Slaying Satan in the simplest biblical sortie

I’ve always been captivated by the single verse in Psalm 23, where David writes of the Lord in verse 5:

“You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.”

God’s favour toward those who have sanctuary as the saved is vouchsafed in an unequivocal way.  God will never leave nor forsake us.  But it is because God did something that we could not do that we’re even here in a place of perfect safety — even as the enemy, as a lion, crouches, waiting to pounce and defeat us.

Despite every earthly and spiritual opposition, and we know it as we walk our lives out, we each have within our reach the capacity to call upon the confidence of David.

It’s for THIS reason:

In The Simple Faith of Mr Rogers, Amy Hollingsworth relates a story Mister (Fred) Rogers told her about one of his professors, Dr William Orr.

Fred Rogers had gone to see Dr Orr, after a stroke left him partially paralysed, but his professor was still capable in mind and spirit.  Mr Rogers was troubled and so asked Dr Orr about something from the Sunday morning worship service he and his wife had attended earlier that day.  One of the hymns had been Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.  What confounded Mr Rogers was the verse that said:

“The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; 
his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure, 
one little word shall fell him.”

“Dr Orr,” Fred Rogers asked, “What is the one little word that will fell the prince of darkness?”  After a quiet moment, the professor answered, “Forgiveness.  You know, Fred, there is one thing that evil cannot stand, and that’s forgiveness.”

~

The forgiveness of Jesus and the grace and mercy of the Father completely ambushed Satan, who, despite being unable to conceive such a holy design as forgiveness, was thwarted in the simple act of love of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, despite Jesus having every reason to spit in Satan’s face (and more).

Yet Jesus didn’t do this.  Instead, Jesus forgave the evil done against him.  Satan had no answer for the grace of God.  By this Jesus is our exemplar.  Something that evil cannot understand, and something evil cannot stand, is forgiveness.

Even as we do our forgiving there is something of the purity of holiness in it with which the enemy cannot contend.  As we forgive, God prepares before us a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Can you see it now?  We fear no one.  (Unless for reasons of our own safety we’ve a boundary to prevent would-be attackers which is wisdom.)

God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies because God favours us when we forgive.  God favours us with love for those who have hurt us, and that love invites them (as much as we feel safe) to fellowship with us.  True reconciliation is possible, but not without the extension of unmerited mercy.  Having forgiven, those who were our enemies reduce in size to normal people.  Forgiveness doesn’t mean they won’t face justice if they need to.

Is such a thing as forgiveness not costly?  Of course, forgiveness is costly.  But it only works when we disregard the cost.  Mercy has power when we forget the cost.

We don’t and cannot forget the wrongs done against us.  But we can forget the cost of giving up our anger.  Indeed, Jesus did.  Had he not, we’d still be in an eternity of trouble.

Thwarting the enemy isn’t hard when we know how and why, but it is still costly.  As soon as we release the ransom condition — that we let go of our right to be angry — forgiveness is possible, and there’s nothing evil hates more, which breeds holy delight in us who love and fear the Lord alone.

So, for serious offences as for minor offences, forgiveness stands as a possibility.

Forgiveness’s only condition is that we extend unconditional mercy, which perhaps until now has been a bridge too far.  Once we extend unconditional mercy, the power evil has over us and our situation is crushed.  Satan can do nothing, and he knows it.

Forgiveness is so nebulous that in this concept of things at least we cannot know it works like this until we try it.  Forgiveness doesn’t mean we won’t occasionally lament the situation we forgave.  We must allow ourselves the odd slip back.  But by and large, when we’ve forgiven, WE are the ones who are freed — and first and foremost from any grip Satan or evil has had over us.

Finishing on the Orr/Rogers wisdom, this we can know: it is only evil that requires forgiving.  When we forgive, we’re not saying it wasn’t evil.  Indeed, by forgiving we’re saying it was, and is, but that we overcome evil’s power in the forgiving of it.

Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash