Job 6:23

Deliver me from the clutches of my enemy,

   Ransom me from the oppressor’s hand.

(Written 3/8, Posted  3/29 )

I saw a statistic where over a million Ukrainians had fled for Poland. In my mind of “defend Texas”, I think those million people should be fighting the Russians. Granted I am sure many are kids or elderly or others who cannot fight, but the numbers are overwhelming, and Poland surely cannot provide for a million people without missing a beat.

“Save me” and “free me” were alternatives for “deliver me” but “deliver” always has more of an emotional punch to me. “Hand” was used by six sources, “clutches” by one, and just “enemy” by the other. I preferred enemy initially as hand seemed best in the other stitch, but in the end, I balanced with clutches as it reinforced the negative image of enemy and being delivered. “Foe” and “opponent” were options for “enemy”, but I liked the cosmic aspect of “enemy” better.

“Redeem” me was a sound option for “ransom “, however, I liked repeating ransom from the previous verse. The options for “hand” were the same in this stich as the first, but I felt hand was the solid choice here. “Ruthless”, “mighty”, “violent men”, and “some tyrant” were options for “oppressor”, but I picture “ruthless” and “violent” as killers not captors, “mighty” as not negative, and “some” as too generic.

I saw where a governing body of judo (or something along those lines) had stripped Putin of his “honors” within that sport. The man is being accused of trying to kill refuges as he saves Ukraine from evil forces. He is not a sport, and he is not saving anyone. I am not a professional, but he has or is lacking a fundamental human element that would allow him to be civil. He needs to have all power over others stripped. Not just some worthless piece of paper. Satan and sin and death are terrors that are aligned against men in order to show them God. Putin is a terror whose purpose is to turn people to God. Not Putin’s purpose, but God’s.

Job has told his friends that they have never delivered him from his enemies. But Job knows God has delivered Job from Job’s enemies and expecting God to deliver him from this terrible terrible situation is not just not the wrong thing to do, it is the exact thing to do. To trust God to deliver and ransom you from the troubles of this world is the lesson God wants us to learn from Job and from what we see in the world today.