Sunday, March 31, 2013

Psalm 22:21


Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely
Psalm 22:21

21 Save [yasha`] me from the lion's ['ariy] mouth: [peh] for thou hast heard [`anah] me from the horns [qeren] of the unicorns. [ra'em]  KJV-Interlinear

21 Save me from the lion's mouth; And from the horns of the wild oxen Thou dost answer me. NASB


Unicorn, ‘raem,’ is a reference to wild bulls or oxen with horns that are used to tease and prod and poke and rip apart and torment their victim.

The lions mouth is the description of a hungry ravenous lion or beast that is never satisfied, wanting only to eat away or rip apart its prey, caring nothing for who or what the prey might be.  Certainly the interests of the prey are of no concern for the lion.

The hunger is selfish and self-centered only.  The prey is totally defenseless and of no value but for the satisfaction of ones own hate and use.

But in this verse there is a change of attitude, ‘have heard.’

Whereas the meaning that has been conveyed from the previous verses, has been one of terror and fear that nothing or no one would come to help. And that is from the perspective of the world in which there is no rescue from the agenda of evil.  But now, there is God, who is always there to help and to rescue even in the face of harsh and violent adversaries in the heat of their onslaught.

There is now confidence and comfort, even in the face of death or disaster, that God will be there and rescue is certain.

And you certainly have to understand that this is the devils world.  Some things must occur. Jesus could not have said that this is too much, too much pain and suffering, so I’ll pass for now.  Because he came on a mission for this very purpose, to pay the price for sin and pave the way to save humanity.

Likewise, you have to face life with all that it is.

The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, which is a picture of spiritual death as unbelievers.

The parting of the sea is a picture of faith and salvation.  To cross over between the walls of water took faith.

The wandering in the desert, is a picture that people have to struggle with learning and growing up in their spiritual life. They have frustrating times. They rebel.  They complain. They come up with their own ideas like the golden calf.  But sooner or later, after a sufficient time of learning and growth, they learn and are ready for spiritual maturity.  For some this takes a bit longer than for others.

Then the crossing of the Jordan river, with one wall of water on one side only signifies the passage to spiritual maturity. But the blessings of milk and honey still require strengthening of ones faith and so there are difficulties even in the promised land.  This is still the devils world and genies do not come in six-packs.

Even spiritual maturity has its struggles but they are designed for accelerated growth and accelerated faith.  And then the ultimate goal remains in heaven, not from his earth.  This earth will pass away, and eternity will present the ultimate objective for our life, and that is the final goal.

But this life is the preparation, in its many phases. You just need to recognize them, and pursue them.  And try, try, try to stay on task.  And why?

Because God is always there.  The objective is always there.  This world, no matter what it throws at you, cannot derail Gods plan and that is probably the biggest hurdle for a person to get over, which is focusing on Gods big plan and not on the little problems of the moment.