We continue
to look into the astonishing idea that there is a vengeance that we,
God’s own beloved people, are supposed to be taking.
Back to
Psalm 149 . . . “Let the godly ones exult in glory; let them
sing for joy on their beds. Let
the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand,
to
execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind
their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to
execute on them the judgment written, this is an honor for all His godly
ones. Praise the
LORD! (Psalm 149:5-9)
This is one
of the best parts of living in Cor Unum: we get to take things out and “Lectio
Divina” them . . . if you weren’t here for that post, we will look at it again,
soon . . . and we get to walk with God in such a way that if “take vengeance”
and “avenge not yourselves” do not seem to mesh, we find out where our understanding
is lacking or faulty.
So many
times, when we can’t put verse 2 and 2 together, it is because the Lord is
speaking between kingdoms or between light and darkness or between the liberty
of the spiritual and the bonds that hold back the carnal man. Flesh and blood
do not inherit the Kingdom of God! The priests could do things the king could
not do, and the prophets had responsibilities no one else could fathom. Do we not operate in each of those realms
at times, even in “kingship” as to the dominion we are to have over our own
souls in the obedience of Jesus Christ?
Perhaps if
there were an Ephesians 6 chapter in each book of the Bible, it would help us! The Lord has this astounding way of
telling us certain things without repeating Himself. It’s unnerving! In
fact, however, these truths run as a stream, or perhaps fly like an arrow,
through the Scripture. We are
warriors on a dark planet, with battles to fight and enemies to vanquish.
When we hear
the Voice of God and obey Him, vengeance is taken on our spiritual enemies and
the enemies of those we love. We
hear the Spirit of God whisper, “Forgive” or “Be generous” or “Keep silent” or
“Fear not” or “Leave now” or “Stay” . . . every obedience punishes
darkness. Lots of obedience binds
kings, spiritual Hivites and Perrizites and Canaanites, with strong chains, and
the nobles (Ephesians 6:12) of those principalities with fetters they cannot
break.
Our joy in
obedience, perseverance in trial, hope in solitude, our love and our mercy, are
the judgments which we execute. In
these things we prove the Word and the Spirit of God to be sovereign in the
earth, and vengeance is exacted upon “rulers and principalities” of evil. This, says the Lord, is an honor to His
own godly ones, and so to us, here in Cor Unum, monastery of the heart.
The Iron Crown of Lombardy
James Steakley, by permission
That's good. I've long seen obedience as the highest form of worship and worship as the highest form of warfare but hadn't drawn the logical conclusion that obedience brings punishment to our enemies.
ReplyDeleteWhat a GREAT comment! I appreciate it . . . especially the way your summed up!
ReplyDelete