Isaiah 27:1
“In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.”
The Bible often uses figurative language to enhance our understanding of spiritual things. Jesus is referred to as a Lion so we would reflect upon His power and a Lamb so we would understand His humility and willingness to be sacrificed for our sin. The devil is also represented with figurative language. He is referred to as an angel of light who goes about to deceive and a roaring lion who seeks to devour his prey. Here in this text it seems likely that Isaiah is referring to Satan as a twisted serpent who will ultimately be destroyed by the sword of the Lord. Satan is referred to as a serpent in other texts. In fact the first mention of him is in the garden where he appears as a serpent to deceive Eve and lead her into rebellion against God. Later, the book of Revelation takes us into the future where we see the dragon defeated, chained and cast into the bottomless pit.
I find it interesting that in the midst of the spiritual, social and economic chaos that Israel was facing during the time of Isaiah the he would draw the attention of the people to a time when the devil will ultimately be judged. I also find the weapon of choice quite interesting; He uses the “great and strong sword of the Lord.” The weapon that will ultimately defeat the devil is the same weapon that is needed to deal with his attacks on a daily basis. Paul referred to the Bible as “the sword of the Spirit” and Jesus used the scriptures to forge a counterattack against the temptations He faced in the wilderness. It is through the word of God that Satan will ultimately be defeated and it is with the Word of God that we will have victory over him on a daily basis.
The Bible teaches that Satan casts fiery darts into the mind of the believer. These darts come in the form of thoughts that are ungodly in nature. We are made aware of a situation and are immediately filled with thoughts of fear, worry, unforgiveness or even rage. It is at that point when we must wield the sword of the Spirit and counterattack our thoughts with what the Bible teaches. Instead of continuing down a train of thought that leads us to ungodly action we must choose to let the sword defeat the dragon. Because of the importance of the God’s word it is no wonder that the first spiritual attack recorded in Scripture was a frontal assault against the validity and trustworthiness of the Bible. The serpent said, “has God really said…”
What comfort there is in knowing that a day is coming when the dragon will be defeated and we will be free of all the trouble he has created.
Jim
By this time, in the Nehemiah’s story, much has been accomplished. He has experienced the call of God that took him from a highly coveted position in the kings court to becoming a leader among the congregation of Israel. He has seen God provide for his personal needs as well as the needs of his new found ministry. He has seen the people who had been both divided and discouraged rally together to accomplish the work of God and build the city wall. With all that Nehemiah came to realize that the work was still incomplete. There was much more that God wanted to do in and through his life and ministry. As he looked out over the city he discovered that the people had yet to build their own homes.
As a child I was fascinated with the television show “The Twilight Zone.” While there were many episodes that thrilled me, there is one in particular that stood out above the rest. The scene began with a man stepping into a flying saucer as a passenger traveling to a far away planet after aliens had visited earth and convinced mankind that they were there to help. He was part of the committee assigned to translate their language, the man had discovered the basic framework of the alien language and translated the title of a book that had been given to them. The book was called, “To Serve Man.” Unfortunately they discovered too late that it was a cookbook and he was actually being invited to dinner not as a guest but as the main course.
Complaining is often the result of looking at the one thing that is going wrong instead of the many things that are going well. We might have a day off work, be gathering with our family at a park or at the beach, and instead of enjoying the day we begin to complain that it is too windy, too hot or there are too many others who chose to spend the day at the same location. Instead of looking at all that is right we becoming fixated with what we perceive to be wrong. Another common problem associated with complaining is that we often bring our complaints to the wrong place. When we are upset about our job we complain to our spouse, when we have a problem associated with the kids school or their sports team we complain to our friends. Instead of bringing our complaint to the source who can resolve it, we simply like to complain.
I spent much of my life in California before moving to Florida. The people I first met in Florida would often tell me they could never live in California because of the earthquakes, when I visited California people would say they could never live in Florida because of the Hurricanes. If you live in the Midwest it is the tornado that people fear and if your in the north east it is the cold. The reality is everywhere in the world has its challenges and things that make life difficult.
The story of Israel is a familiar one. They were saved by the marvelous grace and mighty hand of God who provided for their needs and gave them victory over their enemies. Soon they began to compromise with sin and struggle to follow the commands of God. As time went on, those whom they had victory over, once again began to rule their lives until finally, they were taken captive and lost almost all God had provided for them. In a sense they are the story of the prodigal who wandered from his father’s grace only to find out how miserable life is apart from God. I can only imagine what it must have been like for Israel to scoop water from the Euphrates only to begin weeping for all they had lost through rebellion and disobedience to God. But that in itself is another testimony of the incredible mercy of God. Instead of forsaking them for their continual sin, He promised to restore them into the land and give them a marvelous future and hope.
As this short psalm begins to unfold, David celebrates the condition of his heart. He is rejoicing that his heart is not haughty nor his eyes lofty. In other words he does not have an exalted view of himself. There is no indication within the psalm as to when it was composed. If it was written early on, David was a talented young man who was gifted as a musician and a shepherd. His musical talents had landed him a position as the private worship leader for the king. If it was written a little later, David had proved himself a valiant warrior and was in command of Israel’s forces and was the object of the attention of the young maidens in the land. If it was written in a later season, David had become king of the nation and brought Israel to the height of their success. Yet in all of his success he was careful not to become haughty or to have an exalted view of himself. It seems that David always saw himself as that young shepherd boy who sat among the sheep and fixed his eyes upon the Lord.
This psalm is one of the most detailed prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament. It goes into great detail to speak of the person and the work of the Messiah. In it we find reference to the deity of Christ when we read, “The Lord said unto my Lord.” This is nothing short of the Father referring to the Son as Yahweh. We also find reference to the Sufferings of Christ, in that he was consecrated a priest after the order of Melchizedek who would offer himself in our place in order to make a way for man to have access to God. We also see the resurrection and Ascension when we read, “Sit thou on my right hand.” And finally we see reference to the final Judgment, when all Christ’s enemies will be put under his feet.
Sometimes the Psalms come with titles that give insight into the situation that stirred the author to write. In his case, we are not given the details of his life circumstances, but are told of the purpose behind this song. He writes,
Jim Gallagher 