Trampling the Serpent

We all like promises about protection. We want to know that God sees the danger ahead and cares about what happens to us. Psalm 91 gives us beautiful words for that confidence: the Lord is our refuge and fortress. But we have to let God tell us what trusting Him looks like. Otherwise, we can take a comforting promise and turn it into a demand. We start thinking that if God loves us, He must keep every painful thing from reaching us.

Satan tried something like that with Jesus. He quoted the promise of angelic protection and urged Him to jump from the temple. Jesus answered with another passage: do not put the Lord your God to the test (Matthew 4:5–7). Scripture was being quoted, but the suggested response was wrong. Jesus would trust His Father by obeying Him. That helps us, too. We can ask for protection without creating danger, ignoring His instructions, or demanding a rescue that would prove He cares.

Psalm 91:13 pictures someone treading on a lion and a serpent. Read that alongside the promise in Genesis 3:15, and it draws our thoughts toward Jesus. The serpent would strike the heel, but the woman’s offspring would strike his head. We should be careful about treating every detail of the psalm as a prediction about Christ. Still, the connection gives us something wonderful to consider: the Savior would be wounded, and the enemy would be defeated. Suffering would not prevent victory.

Hebrews 2:14–15 tells us plainly what Jesus accomplished. He shared our humanity and, through death, broke the devil’s power over those held captive by the fear of death. Think about that when you remember the cross. What looked like the enemy’s greatest success became the means of his defeat. Jesus did not avoid pain to prove His Father’s faithfulness. He trusted the Father through it. His resurrection gives us confidence that the darkest moment did not get the final word.

Near the end of Psalm 91, God promises to be with the one who loves Him in trouble. That is a promise we need to hold closely. We often want Him to say that trouble will never come. Instead, we find reason to trust that trouble cannot make Him stop being faithful. Jesus knew that kind of trust. When our lives become difficult, we can keep praying, keep obeying, and keep leaning on the Father whose goodness Jesus has shown us.

As we remember the body and blood of Jesus, let’s see more than what was done to Him. Let’s remember what He accomplished for us. Our Lord went into death and came out victorious. We have good reason to be grateful, and good reason to resist the enemy who wants our allegiance. What temptation needs a firmer answer this week? What fear needs to be brought to God? Honor the Savior’s victory by trusting Him enough to take the next faithful step.