Victory Over the Blue Heeler

“Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?” (Ps 49:5 AV)

 

This passage is interesting in that it is difficult to understand what “the iniquity of my heels” means.  I have at least two dozen authors who have written commentaries on the psalms.  Some believe the iniquity of the heels is the iniquity of the writer.  However, most tend to think the iniquity of his heels is the iniquity of others that nip at his heels.  To this, the Hebrew definition for the word ‘heels’ agrees.  The word is defined as a supplanter.  One commentator takes the reader back to Genesis three where the devil will where we discover in verse fifteen the Messiah will bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent will bruise the heel of the Messiah.  In that passage, the heel is the earth because the earth is God’s footstool.  The unfortunate reality is, there will be those things that seem like nipping at the heels.  The workers of iniquity will attack little by little to whittle away at the pilgrim’s resolve.  This is not to be feared.  As David says above.  His statement is not one of complaint, but rather, victory over the little festering or pestering nitpicking iniquities of those who would frustrate the faithful journey of the saint.

I like dogs.  Dogs are awesome.  They are faithful, obedient, and forgiving.  Over the years, I have had several breeds.  About ten years ago, my son wanted a puppy.  He and his mother picked up a Fox Hound.  Not exactly the best breed for a home pet.  He was a focused hunter.  We named him Camo.  Camo was not the best people dog either.  He did not like to be trifled with.  He wasn’t mean.  He was just focused and didn’t like others to break his focus.  So, we did anything a reasonable dog owner might do.  We got a second dog.  Our thinking was, if we could get Camo a playmate, maybe he wouldn’t be so intense.  So with did a really smart thing.  We got a rescue dog.  😉  This dog we named Kimber.  Kimber was a Blue-heeler/lab mix.  Kimber was the best of both breeds.  He had the personality of a lab but the instincts of a Blue-heeler.  One time, he got loose and ran across the street to a pasture.  He had all the cows gathered in a circle.  The way this breed got its name was its tendency to nip at the heels of livestock to herd them together.  There were used by ranchers to manage a herd of cows or flock of sheep.  Kimber was excellent at that heeling thing.  Even when it came to Camo.  When Camo was too intense, Kimber would go after his hind legs.  Nip a little here.  Nip a little there.  It drove Camo nuts.  Kimber could move so fast no matter what Camo did to discourage the nipping, Kimber could get out of the way.  Camo learned to chill out a bit.  If he didn’t, the mad nipper would show up and do his best to de-escalate Camo’s temperament.

This is what the annoying iniquities of the wicked are designed to do.  They are designed to entice the pilgrim to lose his focus.  The saint is on a journey of sacrificial service and sanctification.  The devil knows eternity will see these things come to pass.  There is nothing he can do about it.  So he will do the next best thing.  He will bring annoying acts of the disobedient into our path to get us to change direction or at the very least, not enjoy the journey.  He will send annoying little nipping rebels into our path to chip away at our path to Christlikeness and service.  A few fire ants or stinging insects leave a welt or two.  A pebble or thorn in the shoe to make each step a little uncomfortable.  These little iniquities of the heels don’t amount to much in and of themselves but add them up over time and they could severely cause the saint to get off course.  Like navigating a difficult path without the end goal in sight, we might get way off course because we are looking for the most comfortable path rather than the most efficient path.  David knew these things were part of life but he made the decision these little things would not distract from the overall journey.  He got victory over them.  He did not allow them to become his defeat.