There's a Rope for That

(Photo: Andreas Wagner @unsplash.com)

“…do not let my enemies laugh at triumph/exult over me.”—Psalm 25:2, Expanded

In the Psalms, David and the other writers faced real, in-the-flesh enemies who were trying to take them out. They often asked God to deal justly with them. Some have called these the “mean” psalms—as in, “how can you worship a God like that?” Except that bible scholars say the psalmists, contrary to our modern way of thinking, are pleading with God to deal justly with their enemies because what they are doing to them and to others are contrary to the holiness, nature and glory of God… 

“There are six evils God truly hates

    and a seventh that is an abomination to him:

Putting others down while considering yourself superior,

    spreading lies and rumors,

    spilling the blood of the innocent,

plotting evil in your heart toward another,

    gloating over doing what’s plainly wrong,

spouting lies in false testimony,

    and stirring up strife between friends.

    These are entirely despicable to God!”—Proverbs 6:16-19, Passion

When the psalmists are up against enemies like these, they want to see God glorified. They want to see God triumph over evil and injustice. God is love and God is holy, the psalmists cry. These unfair, hurtful, persistent things their enemies are doing are not. They don’t want to take matters into their own hands because they know no political or military strategy or anything else will win the day—only God and God alone.

And that might be the most important, practical takeaway in relating these seemingly “mean” and vengeful psalms to our daily lives...

Because our enemies without and enemies within are often not people at all. Instead, they are usually arrows of the adversary that continually try to take us out, take us down, or neutralize our witness. These accusing, lying arrows are a constant assault—and quite often, the same “enemies” fired over and over, aimed at a weak spot.

We are desperate for God to triumph over these injustices. And like the psalmists, it doesn’t take too long to realize that we can’t free ourselves from the enemy's (enemies') assault without some massive help. We need...hope. Something we can grab onto. And wouldn't you know, it’s good to know that “hope” has a name—that it doesn’t just mean what we think it means. Because in the ancient Hebrew culture, “hope” was a picture of a rope or a cord:

“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

In You, I trust, O my God.

Do not let me be put to shame nor let my enemies triumph over me.

No one whose hope—rope, cord—is in You will ever be put to shame.”—Psalm 25:1-3

The next time, even today, when "the enemy shall come in like a flood," it's good to know that there's a rope for that, and one that cannot be broken. We've just got to hold on and never let go…

"Could anyone be disgraced when he has entwined his heart with Yours?"

—Psalm 25:3, Passion