We will survive the battleground of spiritual warfare as we learn to live by faith and not by sight.

Outline: Four treacherous tactics of the Enemy to destroy God's people:

1. The enemy confounds hope (vv. 1-2, 25)

2. The enemy exploits the flesh (vv. 3-7)

3. The enemy slays the righteous (vv. 8-16)

4. The enemy establishes the godless (vv. 17-24)

But the enemy fails to stop God's promise (vv. 25-26)

Questions for personal reflection:

1. In what ways/areas are you experiencing the battleground of spiritual warfare?

2. There is danger in putting our faith more in how we think God will act than in Him as the God who will act. Where have you seen this error in the modern church? How have you made this error yourself?

3. How have you seen anger become a foothold for the Enemy?

4. What ways have you found work well for fighting sin?

5. The truth that the Enemy slays the righteous and establishes the godless can be crushing to our day-to-day hope. Read Psalm 10, how does the Psalmist deal with his soul-crushing circumstances? Where does the Psalmist find his strength to endure and remain hopeful?

6. Read 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Paul is facing his imminent unjust execution, how does his faith in Jesus make his death not a triumph of evil but a testimony that God’s promise does not fail?