May 6, 2008

From the Treasury: Running Through a Troop

The schedule is hectic, the "to do" list is full unto overflowing, but let us take just a moment to reflect with Charles Spurgeon as he offers a meditation on Psalm 18:29 "For by thee I have run thorugh a troop; and by my God have a leaped over a wall."

Whether we meet the foe in the open field or leap upon them while they lurk behind the battlements of a city, we shall by God's grace defeat them in either case; if they hem us in with living legions, or environ us with stone walls, we shall with equal certainty obtain our liberty. Such feats we have already performed, hewing our way at a run through hosts of difficulties, and scaling impossibilities at a leap. God's warriors may expect to have a taste of every form of fighting, and much by the power of faith determine to quit themselves like men; but it behoves them to be very careful to lay all their laurels at Jehovah's feet, each on of them saying "by my God" have I wrought this valiant deed. Our spolia optima, the trophies of our conflicts, we hereby dedicate to teh God of Battles, and ascribe to him all glory and strength.

First, I love Spurgeon's imagery of us as warriors "hewing our way at a run" through the enemy. It conjures up scenes from Lord of the Rings or 300--except Spurgeon had never seen those. How easy it is for us in our western comfort to lose our grasp of the truth that we are indeed engaged in a fierce battle. The fact that the outcome of the battle is secure does not diminish in the least its fierceness.

But that is not the great preacher's main point. He (as well as the psalmist) is concerned with what we do after the victory has been won. Here the temptation is to look back with satisfaction on the battlefield--strewn with the bodies of our enemies--and take satisfaction in the victory. In doing this, we seal our defeat.

No matter how hard we have fought, no matter how much of our own blood we have shed, the victory is not ours. The victory belongs to Christ, who shed his blood on our behalf, and in doing so won the victory for us for all time. To him be all the glory and praise forever!

Posted by Andrew on May 6, 2008 10:44 AM.