RJ Hamster
Psalm 119:165 – Achieving Great Peace: Overcoming Temptation with…
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Psalm 119:165(165) Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble. New King James Version Change email Bible version What does “great peace” mean? “Peace” automatically suggests an absence of war, no battling, no fighting. Under temptation, a battle always rages, even if we are winning. In such a case, no peace exists, much less “great peace.” As an illustration, initially, the U.S. in Iraq won every battle handily, but it was still war. The spiritual war we fight is caused by temptation from Satan, our human nature, and the world. Remove temptation, and war stops. What remains is great peace.How do we achieve not just peace, but “great peace”? The last half of Psalm 119:165 tells us: “nothing causes them to stumble.” What causes a human to stumble? Temptation! This means that we have to be sheltered from it. The American Standard Version renders this phrase, “they have no occasion of stumbling,” Young’s Literal Translation puts it as “they have no stumbling-block,” and the Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible reads, “nothing to make them stumble.” All of these renderings mean that not even the opportunity to stumble is presented. Other scriptures mention protection from stumbling:Psalm 121:3 (NLT): He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.I John 2:10: He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.Jude 24: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. . . .God through the gift of His Holy Spirit is the only power in the universe that can accomplish such a feat. If God does not place that shield around us, we have no hope of success. Alone, we are powerless in the face of temptation. We overcome it not by our strength, but by God’s power, the shield of faith (I John 5:4) given to us as His gift (Ephesians 2:8). It is our only sure defense.To acknowledge God and to pray always are to be in alignment with one of Christ’s most basic principles, a principle found in Matthew 6:33—to “seek first the kingdom of God” in all things. Praying always is stepping out in faith, believing that if we seek God first, He will add all the things we need (Philippians 4:19), including the strength to overcome, to finish this journey, and to enter His Kingdom.When faced with the myriad decisions we have to make during each day, if we are not acknowledging God’s presence, we have placed ourselves in the position of fighting our battles on our own. Israel made the same mistake, choosing the hard road in their fight, one littered with bodies. We probably all know of some bodies that now litter the spiritual road we have walked. We veterans carry scars from the battles we have lost.Our battles to overcome are more like skirmishes than battles. In fact, we experience our most severe temptations and trials in everyday events like eating, conducting business affairs, or relating to others in the family or community. Luke 16:10 acknowledges this: “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”What better way to win those little skirmishes than to have an invincible Champion, God, in the van of the battle? Because these skirmishes are in the myriad of details we deal with every day, only striving to pray always during the day gives us that unyielding first line of defense.Our deceitful human nature has in its arsenal countless ways, reasons, and excuses to avoid confronting the real issue of life—overcoming and allowing God to form and shape us into His image. Just bringing God into the picture unleashes forces that will not only help us to overcome, but will also protect us from the pitfalls that litter our path (Psalm 91:12). It is this striving to pray always that a Laodicean naturally avoids because he feels no need.— Pat HigginsTo learn more, see: Praying Always (Part Six) Topics:Acknowledging GodAcknowledging God in Our LivesAcknowledging God’s PresenceHoly Spirit Aids our OvercomingHoly Spirit, Gift of Human NatureHuman Nature, Deceitfulness ofLaodicean AttitudePeacePraying AlwaysPraying at All TimesSeeking God FirstSpiritual BattleSpiritual WarfareStumblingStumbling as a MetaphorTemptation Commentary copyright © 1992-2026 Church of the Great God New King James Version copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Subscription InformationThis daily newsletter was sent to you at peter.hovis@gmail.com because you subscribed at www.theberean.org on Apr 16, 2019.Email Preferences | Unsubscribe Church of the Great God P.O. Box 471846 Charlotte, NC 28247 803-802-7075About The Berean | Archives | Random Berean | Subscriptions |
