The psalms often speak of enemies that arise and oppress. Being a U.S. American, I don’t often feel
this. Most of the time, my
constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech, religion, and the rest allow me
to shrug off the snarls and sneers of “enemies.” (This is something that I fear might be
changing, though, and I wonder if a time is at hand that will require us to
risk ourselves for the sake of freedom once again.) So it might be easy to look at a psalm like
Psalm 55 and think, “This doesn’t really apply to me.”
You’d be wrong if you did. (Indeed, it is worth remembering that our
brothers and sisters in Christ in countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and North
Korea face oppression and persecution every day.)
While our physical lives are lived in relative peace and
safety, our spiritual lives are always in turmoil; sturm und drang. There are real
enemies in this world that assail us relentlessly. There are forces working with great effort,
skill, strategy and intention to pull us away from our Savior Jesus, and pull
us back into sin and damnation. Luther
names three great enemies of all Christians:
the devil, the world and our own sinful nature. They are treacherous and deadly.
This psalm was likely written as David faced political
enemies who were trying to kill him, but that does not negate the value of this
prayer for us as we also face spiritual danger.
The psalms, as with all the Scriptures, point us to Jesus, as He Himself
said in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them
you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” And Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that, “we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” This psalm applies to our spiritual scuffles.
Think of your sin.
Think of the times that you have grappled with even one behavior; one
that you’ve stumbled on time-and-again.
How many times have you said, “I’ll never do that again!” only to find
yourself in the midst of the act moments, days, or months afterward? How often have you cried out, “God, be
merciful to me a sinner,” knowing only too well that, “The dog returns to its
own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:22) Knowing you’d be back.
Now pray, “Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself
from my plea for mercy!” “My heart is in
anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.” “Horror overwhelms me.”
It fits, doesn’t it?
We need God to stand in the gap for us. We need Him to destroy our enemies, crush and
defeat them. We say, “But I call to God,
and the LORD will save me … He hears my
voice. He redeems my soul in safety from
the battle that I wage …. Cast your
burden on the LORD, and He will sustain
you; He will never permit the righteous to moved.” You, O God, will cast them down into the pit
of destruction, and I will trust in You.
This is what God has, in fact, done for us. In Jesus’ death and resurrection He crushed
our enemies’ heads. When we were
baptized into Christ, God drowned and killed our old sinful nature. When the Holy Word is spoken, it is like a
sharp two-edged sword, the Sword of the Spirit, to fight God’s enemies. He has won the victory for us, and we look
forward to the peace we have in His merciful presence.
O God, You are my
defender and savior. Keep me in the
salvation You won in the Cross of Christ.
Amen.
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