by David Falk | Download PDF | Purchase Hardcopy

I have observed that King David, the great psalmist, constantly talked about his soul. He wrote concerning the Lord, ‘He restores my soul’. Psa 23:3. He also recognised, ‘My enemy has persecuted my soul’. Psa 143:3. The literal translation of this verse means, ‘My enemy has pursued my soul’. And the outcome for David was devastating. He continued to write, ‘He has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart is appalled within me’. Psa 143:3-4.

To say an enemy has ‘pursued my soul’ is not language that we use today. You are more likely to come home from work and say, ‘They attacked me’ or ‘I feel under threat’. Nevertheless, the imperative to keep watch over your soul is the same as it was for the great psalmist.     

So what is your soul? Your soul is your essential identity. And who is your enemy? It could be anybody at any time. We should not be too definitive about this. We cannot say certain people are our enemies and others are friends. Quite often, we may be having trouble with someone who is normally quite close to us and we begin to feel like we're being pursued. We may feel under assault and need some breathing space. Our identity as a person may be under assault and we are not coping. At other times, we may not need enemies at all because we war against our own souls. In many situations we do enough damage to ourselves. We can be ‘our own worst enemy’, as the saying goes.  

Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, ‘We were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within’. 2Cor 7:5. In many situations, there will be significant warfare against your soul. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, there is nothing that a man or woman can do that can destroy your soul. The only thing that can destroy you is the response that the warfare evokes in you. If you are provoked and rise up against an enemy, you will begin to be pursued by your poor response and you will eventually be crushed. David felt crushed to the point where he had no substance, integrity and viability as a person. He felt like those who have been long dead. He needed the Lord to restore his soul. And more than this, David asked the Lord to ‘keep a watch over the door of my lips’. Psa 141:3. He recognised the potential of destroying himself if he did not make a good response and keep watch over his soul.  

In the book of Proverbs, we read that the godly woman ‘watches over the ways of her household’. We need to watch over our children at every stage of their development; at preschool, primary school, secondary school and university. Parents may need to offer guidance in the work place. In the home, a parent can watch over a child’s responses. Watching involves knowing when children are making good and bad responses. One child may be conducting themselves very well in a given situation. But another child, who is behaving in the same way, may be making a very poor response. This is because the response is not consistent with his or her soul, mind, emotions and will. It is not consistent with his or her intrinsic person.

We need to particularly watch when warfare is coming against our children’s souls. Those with older children can alert younger parents to these vulnerable times. If our children are to withstand such attacks, they need self knowledge. They need a sense of who they are and they need validity as a person. Warfare against the soul may erode a child in his or her fundamental identity. We might call it a loss of confidence. A child doesn't talk this language but parents should. We need to progressively teach our children to watch over their own hearts with all diligence.  

In the church, Paul instructs us to obey our leaders because ‘they keep watch over your souls’. Heb 13:17. In the book of Acts, Paul told the overseers at the church in Ephesus to watch over the flock. He said, ‘Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood’. Acts 20:28. As the wise man said, ‘Know well the condition of your flocks’. Prov 27:3. Finally, this means to know each one by name. We obey leaders because they watch over our souls, not because they want to lord it over us. In our society today, we often hear the cry, ‘Who made you the boss of me?’ No one wants to submit to leaders any more. Nevertheless, the cohesion of every society is based on submission and obedience. To tell a generation of people that they don’t need to obey is to bring their end upon them.

The prophet Isaiah encouraged us to ‘stand together and watch’. Isa 50:8. We can apply that instruction to a church fellowship. It can equally be applied to a family. We must stand together and watch. We also read in the book of Isaiah that the Lord will bring out a host or multitude of people. It says, ‘He calls them all by name. By the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing’. Isa 40:26. The Lord is the watchman of your soul. He is bringing you out among a multitude of believers. But you are not lost in the midst of this great multitude. ‘He brings out their host by number and calls them all by name.’ Isa 40:26. When He calls each one by name, it means that He knows their fundamental person. He knows your soul and your soul should know Him well. The psalmist said, ‘I see Your works that they are wonderful. My soul knows it very well’. Psa 139:14.

You should also know yourself well. David said in another psalm, ‘Do not enter into judgement with Your servant. For in Your sight no man living is righteous’. Psa 143:1. He was appraising his own soul. He knew he would be found wanting if the Lord judged him. David was a wonderfully wise man who had jurisdiction over a large kingdom of people. At that stage it was a glorious kingdom. We know that because the nations all around were willing to go into debt to provide the resources that Israel needed to build the temple in Jerusalem. David was constantly referring to his soul, which was his fundamental person. He knew his strengths and shortcomings. But in all his self-appraisals, He remembered the Lord. ‘I remember the days of old, I meditate on all Your doings, I muse on the works of Your hand. I stretch out my hands to You. My soul longs for You, as a parched land.’ Psa  143:5.

Jesus said, ‘Take heed, watch and pray’. Mark 13:33. And likewise, ‘Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation’. Luke 22:46. What does it mean to watch? It is not a term that is commonly used today. But the Scripture refers to watchmen. They were people stationed on a wall or in a tower watching out for enemies. Temptation does not always come from outside ourselves but may also come from within. In Scripture we often find words like ‘behold’, ‘look’ and ‘watch’. These words convey an imperative or sense of urgency. They mean, ‘Keep your eyes open; pay attention to what’s happening around you; be aware!’ We need to watch and pray because there is warfare against our souls. In the book of Proverbs, we are encouraged to watch over our ‘hearts with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life’. Prov 4:23.

We also think of the account when the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Lift up your eyes from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward’. Gen 13:14. We need to look up from the place where we are, our circumstances, our places of trouble and stress. David said in the psalms, ‘My eyes are awake through the night watches that I may meditate on Your word’ Psa 119:148. Are we awake? Do we meditate on His word? Are we like David who meditated, mused and pondered on the works of the Lord?  Jesus regularly rose early to pray and find guidance and strength for each day. The psalmist said, ‘Early will I seek you’. Psa 63:1. Isaiah the prophet said, ‘Seek the Lord while He may be found’. Isa 55:6. Are we looking up from the place where we are? Are we looking to the Lord in every circumstance?

When you watch over your heart you are watching over the deepest part of yourself where soul and spirit meet. When the Bible talks about our heart, it is not talking about our cardiac system or even the seat of our emotions. It is the very essence of our person. Paul said, ‘If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things’’ 1 John 3:20. The Lord our God is watching over us. He is protecting us for He is the keeper of our souls. David said of the Lord, ‘He restores my soul’.  Psa 23:3.  He wants to restore your soul but not because you are a broken-down person. You may have your life together very well. However, there will certainly be warfare against your soul if you have your life together; if you are watching over the ways of your household and walking in the ways of the Lord. How you cope with this warfare, your viability and success in life will be based on how well you understand yourself. When you rise early to pray, the Lord will restore your soul.

Author: David Falk | Toowoomba Christian Fellowship TCF
Published by Vision One at Toowoomba Christian Fellowship TCF
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