"Elective Surgery"

"Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is Thy sword:" (Psalms 17:13) Right about now you might be wondering where I am going with this, and how it is that this verse has anything to do with elective surgery. However, as I have said before, this Psalm is a prayer; and because it is a prayer, the meanings that are given to these verses have two specific areas that they represent, the physical and the spiritual. With regards to the physical, this verse is no doubt referring to those that are oppressing David, and are even being used to fashion David into a man that puts his whole trust in God. But in the spiritual arena, this is a whole new area of dealing with the issues of the heart; areas that pertain to the soul, and what is required to assure that the soul is preserved through all the paths that it is taken within this fallen world. When Jesus spoke about plucking out an eye or chopping off a hand, He was not speaking of doing so in a literal sense, but was speaking of a desire to do what is right, at all cost; meaning that our desire to do so should be so strong, that if need be, we should consider all that is at stake and do whatever it takes to make it happen. If that means removing something from our lives in order to make that happen, then so be it; but do whatever it takes to become obedient to His word! Paul uses the word "flee" as the means to resist temptation; which is a another way of saying that we need to run away from that which causes us to stumble. However; in the case of something that is part of who we are, how do we flee from ourselves? This is something that Paul speaks about in Ephesians 4:22-24, where he says, "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and holiness". Again, this is a matter of choice, and it is something that requires us to take certain actions on our part to make it happen. With regards to this verse that is given here by David, he pleads for God to disappoint him that is oppressing him; and with regards to the flesh, a missing eye or arm may be what is required to cause that disappointment to take place. However; if we are prudent, and if we weigh the cost of that which we lust after compared to that which the Lord provides to us, we can find that disappointment is what is revealed in those temporary pleasures; which is why Paul said, "I speak as to the wise; judge ye what I say"; because we must take that serious thought of what is a stake! With that; as far as the conclusion that David puts forth, saying, "which is Thy sword", it is the result of where these things will lead us according to God's word that should determine what choices that we make. This is the elective surgery that is being put before us; not that it is a surgery that must be performed to save our soul, but that it is one that should be done to preserve our soul and to bring us into a closer relationship with God. Okay; so maybe you might not understand everything that I have just said; or maybe you have not taken the time to read it slow enough to understand what it really means; but let's be honest about something here, and consider for a moment what it is that allows us to even think that we can get away with sin in the first place: Is it not that God will forgive us of our sins? As Paul has said, "Should we sin that grace may abound? God forbid!" But what we should do is prove what is that acceptable way of the Lord, and we should abstain from sin, that we may be acceptable in His sight! To insure this will happen, David pleads, "Arise, O LORD", which is another way to say, "Let Thy way be acceptable in my sight". This is the new conversation that we must have and make to be the fabric of who we are in Christ; which is not based upon the old man and what he was, but is based upon the new man and what he has become... "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)