Psalm 91:13 is the Victory Dance. It says “You will tread upon the Lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent) shalt thou trample underfoot.
Honey. That day is coming. There will be a victory dance for all who hold onto God. The snake and the lions we feared will be nothing but fine dust for us to trample upon
Lets take a quick look at these creatures
First Lions
Biblically, Lions are often portrayed as magnifent and powerful in biblical and secular folklore. Jesus Himself is called a lion! One of my all time favorite verses is Revelation 5:5 which says “Weep not! For the Lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome.”
Yet here we see lions as a strong enemy we are to conquer
1 Peter 5:8-9 says “Be sober. Be vigilant. because your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.”
Lions, especially young, strong, agile lions, are a daunting force to reckon with. Dr. David Livingtone, the famous explorer and missionary to Africa in the 1800’s once experienced such a surprise attack by a lion! He barely escaped with his life when a native shot the lion, but he had weeks of recovery and a badly scarred arm the rest of his days. Livingstone hated the scars which, it would seem, caused him to realize he was fragile next to the king of the beasts. The public, who read about the story back home, saw him as a courageous hero and made a statue to celebrate the attack.
Prior to his attack Livingstone had said “the sense of danger vanishes when you are in a country of Lions.” He knew they were there, but maybe he forgot that they also attack.
We are in a world of lions. So we must be sober minded. We know the enemy would love to charge out of a bush, and bring pain and heart ache into our life. Sometimes we do not recover for a long time. We may hate the scars, But the scars remind us that GOD alone delivers us, and we need to be near Him continually so that when the enemy pounces, it’ll be doing battle with a shotgun called Jesus and the Mighty angels! That Lion will find our boot on his back, as we raise a fist in victory.
The Psalmist David grabbed a sheep right out of a lions mouth and killed him with his bare hands! David reminded Saul of this before he faced Goliath. God used that lion encounter to give David courage in the battle against a giant that lay ahead.
Lions may pounce, Lions may maim, but it will only make us stronger until the day of Christ Jesus!!
Then there are snakes. Snakes are smaller than lions, but potentially just as dangerous. They sneak and slither and slide. Snakes kill by biting us and inserting venom that affects a humans nervous system. The “Asp” that this verse refers to, was famous along the Nile for its deadly poison. Cleopatra is said to have died by allowing an Asp to bite her. It was the noblemans death back then, because you fell asleep and died painlessly.
Isnt that what the enemy, Satan wants? He wants to inject poison through doubts, fears, unbelief. He entertains us into a slumber and before we know it our heart has grown cold within us.
Jesus gave us some instructions about snakes on the way out the door from earth back to heaven. In mark 16:17-18 he says “And these signs will follow all who believe; in my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them.”
Really? Pick up serpents?! I am so glad I have not had a chance to see if this verse plays out in real time in my life. Though it did in Paul in Acts 28 picks up firewood and a snake crawls out from the fire and fastens itself on Pauls hand. I know what I would have done!! Freaked out. Ran. screamed. The natives thought Paul must be getting his just rewards, assuming he was a murderer or such. Instead Paul shakes the creature off right back into the fire and coninues whistling away as he makes his dinner.
So I guess… we CAN literally pick up snakes? But like we talked about yesterday, I will not tempt God by sticking my hand out at a rattler to see if it works!
There are snakes that crawl out of the fires of our lives, however. And Psalm 91 says we are going to just “Yee haw!” trample on them suckers
For instance, A snake bite can be an addiction. Maybe long ago you thought “I can handle a little bit of some drug, one indiscretion.” When we put our hand in the snake cage it infuses our soul with a deadly poison. When you sample poison, it affects everything around you. It burns like a forest fire in Santa Anna winds, spreading, damaging, destroying.
Davids son Solomon knew the cost of indiscretion all too well. He said in Proverbs 6:27 “Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned?”
Once you are bit, it may take years, counseling, and coming to an end of yourselve to be set free. It may also take one simple cry of deliverance. I have seen both be true. I met a couple once who were saved after being Heroin addicts. THe husband said they shot up for many months after finding the Lord, each time crying out for deliverance and repenting. Eventually, they were set free and he went on to serve God as a pastor.
However God chooses to deliver us from evil, the one who dwells safely in the shelter of Gods wings, staying close to the Fathers heart and listening daily to His voice through His Word, will not be defeated by a snake bite. The lies and temptations of the enemy are just fodder to be trampled upon. We begin to see those snakes a long way off and turn away long before we are in striking range.
Snakes will bite and Lions will pounce, but the one who holds fast to God will have the final say.
On this earth we will have many opportunities to overcome.
Just like a football game, we get a touchdown and do a little dance, but then we are back on the field fighting and kicking our way through mud and muck to another goal.
The final victory dance will be at a great Dance in heaven when all our tears will be wiped away and there will be no sorrow or hurt at all.
The great serpent will be cast into Hell forever, and we will live and celebrate with pleasures forevermore.
I felt spiritually defeated once. I had all but given up on God. I actually thought He had given up on me, and that it no longer mattered what I did. In that dark and poisoned place, I heard God whisper in my heart “Whatever you do, make it to heaven.”
That hit me as both hopeful and scary. Hope that I still COULD make it to heaven, and Scary that I could miss heaven if I allowed the poison to destroy my soul. Shortly after, a friend gave me a book on heaven. Heaven sounded so amazingly wonderful, and awesome, and beautiful, I determined that although I had failed in so many other ways, I could at least repent and finish the game.
Since I returned, I’ve had a lot of victory dances since then. I’ve also spent some time injured and not playing. The key is to stay in. One yard line at a time keep pressing on for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!
The victory dance in heaven is worth it!
Whatever you are going through today, lets pray for endurance and Hope to see it through until your arms are out in a joyous victory dance!
One year, after my Lily finished blooming I stuck it unceremoniously in a corner of my basement. The next year I ran across it during spring-cleaning. It was dry and lifeless and I had no expectations for it. I took the entire pot outside, planning to empty the dead plant and use the pot for something else.
Instead, the spring rain and warm sunshine caused the pitiful little thing to produce some lovely blossoms! Even though it was not the season one would expect such things!
Psalm 91 is a lot like an Easter Lily. Sure, we love it when it produces beautiful, white, trumpet shaped blossom, but most of the time it has no blooms. It might even look hopeless and dead!
Being home day after day and watching the world around me grow silent, I desired something to remind me there was hope and life ahead. I bought a new spring table cloth and pastel placemats. I finished with Easter Lilies. I purchased two from WalMart before they had a single bloom. Just the promise, based on the numerous green pods forming on the stem.
The promise of Psalm 91:13 is a trumpet of victory. You will tread upon the Lion and the adder.
Right now you may just have the green pods of Gods Word. You will have your vistory dance.
In this life, there will be many a small victories leading to the final victory as we celebrate at a glorious party with Jesus and all the Saints in heaven!
I have been well rewarded with gorgeous white “trumpet” flowers, announcing Easter is here!
For times sake I cannot go into the details of the Mexico story, although I wrote about it in a small book you can find on Amazon called “Set on a Rock.”
