It's not very often you come across a new song that is unreleased/unpublished and scarcely available publicly. However, Phil Wickham has provided an intimate glimpse into his interpretation of “Psalm 3” which is arguably one of the best, raw and unfiltered songs I have heard in a long time.

I've wrestled with how the Holy Spirit would have me apply the meaning behind this song considering the tumultuous year we are having with a worldwide pandemic, protests, and subsequent rioting, looting and violence plaguing our nation.

In many ways, a great divide has been established by our culture/media on the foundation of spiritual truth, and more importantly, whether truth is relative (subject to change) or absolute. It is not a recent debate, for mankind has always searched for truth and life's meaning dating back centuries to Plato, Socrates and Aristotle.

However, there is a distinct shift in our world today where self-proclaimed Christians are placing a "relative" filter over the Bible to appease their flesh and avoid convicting their spirit. Consequently, this has spread confusion like cancer throughout the body of Christ and turned God's children against one another regarding wisdom and morality.

The belief that we can pivot away from Scripture's teachings as our source of absolute truth and supreme authority has become commonly accepted practice because accountability is waning within the body of Christ. How can this be?

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

Therefore, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Knowing this, why then would mankind seek to undermine the authority of Scripture if it is God's inspired, absolute truth? The answer is simple: 

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:12–13).

The challenge most people face reconciling Scripture in their hearts is to what extent love plays. For many, it is the gateway to justification and excuse which enables sin to persist. Therefore, let us be clear: "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7), but love NEVER suppresses the absolute truth of God's Word to appease the flesh and enable sin.

LYRICS: "Oh Lord, I have so many enemies, so many against me. Oh Lord, so many are saying that You'll never rescue me."

Make no mistake, the only enemies we should stand united against as followers of Christ are the forces of darkness in this world which cloud man's judgment by shifting his behavior toward justification/escape rather than accountability.

In our culture, we are quick to judge and lay blame on those who do not align themselves with the shifting sands of popular opinion and media bias. However, Scripture exhorts a very different message if we examine what Jesus taught.

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:24–27).

Jesus spoke these words at the conclusion of His sermon on the mount, which spans 3 full chapters of Matthew's Gospel and magnifies EXTREME, spiritual accountability on a number of hot-button behavioral issues (anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, love of enemies, giving, prayer, fasting, treasures, anxiety, judging, etc.)

How then can we pick and choose which elements of our Lord's teachings are worth applying and which are not? Are we not subject to obeying them all? Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). Moreover, if anyone preaches truth contrary to what Scripture teaches, are they not enemies of God and subsequently our enemies as well, spiritually-speaking?

Keep in mind, we are NEVER called to exact revenge on our enemies for the harm they seek to inflict upon us. Rather, we are called to turn the other cheek and live peacefully with others at all cost. That is why we can find immeasurable comfort in the sovereign authority of God's Word which exhorts us to love our enemies by speaking truth in love despite persecution, and not withholding blessings if we have the ability to meet their needs.

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:14–21).

LYRICS: "You, Oh Lord, are a shield around me. You're my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried to the Lord and He heard me from His Holy mountain. I won't be afraid. I am not afraid."

What a glorious chorus of wisdom and truth regarding the character of God and His immeasurable love and provision. However, we live in a world unequivocally hostile toward Scripture as inerrant, and will stop at nothing to destroy its validity.

Some of the greatest minds this world has ever known (Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Dawkins, etc.) emphatically rejected Christianity and proudly professed their opposition and disdain, so why should it surprise us that our world has devolved into post-modernism where truth is relative and discretionary?

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one" (Psalm 14:1–3).

The sad reality is many self-proclaimed Christians are becoming increasingly post-modernistic in their personal theology as well, yet they fail to recognize their foolishness because they do not antiquate/correlate their faith in Christ as contingent upon the validity of Scripture.

In other words, if I disagree with the Bible on any issue which forces me to oppose accepted, popular opinion, I am empowered to compartmentalize my faith as separate from the Bible to justify my actions/beliefs, or distance myself from accountability altogether by declaring God is love.

It is true the Bible states, "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). However, that requires we acknowledge certain hot-button issues the Bible deems as sin and reconcile our hearts and minds to align with God's Word.

Make no mistake, love exhibits immeasurable grace and mercy to others, but it never justifies sin as acceptable. For Jesus died to pardon our guilt because of love, not to justify the sins of mankind as righteous and acceptable before our heavenly Father.

That is a powerful reminder considering our present culture, because standing firmly on the supreme authority of God's Word will inevitably bring criticism, judgment and persecution to those who live unashamed of the Gospel.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). 

Therefore, we must embrace the armor of God which protects us from the enemy and equips us to stand firm in the face of cultural conformity which pressures us to appease the masses and obey our fleshly propensities.

LYRICS: "I lay down and slept and woke up in safety, for You're watching over me. And I'm not afraid of 10,000 armies because God, You are with me."

Godly perspective is one of the greatest tools we have as Christians to endure spiritual warfare. In 2 Kings 6, the city of Dothan was surrounded by the Syrian army in search of the prophet Elisha, in order to seize him for relaying their war plans to the King of Israel.

What we cannot miss from this story is the Godly perspective Elisha possessed which his servant temporarily lacked.

"When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?' He said, 'Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' Then Elisha prayed and said, 'O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.' So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:15–17).

Perspective made all the difference in that moment and determined whether "fear of man" overcame their psyche or "trust in the Lord" prevailed.

That is a powerful lesson we can glean from their experience as we prepare our hearts for the trials which lie ahead considering the political volatility of our nation currently. We must recognize a great chasm exists between the physical and spiritual realms of this world.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3–4).

Persecution may bring us physical harm for standing unashamed on the absolute truth of God's Word, but nonetheless, we are protected spiritually by God. Countless missionaries can testify to the atrocities committed against Christians who did not retaliate in the presence of abuse, torture and martyrdom, but accepted their fate and chose to love and forgive their enemies instead.

Compared to hostile nations across the globe, the United States has avoided extreme persecution of the Christian church, but the tide is quickly shifting to the point where one day the Bible will likely be considered "hate speech" in our country.

Therefore, do not be deceived, my brethren! For our culture seeks to silence the church by forcing Christians to justify what the Bible clearly identifies as sin, and that is increasingly evident by our celebration of individual expression, personal choice, and universal acceptance of post-modernism within and outside the body of Christ. 

LYRICS: "Arise, Oh Lord, and rescue me. You already hold every victory."

What many misunderstand is the Bible seeks to set man free from the powers of the flesh which wage war against the spirit. Yet in many cases, the personal theology of Christians today is indistinguishable from secular culture which does not fear God's eternal judgment. How can this be?

The apostle Paul wrote, "'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Though we have the power to choose how we live, our choices come with momentary and residual consequences, both good and bad. Because of free-will, every decision we make is permissible, but not every choice is righteous or beneficial either.

For example, the Bible teaches regarding racism, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Therefore, peacefully protesting racial injustice is encouraged.

However, using rioting, violence and looting to communicate a message of systematic change is permissible, but not beneficial at all. Quite the contrary! Therefore, there are consequences we must consider before deciding what role we will play enacting change in our communities, but our behavior ultimately impacts what over-arching message is communicated.

Similarly, abortion exists in our country because secular culture allows, yet God has much to say regarding the sanctity of life, murder, and judging for ourselves who lives and dies.

Certainly, it is within our right to peacefully protest abortion clinics and government institutions which legally perpetuate the killing of unborn babies, but what message will we communicate if the Christian church remains silent by not lobbying government officials and protesting; or conversely, uses violence in the attempt to enact change?

Scripture warns, "Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil" (Proverbs 3:7). Therefore, we can rest assured the battle belongs to the Lord, first and foremost, and His omniscient, sovereign will supersedes our limited understanding.

In the end, we must remember this world is not our home and our present struggles are momentary compared to eternity. However, in the time the Lord allots, we are called to fulfill the Great Commission and help others reconcile their hearts and minds to the absolute truth of God's Word. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).

"So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil" (2 Corinthians 5:6–10).