Victory Lap
Through God we shall do valiantly, and it is He who will tread down our adversaries. Psalm 60:12 NASB
Tread down – Only alignment with the purposes of the Lord assures the final victory. We all know this, but far too often it doesn’t actually affect our commonplace decisions. We forget the eternal and focus on the immediate. But eternal doesn’t mean “not of this world.” It means “not defined by this world.” Eternal perspectives do not require heavenly visions. They require converting God’s view of the cosmos into our view of responsibilities. Since God is sovereign—the fundamental theme that anchors David’s complaint in the reality of God’s purposes—He will ensure the outcome. He will “tread down” the enemies of His plan.
The Hebrew bus is a verb about destruction. Typically used to describe the defeat of enemies, it is often associated with God’s action toward His enemies. Smashed to smithereens is probably an idiomatic translation. Here the verb is used in relation to “adversaries” (Hebrew root tsarar). David’s insight is that Elohim is the One who defeats our adversaries. David’s clarification of the real source of victory reminds us of the prophet’s later claim, “Not by might nor by power but by My spirit.” In other words, despite the efforts of human agents, it is God who gives the victory or withholds it. We may play a part. In fact, we may play a vital part, but we do not ultimately determine the outcome. If we forget Who gives the victory, we will lapse into that great seduction of the yetzer ha’ra, the thought that by our will power we can achieve what needs to be accomplished. In fact, such thinking is ultimately idolatrous even though it is certainly the general assumption of the world’s population. Far too often, it is the general assumption of believers as well. Enemies are simply another way for God to remind us of His sovereignty.
Life is full of worthy causes. Every worthy cause has obstacles to overcome. The tension between what should be done and what is presently the case often leads us to think that we must do something about it. So we come up with a plan. We marshal forces and resources. We set goals. We move forward. But unless our perspective of the noble cause is a reflection of the heart of God, we work in vain. That does not mean we won’t accomplish our goal. It only means that whatever we accomplish is potentially not a victory lap for YHVH. In order to do “valiantly,” we must first discover His intention. Hayil (the Hebrew word for “might, strength, power, valor, ability” and “virtue”) is not always decided by our view of things. Experiencing hayil requires the bus of the Lord.
There is a subtle but crucial difference between making things right and making things righteous.
Topical Index: bus, destruction, hayil, might, valiant, Psalm 60:12
“There is a subtle but crucial difference between making things right and making things righteous.” if the Lord does not build the house, we build in vain. So how can we tell UP FRONT if we are building in vain? Before we pick up the hammer, how can we be sure that we are not going to end up laying the foundation and completing the gate over the dead bodies of our children? Let us get this clear. Sin lies to us and says that we can get love another way. We are all building for love: we all show up with our lamps to the wedding feast, and we all want the long stemmed roses and the box of chocolates – we all want love- but only some of us will get in to the wedding feast, and only some of us are going to have oil in our lamps, and only some of us actually accomplish love.
How can we tell if we are attempting love in our flesh, or actually achieving it in the Spirit?
Following the language of Paul, I am going to talk about spiritual realities for a bit here. Paul was mirroring the language of Ezekiel and Zechariah in Romans when he referred to the difference between the flesh and the Spirit, and just about every time he was talking about the Ruach and not the spirit of man. We have to walk in the Holy Spirit. Yeshua promised us His Spirit, and the New Testament is full of references to the righteousness of Yeshua as opposed to the attempted righteousness of the flesh. Both are efforts toward righteousness, but only One is going to actually BE right. I am not a love source. I cannot ‘do right’ in my flesh because there is no good thing in me. Now, before we go get a bee in our bonnets, perhaps we could pause and wonder if any good thing was EVER found in the flesh, even before the Fall. I suspect us good folks who have sincerely tried to work our way to heaven and perform for love may perhaps have been sharing this image of Adam and Eve in the Garden, perfectly loving ON THEIR OWN – in their flesh- but, were they? What if they were walking in the Spirit then, and NEVER were in their flesh at all? What if they fell for the lie that they could achieve righteousness in their flesh, and we have been falling for it ever since? What if it was ALWAYS the righteousness of Yeshua, the love that originates with God, that we were designed to walk in, and not our ‘own’ love?
Let us talk about motivation. We can be motivated by unloving purposes to do loving deeds. A man in rut can sweet talk a woman into bed when he does not actually love her; however, he gets his way because he seduces her into believing that he does (depends on the woman, of course). We, too, can do loving deeds because we WANT love, instead of doing them because we want to give love that we already have. Performing for love is manipulation, in fact. Performing for love comes from a place of deficit, and it says “now you owe me some love back”. Back in the day when I did not believe I ‘deserved’ love, I had a desperate need for love, but I thought the only way I was going to get it was to earn it. I had a huge hole in my heart where I wanted to GIVE love, and so I did all the deeds of love, but because I was disconnected from the Source of love, those deeds were all perceived as manipulative ploys, which they were. Nobody in my world was actually achieving love. We were trying, but we were failing. No righteousness, no true connection, in sight.
Enter that most mysterious “righteousness of Christ”. What in the world is that? What are those white robes handed out by the Lord of the feast, and why were they HIS robes, and not the robes the guests chose to wear? Why did He issue invitations to His feast but NO one showed up in their own clothes? In fact, the one person who did was thrown out! How do we obtain the wedding robes? This is the danger of the dialectic: herein lies the true genius of the evil one. Right here he split a baby that should have never been divided, and we have been fighting over the pieces of the vase of Truth ever since. We need to get together – we on each side of the Great Divide between grace and works – and realize that neither of us were right. It only works when we put it all back together. Grace and works only work together. Righteousness (rightly relating) is only present when the Source is present, and Love only happens when it comes from beyond us on Its Way to beyond us. I cannot build a tower to heaven – I cannot connect with God: I cannot obey His command to love, on my own, but neither can I obey His command to love others either, from my own flesh – from my own motivation – from my own spirit. Accomplishing His purposes is impossible from my own starting line. In fact, His purpose is the connection of all with all, and there is no way I can do even the first iota of that. If He does not do that THROUGH ME, I am sunk. I cannot manufacture righteousness. I can only channel His. Here is the righteousness of Yeshua in me. He supplies His motivation (His will), His method (His Way), and His purpose (His glory). This is what I pray when I pray “for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory”. I cannot achieve righteousness in my flesh, but then, I was not created to. This is about connection with my Creator. I am a conduit for His right connection. It was megalomania from the get go for me to ever consider that love was up to me in the very slightest. Whew! What a relief! I just have to ask Him for His! Halleluah!
Commonplace decisions. Oh my – the proverbial pit that we climb in and out each and every day. A day filled with ‘commonplace decisions’ that many times will overwhelm a person and cause them to sink lower and lower into the slimy self-pity sinkhole. Been there done that … and sometimes it’s a day to day pick-me-up to get out of that muck. That ‘eternal’ focus seems out of this world and not handily in grasp of anything that looks remotely familiar! Weighing the eternal versus what lies within my grasp within any given moment sometimes seems quite well, out of this world – or at least ‘in a place far far away’.
We all know that God is sovereign…that’s been hammered home in each one of us since infancy. It’s in the day to day mundane decisions that keeps us hog-tied to the real world of the nitty gritty. Stuff that is so base and mundane that one just KNOWS that the Supreme Creator really … well, really doesn’t care a fig about. Well… maybe He does but you doubt it. Come on – be honest.
And then there are the enemies or adversaries to put it nicely…man … got enough of them – that’s for sure! And as soon as that is out of my mouth I then come back at myself and say WHY are they enemies? Are they REALLY enemies – or are they just people that don’t happen to agree with what you want them to agree with? Are they simply adversaries to test what you believe and have you say outloud what it is you do and don’t want? Mmmmmmmm….either way, it does seem like a pointless battle on my part. And there you have it … sunk into the pits of yetzer ha’ra – no problem at all – just slid right in. Now to make my way back up the oozing, stinking, gunk filled sides to higher ground. Sigh.
Worthy causes….well, every cause we undertake seems quite worthy – doesn’t it? Otherwise, it would not cause us to throw ourselves into it lock, stock and barrel – would we? But just because it happens to be worthy – well, you get it – it doesn’t mean it’s actually worthwhile. And there in lies the rub…..right vs righteous….worthy vs worthwhile….me vs Him. Surely it has to get easier….yes?
All I know is that just because it seems like the right thing to do …. doesn’t necessarily make it so…..so again, back to the drawing board and the search for what truly is ‘righteous’.
Hey Pam!
I visited your website and i gotta mention that you and Laurita would have a HEYDAY (literally) if you ever got together.
She’s been teaching me about edible weeds for the past couple of years. I’ve become totally addicted to violet root tea.
Addicted.
“There is a subtle but crucial difference between making things right and making things righteous.” Absolutely!
It has to be constant meditation and reflection upon YAH’s Word to cause these life-bringing, inspiring words of encouragement for us to push on in seeking Him as He desires us to, to be aligned to His will and His nature/image.
So joyous and blessed to be part of this seeking and learning community.
Thank you Skip for sharing your journey with us here. Shalom!