Infernal Laughter
Infernal Laughter
Judges 16:23-24a
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” And when the people saw him, they praised their god.
Perhaps the greatest motivator in my life that often restrains me from sin, and, likewise, the thought that stings me most in the aftermath of sin is the image of devils laughing.
Have you ever given in to sexual impurity or thrown a fit at a family member or stolen a shirt from the store or lied on your tax return and almost immediately afterward it’s as if you could hear the sound of devils mocking God in the background? That’s slightly worse to me than the thought of God frowning, because I feel through the burning of my Father’s discipline refining love and mercy, and I know His frown is just a temporary perception, not an eternal position. But the thought that my sin inspires the devil’s mockery, that my sin gives demons a reason to taunt God, that my infidelity adds fuel to that hellish choir of rebels should be enough to keep me from presumptuous sins. Much is made about a stinging conscience, but, for me, conscience, with its prophetic pointed finger, isn’t as sharp as the sight of rebellious hordes filling up the stratosphere all around and hymning Dagon at my expense, or the thought that no matter how loud I shout to the choir to ‘SHUT UP!’, I made them louder to begin with.
“When the people saw him, they praised their god.” What a horrific position for the child of the true and living God to find himself in. A saint’s mere appearance in this world should terrify hell’s legions and send demons reeling into the shadows and hurl the forces of darkness into a combustive ball of outrage, right? Not lead to a party. Take this to heart today, friend: if your public and private actions are causing Christ’s enemies to rejoice and exult and applaud all around you, if your ambitions are setting the table for such unholy mirth, come clean now. Listen through the silence to that unseen dimension inextricably intertwined with ours and remember that every moral decision we make has the power to quell hell’s boasts or amplify them.
Picture that the next time you’re tempted to compromise.