“Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. 6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 7 The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” Psalm 118:5-8
There are many precious and hope giving promises in the Old Testament. We should look to them, cling to them, and rest in them. We must, however, also rightly understand them. For example, someone may read this promise from Psalm 118 and believe that as long as God is on their side, no physical harm can come to them by the hand of man. Furthermore, they might expect never to be defeated by those they label as their enemies. But, both of those conclusions would be wrong because they both take a glorious promise concerning eternity and make them about the immediate. When we do this, we set God up to look like a failure because it appears he hasn’t delivered on our misinterpretation of His promises.
Therefore, it’s imperative that we understand these promises as they are intended. They instill within us a hope that reaches beyond this life and into the eternal glory of the new heavens and the new earth. Verse 6 says that we need not fear because the Lord is on our side, therefore the Psalmist asks the rhetorical question: “What can man do to me?” The implied answer is that because God is on our side, there is nothing man can do to triumph over us. Instead, verse 7 says we will look in triumph on those who hate us. But, we must understand that the promise of that triumph will be in eternity, not necessarily here on earth.
The history of the church is filled with courageous and faithful men and women who were viciously slaughtered at the hands of man. So, what could man do to them? Man was able to kill them. Does that mean God let them down or didn’t keep his word? No. Instead, we must set our eyes on eternity and know that man can only take our life, but they cannot take our souls. They cannot stop the onward march of the kingdom of God that will culminate when we all receive our resurrected and glorified bodies. On that day, we will stand in triumph with our victorious King Jesus.
Therefore, we conclude with the Psalmist: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” Only the Lord can keep us for all eternity. Only the Lord will deliver us in victory over our enemies and over sin and death. What a precious reminder this is in a political season. God is our refuge and strength.