The Background
Tuesday nights are one of three Bible study nights for me. I like to keep busy, and moreover, I love to study the Word with like-minded believers my age. We want to not just know the Word but also how others are seeing the Word and what we can do to teach those around us.
So Tuesday, May 9, we talked about demon possession and oppression. The world moves in cycles, and one on repeat recently has been this heavy focus on the work of the demonic. Ephesians 6 tells us that our war is not against flesh and blood but powers and principalities and commands us to put on spiritual armor, the armor of God, to combat it. It’s fairly clear Paul speaks of the demonic and not in a sense that the works of demons will cease until the judgment day.
The Theology of Evil Activity
We began with the foregone conclusion that those born of the Spirit of God, who indwells all who profess belief in Christ through repentance, are forever marked safe from the act of demonic possession. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). The forces of darkness cannot overpower the Holy Spirit of God, and, thus, they are incapable of forcing Him to move from the temple He has chosen to indwell in order to occupy it for themselves.
But we reached many conclusions within this conversation about the works of evil, first and foremost of which is the sovereignty of God. In Job, whether we see this as mere metaphor or true story, God is the author of Job’s blessings and the allowance for his suffering. It is He who says to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8).
Blameless, God calls him. There aren’t many in scripture who receive this distinction. Satan states Job’s righteousness is because of his blessings and seeks permission to take them away. God grants it, and so we have the book of Job. But there’s an important act to focus on. In order to touch Job or his blessings, Satan had to ask permission, and then God had to allow it. Sovereignty. Not even evil occurs without God’s okay. There are many tough theological nuts in here to crack, but I don’t have space for that here.
The understanding reached from this comes from many places. First, Paul’s declaration about the messenger of Satan he attempts to pray away thrice, and thrice, God refuses him. Second, Paul also writes in Romans 8:28 that all things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (capitalization of “His” added by me). Third is Paul writing the reason this messenger of Satan is allowed to continue tormenting him: “to keep me from becoming conceited” (2 Cor. 12:7). So we see that God allows the works of evil to afflict His beloved in order that He might sanctify them fully because it is for their good.
A friend of mine often says, “God will always trade the finite for the infinite.” I find this to be accurate to a Tee. Both Peter, James, and Paul write multiple times of present suffering for eternal glorification and reward. God works in this just as much as He does in blessing, and we can’t discount this from the OT either: Israel is constantly being left to experience evil temporarily in order that they might come closer to God for permanent rescue. The story of God’s work is using the evil and pain and hurt of the world in order to affect His people to come closer, and as they do, they find blessing.
The Endless Battle
So we finally come to Psalm 129 — in the HCSB, this psalm is entitled “Protection of the Oppressed.” Verses 1-2 say, “Since my youth they have often attacked me—let Israel say—Since my youth they have often attacked me, but they have not prevailed against me.”
I’ll bring Paul back for just a moment: daily, he was attacked by this messenger of Satan. Whatever this thorn was, it was constant, consistent, and debilitating enough that it could keep him from inflating in pride. If the attacks ceased, might Paul have become prideful? We don’t know, but the discussion was had that in all things, there is good to be had for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
I say all this to bring it back to what this psalm is titled and the information it carries: it is not “Deliverance of the Oppressed,” nor “Freedom for the Oppressed,” but “Protection of the Oppressed.” Now I’m aware that this psalm isn’t titled this way originally. But the scripture tells the same point. Nowhere in this psalm does it indicate that Israel permanently pacifies their enemy. Instead, it states they continued to attack, but they never prevailed.
The messenger of Satan against Paul never prevailed or we’d have a much smaller NT. Satan never prevailed against Job, for Job never once cursed God. He questioned, he struggled, and he cursed the day he was born, but Satan did not win Job’s curse. David was attacked by Saul over and over and over as he was inflicted by evil, yet David became the man after God’s own heart. In each case, a man was oppressed, and in each case, he was protected from turning away. His life was not stolen, and especially Job is very clear about that: Satan was allowed to touch Job, to inflict him with illness, but his life was not on the table.
Everything in a believer’s life works for ultimate good. You may be oppressed, whether by the work of the demonic or your own fleshly desires, but have these things stolen you from God? If not, you are protected. If you still seek God; if you still praise Him for His goodness; if you are still His (for who can pluck you from His hand?) then you are protected. You may be attacked ceaselessly, but driving back the attack and continuing to serve the Lord is a victory in and of itself.