Dec 3 - Psalm 21:12

For they will turn and run

when they see your arrows

aimed at them

Psalm 21:12

There are two ways to read this passage.

First, as this Psalm is clearly a song of victory, David is crediting God with making him king and helping his armies prevail. Therefore, he is confident that the enemy "will turn and run" when they see a successful human army have their "arrows aimed at them."

Yes, God might have been the author of Israel's success, but aren’t the arrows that the enemies "see" are human arrows?

That's one interpretation. And it’s certainly accurate in many degrees! Nevertheless, I want to suggest a second -- and deeper -- interpretation. And let me begin it with a story from 2 Kings 6 ...

The king of Aram was angered. Israel was always a step ahead of him in battle. Did he have a traitor in his midst, revealing his plans to the enemy? No, insisted his advisors. Rather, a prophet of God knew the future -- "9 immediately," it says, "Elisha, the man of God, would [know Aram's plans amd] warn the king of Israel."

Therefore, the angry Aramean king mounted a great army and set out to take down this one troublesome prophet.

Thus, early one morning the servant of Elisha awoke early to find an army at their door. Afraid, he turned to the prophet. "15 Ah, my lord, what will we do now?"

"16 Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!"

I'm sure the servant looked at Elisha incredulously. "The old man's daft. It's me and him against a mighty army."

But "16 then Elisha prayed, 'O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!' The Lord opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire."

When we believe in God, we are making a statement of faith. We are saying that we believe in two "worlds." There's the physical realm that we can see and the spiritual realm that we can't physically see. Scripture tells us that this spiritual realm is alive and active and that we are involved in a spiritual battle.

In Elisha's case, the army that was for him (though unseen) was greater than the army against him (even though the king of Aram's swords and chariots looked rightly formidable).

Could that be what David is really talking about? The earthly enemies of God's people might not ever have their eyes fully open and they might not literally see "your arrows aimed at them"; nevertheless, enemies knew that David somehow always "outnumbered" them, "out-gunned" them, or "out-strategized" them. They clearly sensed God's arrows and God's power aimed at them -- whether they literally saw it or not.

Our enemies may not literally "see [God's] arrows aimed at them." And yet God often makes his presence known. The earthly enemies of God may come up with worldly explanations for why their plans keep getting thwarted -- outmanned, out-gunned, out-maneuvered ... or simply unlucky. But maybe it's time for you to begin to claim -- and operate in confidence that -- "there are more on our side than on theirs!"

In Christ's Love,

a guy who may appear

to be standing by himself,

and yet I’m part of a great majority