When my enemies turn back, they shall fall and perish at Your presence. For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness. You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished. But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment.
—Psalm 9:3-7
Does the devil ever try to drag you down? Peter wrote: “Do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. . . . But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad . . . ” (1 Peter 4:12-16).
In physics, the term “drag coefficient” means the calculation of the amount of thrust necessary to overcome the drag resistance as an object is being forced through something (e.g., air or water). We can apply the same idea to Satan’s attempts to drag us down. Does God have the power to overcome Satan? David believed so. From what he wrote in Psalm 9, we can understand two things: 1) We can insert our own adversaries and struggles into these verses, and 2) he describes what God has done as a “finished work,” or already done. That’s the omniscient sovereignty of God!
Spiritually speaking, God is able to overcome the “drag coefficient” in your life. God has always known what you would go through, and He knows how to get you through it now (Isaiah 51:7-8). What should be our response? To praise Him! Remember, Satan will try to stifle and stagnate us, in order to keep us from moving forward with God. He wants us to believe that nothing can help, so what’s the point of serving God?
Much as the engine on a plane needs to be engaged in order for the second law of the physics of flight to become useful, praise must be initiated for us to move forward (see Psalm 34:1). David, in v. 7 above, showed His faith in God as he faced Satan’s oppressive tactics by viewing his enemies as already defeated. He praised God as if Satan were already finished! As we, too, praise the One who is more powerful than our enemies, we’ll begin to experience freedom from fear and oppression when going through fiery trials. Like the Apostle Paul (Philippians 3:12), are you encouraged to ”press on”?
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