tested a nuclear bomb at least as big as that dropped on Hiroshima, we are told. Iran has released war ships into their waters, "flexing their muscles prior to elections," we are told. Newscasters also report that the Taliban is now overtaking our troops in Afghanistan. It appears that those who worship the God of Israel are surrounded by their enemies. So was King David in his day. And so the LORD then led me to the final verses of Psalm 5 and asked me to pray them over the righteous - those who "kiss the Son," desiring to embrace what is pure and holy: "Let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in You. For surely, Yahweh, You bless the righteous; You surround them with your favor as with a shield."
The threat of war is all around us, and indeed is about to erupt. My spirit has been heavy within me. But after praying through this fourth watch, I hear the laughter of the One who reigns on His Holy Hill. I take refuge in Him and I sing for joy! As Jerry Golden wrote in his post from Israel this morning:
"I can assure you that when that dust [of war] does settle, Israel will be here and God’s Word will ring true to many who have been denying Him for so long. God will bring His people the Jews back to this land that He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the God I serve cannot lie. Many may not be able to understand the things about to unfold in this world but God is in total control and He is sovereign. It will rain on the just and the unjust alike for it is not the temporal things God is concerned about; it is your relationship with Him through the Spirit, and when that is settled we have a comfort and a calm inside that brings shalom."
Amen!
