Let Not Mine Enemies Triumph Over Me: A Meditation on Psalm 25, for the first Sunday of Advent

 

Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.

O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed,

let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed:

let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:

for thou art the God of my salvation;

on thee do I wait all the day.

It is a dark world, and there’s no getting around it.  Though the whole universe was created good, and continues to bear witness to its good Creator, through the Fall into sin and wickedness a darkness has come which no one can escape.  Every human being experiences the pain and suffering of a darkened world, some more urgently and pointedly than others.  In various places and times our human race has experienced starvation and disease, war and pillage, theft and abuse, enslavement and oppression; all marks of a fallen world.  A world that was originally constructed without death, disease, war, or tumult according to the holiness of Him who fashioned it, has become a place where people of every tribe and tongue sit in darkness yearning for the light.

In this fallen and darkened state, our enemies are many and close at hand.  The material world seems at war with us, as forces of nature destroy our homes and communities.  The microscopic world seems bent on our destruction, as chemicals, viruses, and bacteria plague us with disease.  The animal world frightens and pursues us, with tooth and claw that wound and kill.  And perhaps worst of all, our own brothers and sisters plot in sinister delight how to take, to conquer, to subjugate, to malign, and to murder even their own flesh and blood.  Inspired by our own fallen nature which is itself inclined always to evil, and goaded on by the dark forces of the devil to descend ever further into the black abyss of perdition, we sit surrounded by brutal enemies bent wholly upon our destruction.  The devil, the sinful world, and our own sinful flesh encompass us on all sides, driving us inexorably toward our deserved destiny of death and hell.

The truth of our imperiled state was not lost upon King David, as he penned the 25^th Psalm.  He knew all too well the enemies within and without, as well as his hopelessness in the face of such great monstrosities.  His solution, however, was not to depend upon his own strength, or cunning, or holiness—rather, he fell down before the Lord his God, and begged for salvation.  David not only knew that he was surrounded by enemies he could not of his own power defeat, and that his destruction was deserved because of his own sin, but he also knew that salvation was alone by the grace of God, and that such salvific grace could come only to those whose faith clung to Him through His Word.

At various times and places, the people of God sat in darkness, praying for His salvation from every enemy of mankind.  They prayed for protection and deliverance from Egyptian slave masters, from plague and hunger and weather, from Philistines and Assyrians and Babylonians, from evil kings and queens in their own country, from false prophets and false teachers.  But ultimately, the people of God have prayed not just for salvation from the troubles and troublers of this transitory life, but from the sin, death, hell, and power of the devil which have tormented them ever since the Fall.  They knew that salvation was from God alone both in this world and the next, and they sat in the darkness waiting upon the Light of God to break into the world which would save them from every enemy.

That Light for which the people of God waited in ancient times, broke forth in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  1000 years before Jesus, King David could write and sing to God for salvation for himself and all who put their trust in Him, praying that the faithful saints who clung to God for His grace might not be gloated over by their enemies.  And the faith of King David, together with all those who came before him and all those who came after, was made victoriously present in the Messiah.  In Jesus, every enemy of mankind was defeated, and the curse of death and hell was dispersed.  The malice of wicked people, the lure of sin within our own bodies, the persecution of murderers and tyrants, and even the terrible power of the fallen angels were conquered through the Cross of Jesus.  There in Jesus’ sacrifice for human sin was the curse lifted from mankind, and there in His resurrection was the confirmation that even though we die, we will live forever in Him.

This is the great Light which the people of the Old Testament looked forward to, and the people of the New Covenant look back upon, knowing that King David’s prayer for salvation was fulfilled for him and for us in Jesus.  And though we find ourselves in an ever darkening world, ravaged by wickedness both human and demonic, we stand victoriously in the midst of so great a morbid throng.  For we know by faith that we are saved by God’s grace in the person and work of Jesus Christ—a Holy Gospel of salvation which comes and abides with us by His Holy and Eternal Word.  Here in Jesus we stand in the Light which the darkness can neither comprehend nor overcome, knowing that even though we die, sin, death, hell and the devil shall never triumph over us.  We are a people freed from the curse of the Law, called unto holiness and life eternal, marked with the signs of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  We are a people who need fear no evil, for Christ our King reigns victorious over all our enemies, and it is His good pleasure to give to us His Kingdom.

Be not afraid of the perennial enemies of our race, dear Christian, for your Savior lives and reigns unto all eternity.  And though weeping and suffering may mark our time in this world, we look forward to that great Dawn when our Lord shall return to claim His own, and all evil shall be forever put away.  For with your eyes you shall see the Lord of your Salvation, and your enemies will be seen no more.  All glory and honor be His, now and forever.  Amen.