I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
You made my enemies turn their backs to me
and those who hated me I destroyed.
They cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
In large part, this is why we are here. Why you read, why I write, why we take the time, why we care.
There are spiritual enemies to the souls of men, enemies of our souls. Enemies of the souls and lives of those we love.
I’m letting that sink in. As much as I know it, as surely as I believe it, this truth is ever sobering to remember and to turn, and face.
At the same time, look at their end. We do turn, we pursue them, and we overtake them. How? The answer is in these very psalms and in all the Word of God. We impale them on the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Our strength for battle is super-human, more than human and other than human. Our strength is actual, but not created, for the Lord is our strength. They rise up against us and His strength, they seek to undo and overwhelm us and those we love, but they must turn their backs, if we will fight.
Why would they? Why would they rise up against God Almighty? If they have any will at all, it must be because they always consider our weakness and our fecklessness. We seem so unable and unwilling … until we are not, in Christ Jesus.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
Even our flesh in its self-serving, darkness swallowing, evil-doing glory cries out to be saved from righteousness … “Leave us alone! We don’t want to stop or change! We do not want to be at all troubled with holiness!” … but our spirits are at enmity with our flesh. It is too late for them. We are already submitted to God and to His Word. We have already put on Christ.
The Lord, as He dwells in us, does not answer them. We do not excuse evil or coddle it at all; we beat them fine as dust, those nasty little haughtinesses and self-pitying lethargies and judgmental attitudes, and the wind blows them away. We have been made new, but with enemies, and we overcome them all in the newness of life in Christ Jesus. We are free, and we free ourselves from their entwining tentacles, and then we set others free, by our prayers and in the faith for which Jesus will be looking when he returns. (Luke 18:8)
Above, a picture of a dust storm blanketing a town in Texas. Imagine if we were to pursue our enemies with strength! It would look like this in reverse! As opposed to what our hearts look like, below, with build up!
This(first) image is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made as part of an employee’s official duties.
George Marsh Album
Then, a photo, by permission, Wikipedia, of a dirty laptop heat sink.
Marketplace Monastics 