"Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city." (Psalm 59:6, 14)

August 8, 2026

Dear friends,

I saw a meme the other day, a prayer that someone wrote, "Lord, please come into my brain this morning before I do." I so relate to that! How quickly my mind can go astray even before the day has begun.

We find temptation facing us every day, from the earliest hours to the latest. The petitions of the Lord's prayer are meant to be recurrent -- we need to honor God every day; do his will every day; seek the kingdom’s coming every day; ask for bread every day; forgive every day; and we need protection from evil (or, the evil one) every day (Matthew 6:9-13). Do we take this seriously?

In Psalm 59 David relates that he is being stalked by the agents of King Saul, who are seeking to kill him. He says twice, "Each evening they come back, howling like dogs..." (vv 6, 14). "Each evening." They are just out of sight, in the dark, prowling about, hungry, intent on his harm. They are unrelenting. This reminds us of the Apostle Peter's parting words in his first epistle: "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

We, like David, are being stalked. There are forces around us that are intent on our harm. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, closes with an image of the Christian as a soldier prepared for war. The child of God is dressed for conflict:

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:11-12)

This is not the metaphor of a dress parade, or of a fake skirmish (like a re-enactment), but of the real thing. For the first century hearer this military image was not like a picture in a modern Sunday school handout, but it was a gritty, painful reality of life. It meant being ready for real, even violent, opposition. And the opponent is not a little red man with a pitchfork but "rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil". Add to this the sinful inclination of our own flesh, along with the lies and deception of the Christ-rejecting world around us, and we get a sense of the unrelenting presence of evil we face in this age.

Two extremes face us: One, that we take this situation too lightly, which many of us do. (Did you, for example, pray today to be delivered from evil?) We can be too casual and careless about life in this world, unaware of the many spiritual dangers around us.

The other is that we take an unhealthy interest in spiritual warfare and lose sight of our role in all of this. We're not called to engage in Jedi-like hand-to-hand combat with spiritual forces. It is, according to Paul, to clothe ourselves with truth, righteousness, salvation, the gospel, faith, and prayer. It is to stay alert, to persevere, and to pray for the advance of the gospel. “That you may be able to stand…” is the goal.

According to Peter, it is to submit to God, to resist the devil and his lies, and to cast our anxiety upon God. It is to be faithful in holding forth the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Lord said to Paul. "I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." (Acts 26:17-18)

Through all of this process we too grow in holiness. We learn to say no to sin and get victory over sinful habits. Not perfectly, but progressively, like Israel possessing the promised land, city by city, region by region. The battle will not go on forever, but in this life it will be unrelenting. In this age we don't get to take the armor off. We must be prepared for the unrelenting presence of evil in and around us.

The Christian, however, is assured of final victory in Christ, and with Christ. Satan is fatally wounded and is thrashing about, seeking whom he may devour. I once heard a missionary story about a large snake, a constrictor, that was killed in a villager’s home, but the snake's body thrashed about for many hours afterwards making a wreck of the home. Likewise, the devil is fatally wounded but dangerous still (see Revelation 12:12). He wants to possess souls to torment forever. We want souls to live forever with Jesus.

Even though we are being stalked by the howling dogs every evening, and the devil prowls about every day, one day that will come to an end, a final end! David had to listen to the dogs prowl every evening, but this is how he ends Psalm 59...

"But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love." (Psalm 59:16-17)

Finally, here's an excellent message by Jim Krouscas on 1 Peter 5:6-11, "Parting Words".

Sandy

Afterwords is an occasional newsletter on topics of interest to me (Sandy Young) since my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.