Psalm 78:50-72: He smote his enemies in their hinder parts

From Psalms

⁵⁰He made a way to his anger;
      he spared not their soul from death,
      but gave their life over to the pestilence;
⁵¹And smote all the firstborn in Egypt;
      the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
⁵²But made his own people to go forth like sheep,
      and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
⁵³And he led them on safely, so that they feared not:
      but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary,
      even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
⁵⁵He cast out the heathen also before them,
      and divided them an inheritance by line,
      and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

⁵⁶Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God,
      and kept not his testimonies:
⁵⁷But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers:
      they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
⁵⁸For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
      and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
⁵⁹When God heard this, he was wroth,
      and greatly abhorred Israel:
⁶⁰So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
      the tent which he placed among men;
⁶¹And delivered his strength into captivity,
      and his glory into the enemy's hand.
⁶²He gave his people over also unto the sword;
      and was wroth with his inheritance.
⁶³The fire consumed their young men;
      and their maidens were not given to marriage.
⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword;
      and their widows made no lamentation.

⁶⁵Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep,
      and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
⁶⁶And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts:
      he put them to a perpetual reproach.
⁶⁷Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph,
      and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
⁶⁸But chose the tribe of Judah,
      the mount Zion which he loved.
⁶⁹And he built his sanctuary like high palaces,
      like the earth which he hath established for ever.
⁷⁰He chose David also his servant,
      and took him from the sheepfolds:
⁷¹From following the ewes great with young he brought him
      to feed Jacob his people,
      and Israel his inheritance.
⁷²So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart;
      and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

The third of three installments in Psalm 78 - based on verse 66, is about kicking ass.  As I've said before, in other psalms, there's a lot of things going on in this psalm that's not just about this - but that's what I'm choosing to focus on.

You see, if you look at various translations of verse 66, it basically says that God defeated the enemy, in a big way.  He "beat them back."  He put the enemy to shame.  In this translation, He continued to give the enemy a beating, even as they ran away - hence kicked their "hinder parts."

We are blessed to read about how Jesus showed love, and grace, and forgiveness.  These are things that we need to learn, especially addicts, as we learn about tolerance, forgiveness, and healing.  However, in all of that, sometimes we forget that God loves justice.  He loves it when we defeat our enemies that have been taking advantage of us.  He loves it when we remove evil from our lives.  He loves it when we go to all lengths necessary to triumph over our addictions.  That, is beautiful...that kicks ass.

I had a dream last night that I was in the middle of race...an Ironman triathlon.  I'm not quite sure where that came from, but anyway, there I was in the middle of the bike portion.  I started facing a rather steep hill, and the race started getting hard.  Rather than keep pushing, or at least walk my bike up the hill, I quit.  I just dropped out of the race.  This morning I can't believe how disappointed I am.  Even though it was just a dream, I was so close to such a great goal and I just quit.

I think I'm disappointed because what happened in my dream was the opposite of kicking ass.  Like the old that says, "Winners never quit, and quitters never win."  To extend that, a bit...and with God we don't just win, we kick ass.

This to your, and our, victories over addictions - remember it's always a long, hard battle, but as long as we keep God on your side we'll come out victorious - we'll probably kick a little "hinder parts."

Thanks for letting me share.