Victory (Psalm 76)

¹ God is renowned in Judah;
in Israel his name is great.
² His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
³ There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.

⁴ You are radiant with light,
more majestic than mountains rich with game.
⁵ The valiant lie plundered,
they sleep their last sleep;
not one of the warriors
can lift his hands.
⁶ At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
both horse and chariot lie still.

⁷ It is you alone who are to be feared.
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
⁸ From heaven you pronounced judgment,
and the land feared and was quiet—
⁹ when you, God, rose up to judge,
to save all the afflicted of the land.
¹⁰ Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

¹¹ Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;
let all the neighboring lands
bring gifts to the One to be feared.
¹² He breaks the spirit of rulers;
he is feared by the kings of the earth.

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What is striking in this psalm is the depiction of the Lord as the victorious warrior.  No enemy can stand against Him.  It’s not so much that He is especially skilled at swordplay or military tactics.  Rather it is merely at His word, His rebuke, that the enemies fall.  God rises up to save, and the battle is over.

There is a cosmic battle between good and evil being waged around us and within us.  But unlike those familiar epic good and evil sagas like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, the outcome is never in question.  Even though it may look like evil has the upper hand, such is not really the case.  No matter how much evil and brokenness we see in our world around us and experience in our own lives, the ultimate outcome is never in doubt.  Evil cannot pose a serious threat to the Lord.  At His rebuke, the enemy falls.  Or as Luther put it in “A Mighty Fortress” regarding satan, one little word subdues him.

This same victorious power is at work in our lives.  The Holy Spirit who lives in us and works to bring fruit in us is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

What does this passage say to me for my life today? That I go forth into the challenges of this day – the challenges around me, and the struggles within me – in the power of the victory of my Savior.  So my prayer is that His victory would be seen in my life.  I pray that my life would point to His life so that others would experience His love through me.

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