Psalm 108 Part 3

One of the most striking depictions of God in the Bible is that of a warrior. In this psalm, He was the one who would ‘tread down our adversaries.’ We have already seen this repeatedly in the psalms and as a final meditation on Psalm 108 I share the following: He is called, ‘The Lord mighty in battle’ (Ps24:8) and the warrior (Exod15:3). Many Psalms celebrate the Lord as a victorious warrior (e.g.Ps68). Thus, God fights the enemies of His people. The picture of God as a warrior also brings end-time hope, because in the finality of time God will fight against the nations that have oppressed His people (Zech14:3). It is instructive to notice that in the contexts in which God is depicted as a warrior, some form of the interjection, ‘Who is like God?” appears (e.g.Exod15:11;Ps35:10; Ps71:19; Ps77:13; Ps89:6,8). 

John the Baptist understood Jesus as a warrior with a winnowing fan in His hand, who will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt3:12). Later John thought he was mistaken because Jesus was expelling demons and healing the sick instead of waging war against Israel’s enemies. But John got word from his disciples that confirmed his initial impression. Jesus was indeed the divine warrior who was battling the spiritual forces of evil. Later on, Jesus’ fiercest battle took place on the cross, where He achieved the greatest victory over evil, not by killing but by dying. On the cross, He ‘disarmed principalities and powers’ and triumphed over them (Col2:15). After His resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven as a victorious warrior showing the spoils of war in a cosmic parade (Eph4:7,8; Psalm 68; Ps24).

We have a sacred duty to carry on the battle alongside our Supreme Commander. Like Jesus, we must fight this spiritual battle, not by killing but by dying. Our weapons are faith and the Word of God (Eph6:10-18). We battle not only external forces but also the sin that lies in our hearts. However, ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us’ (Rom8:37). The battle will continue until Jesus comes and destroys evil in all its manifestations.