He's Got Your Steps

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

I find it ironic the portion of this verse that struck me is the same my honored colleagues and writers have a question or to about.  They don’t seem to agree whose iniquity is referred to here.  Most believe the iniquity is the iniquity of supplanters trying to trip up the psalmist.  Others believe the source of the iniquity is the writer himself.   Both agree the iniquity is not active iniquity, but hypothetical iniquity.  In other words, if their iniquity is from his enemies, it is meant to trip him up.  Yet, the LORD will give the writer victory over it.  If the iniquity is his own, the point would be our journey is fraught with temptation and potential iniquity, yet the LORD can and does give us victory over it.  Either way, when confronted with the sin of others, or the potential sin of our own heart, we do not need to be a victim.  God will give us relief.

There is another key word in our writer’s words of encouragement.  That word is fear.  We fall into temptation because we lack a healthy fear for the consequences of sin.  Theirs or ours.  There should be a healthy respect for what sin can do.  There should be caution.  The picture above is a picture of someone on a journey where he has to watch every step.  Many years ago, we hiked the Niagara Gorge just below the falls.  We would start at Devils’ Hole and work our way around to just below the falls.  The point in which the Whirlpool is found is very treacherous.  Mostly shale, the hiker has to be very cautious.  He must plan out his steps.  If not, what happened to me would happen to anyone.  Rounding that bend, I wasn’t careful enough and began to slide.  My left foot came out from under me and I smashed my knee in the corner of a large rock.  It swelled up so badly, I needed the help of my friends to get out of there.  To this day, I have a point of pain in my left knee that hurts if I put too much strain on it.  All around me was loose shale.  It slid like a lava flow.  Using a hiking stick was essential.  If you started to slide, you worked the angle so the damning up of shale would eventually stop your descent.  There was peril all around.  There were more bad choices than good.  However, if you followed the leader and listened to his direction, getting through the shale was a matter of going slow and deliberate.

Life is full of temptation and persecution.  Like David said, it surrounds every step of our pilgrimage.  But we don’t have to live in defeat to it.  We may fall.  We may crack our kneecap.  We may suffer for it the rest of our lives.  But that doesn’t have to stop us.  We can continue on the trail of our pilgrimage.  We can love the LORD, serve Him with all that we are, and come out the other end a victor.  There should be a healthy respect for the damage sin can cause, but that doesn’t me we should be terrified of it.  Sin will be around as long as we traverse this earthly journey.  There is coming a day when sin will no longer be a part of our existence.  Until then, there is nothing to fear because we have overcome the world.  The enemy has been defeated at the foot of the cross!  Jesus gave His life that we might walk in obedience and faith with the Father.  Though iniquity nips at my heels, I will have no fear.  The LORD will keep me up.