by Patricia Backora
Part 3 - Excerpt from The Snare of Sin
Satan’s Mirth Turns to Rage
Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:24; 37:24; Hosea
3:5; Romans 5:20
What
exuberance there was among satan and his infernal underlings
when David fell into the greatest peril his soul had ever
known! "We got him!" they all shouted. "If we can get him to
fall, then we can get anybody to sin!"
The
devil had been determined to prevent Me from keeping My
promise to Abraham to raise up a Deliverer through his
lineage, and especially through the Royal Tribe of Judah.
And now he thought victory was in the bag. He felt certain
that I was so furious with David because of the size of his
sin that I couldn’t possibly forgive him. Surely I was bound
to end his dynasty forever, and the Messiah could never be
born through him.
Satan
licked his chops, thinking that now David, son of Jesse was
a goner. Gleefully he anticipated David’s death, and the day
he would be dragged by demons into hell for his sin. The
devil truly hated David above all men who were alive on
earth at that time. The sweet songs of praise David had
composed on his harp were excruciating torment to satan. The
devil had been enraged when his earlier attempt to murder
David with King Saul’s javelin thrust was unsuccessful.
Yes,
in that terrible hour of David’s disgrace, the devil was
very glad that David had not died in his youth. He thought
for sure David was destined for eternal destruction. But
when I forgave David for his sin, the devil was first
amazed, then incensed. He simply had not counted on Me being
able to forgive a big sin. A tiny peccadillo, maybe even
theft or manslaughter. But never a sin so mind-numbingly
sordid as David’s. It’s not fair, thought satan. After all
the strings I pulled to set David up for that big fall. How
could God do this to me?
The
devil is extremely vengeful. He hated David more than ever
for escaping eternal damnation, and he detested Me all the
more for pardoning David and keeping him on the Throne of
Israel.
David
was not lost to me, but for the rest of his days the enemy
wreaked havoc in his home. What merriment it brought to the
enemy to see David struck time and again by domestic and
national calamities. This poor man felt like he was a ball
being kicked around by forces beyond his control. He often
wept, pleading with Me to set limits on the awful sufferings
he must endure. How it grieved My heart, knowing I had to
allow the consequences of sin to play themselves out in that
dear saint’s life. Only when David died did he know lasting
peace. Only then was he completely at rest from the fiery
darts of the Prince of Darkness.
How
great is My grace. If it made satan angry when I forgave
David, how galling it will be to him when I resurrect this
one whom I called "a man after My own heart", and appoint
him to rule over mortal saints once again in the coming
Kingdom of God.
