By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Psalms 41:11-13
If I would imagine the perspective of anyone who calls himself/herself my enemy, seeing me as his enemy, I suppose I would be frustrated, because I wouldn’t be completely rid of me.
Or, well, now that I think of it, I shouldn’t be looking at any other person as an enemy. I am reminded that we do not battle against an enemy of flesh and blood. Paul elaborates that our strategies of warfare are against the princes of the power of the air – (1) not humans, and (2) spiritual adversaries, mindsets and propagators of mindsets.
Furthermore I am also reminded of the words of Christ in John 10:10, where He mentions to the disciples that our real enemy is as a thief, one who comes to steal from us, to kill us, and to destroy us.
But, indeed, I know that my Good Lord loves me, and not only does He love me but He apparently delights in me! For even in the presence of such a great enemy, I will not be shaken. I will be held together, even if the thief, the accuser may have some semblance of success in stealing from me – for he will never be able to steal the salvation which Christ has bought for me by way of His crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension.
Now, this enemy may also take leaps and bounds think that I am in a position of failure, considering the limitations of my own flesh and blood, eventually reducing my survival rate in this fallen reality to zero. He may or may not take measures to assault me to ensure that my body dies before its time… but because Christ’s resurrection and ascension has guaranteed my being brought into life in to the infinite and the eternal, it is of no consequence personally, even if my physical being withers away.
Finally, the enemy may ruin any sort of reputation I may hold, with the intent of not only killing me, but destroying me. And sure, this thief may succeed, but the truth of the matter is that I am in constant and full favorable standing with no less than the Creator of the Universe…. and this renders anyone else’s opinion of me as infinitely inferior to God’s favor upon me, by way of Christ proclaiming me righteous, as He is righteous.
My point in all of this is that the enemy simply could not shout in triumph over me. And it’s not because of my own strategies or my own weapons of defence of offensive warfare. No, my enemy will never completely have the upper hand because of what Christ has done for me.
Through Christ I will never be fully overtaken by the enemy – for what finite strategies, no matter how elaborate or crafty they may be – what strategies are present to leave even the slightest dent on God’s favor upon my life? If it was by my own merit that I expected special treatment, then I wouldn’t last the next hour. But that’s the thing. I HAVE Christ. Because of Christ, I know my enemy will never shout for joy in triumphing over me.
My enemy knows that even if I lost, I have already won. Christ is the only difference, and oh, what a great difference that was.
The verses go on to say that I am upheld by God Almighty, but while the Psalmist would say it was because of HIS integrity, we are quick to be reminded of how, as beneficiaries of the New Covenant, it is Christ’s integrity that sees us through. It is in this righteousness that we have through Christ that we are truly and indeed, confident that not only are we upheld, but nothing can ever snatch us away from the hands of the enemy.
For our safety which transcends the finite, and for our Savior who has guaranteed that the enemy will NEVER fully triumph over us, we give nothing but thanks to our Lord.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake!
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes!
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Psalms 79:9-13
I could have shared just verse 9 but I guess it’s a whole lot better if I just went ahead and threw in the rest of that portion of the Psalm. For look, in the process of our being helped by no less than the Creator of the Universe, and all that is seen and unseen, it is no wonder that He does all this (1) to express His delight over us, and (2) for the glory of His name, and for His name’s sake.
I am encouraged today because we have a great God who has it in His intentions to protect us and to preserve us. He takes pleasure in expressing His favor over the body of Christ, and this is made apparent and noticeable by way of how He has crushed all hope of our enemy to triumph over us completely – Because even if we lose, we win.
What a wonderful philosophy to subscribe to! And, look, it’s not just philosophy, it’s not just theology – no, it’s ALL Christ, LITERALLY.
Let’s have a good weekend, folks.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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