 |
When you feel overwhelmed by problems, don’t despair. Your all-powerful God is all around you and will always be there.
“Give it up. You’re surrounded!”
I can’t tell you how many times I heard those words as a child.
No, I was not a juvenile delinquent.
But I did watch a lot of television. From CHiPs to The Dukes of Hazzard to The A-Team, I’ve heard those words spoken dozens, if not hundreds, of times.
The good guys are surrounded by the bad guys. The bank robbers are surrounded by the police. The A-Team is surrounded by the army.
“Give it up,” they announce. “You’re surrounded!”
Surrounded by foes
David felt surrounded. His son Absalom had rebelled against him, and some of his closest advisors had betrayed him. David was forced to flee from Jerusalem as Absalom marched into the city like a conquering king. Young King Absalom immediately sent his army to hunt down David and those faithful to him.
The nation was at civil war. David didn’t know whom he could trust. He was surrounded by enemies, but David didn’t give up.
He wrote Psalm 3.
“LORD,” David wrote in verse 1, “how many are my foes!” The word foes in the Hebrew language has the idea of enemies who surround you and hedge you in. David felt surrounded by the enemy.
Surrounded by God
But David wasn’t afraid. “You, LORD, are a shield around me,” David confessed in verse 3. In other words, David wasn’t afraid of the enemies surrounding him, because he was surrounded by God.
Sometimes we forget that. We forget that our God is everywhere and fills the entire universe. We can’t go where God is not.
We can’t go where we won’t be surrounded by God.
David knew God was all around him, protecting him and loving him. “I lie down and sleep,” David wrote, “I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side” (Psalm 3:5-6).
We can’t go where we won’t be surrounded by God.
David could sleep soundly at night, knowing he was protected on all sides. What could his enemies do to him? The all-powerful God was all around him. David knew that even if his enemies killed him, they couldn’t win. His Savior-God would take him safely to his home in heaven.
When you feel surrounded and overwhelmed by problems or by problematic people, don’t give up. Don’t despair. The all-powerful God of the universe is beside you, above you, and around you on every side. Nothing truly harmful can ever get to you.
He will always be there, making sure it all works out for your good in the end. Even in death, he will surround you with his power and love and take you to the heaven Jesus won for you on the cross.
So, when problems pile up, when danger lurks around every corner, when you are hedged in by enemies on every side—don’t give up!
You’re surrounded.
Author: Andrew Schroer
Volume 113, Number 03
Issue: March 2026
