Don't Lift Your Horns

Psalm 75:4-5,10: "To the wicked (I the Lord say), 'Do not lift up your horns. Do not lift your horns against heaven; do not speak with outstretched neck . . . . I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.'"

One of the reoccurring themes found in Scripture is the warning not to defy the One True Lord. In this passage above, the reference to horns is mentioned. In antiquity, horns were synonymous with strength or power; it could refer to a person's disposition or determination toward someone or something. Jesus for example is referred to as the "Horn of Salvation for us" in Luke 1:69. His death and resurrection is the "power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). He alone provides satisfaction for the remission of our sins before a Holy God, for He alone is the "atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 2:2).

For the above passage to mention the wicked lifting up their horns would be for them to attempt to rebel against the Sovereign Lord and thwart His will. The Lord warns that such vain attempts are utterly futile, for the very horns of defiance will be cut off of the wicked by God Himself. He will "oppose the proud" (1 Peter 5:4), by enacting His Divine wrath against such stubbornness and hardheartedness (Romans 2:5).

In Job 15, Eliphaz the Temanite shares the disposition of the wicked and their ultimate doom when he writes, "(The wicked man) shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty, defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield . . . . He will not escape the darkness; a flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God's mouth will carry him away" (Job 15:25-26,30). Whereas the wicked may think that they can resist the Lord and overthrow His lordship, in the end they will meet an all-powerful God who will hold them to account and punish them severly and eternally (see Matthew 13:41-42).

Jesus gives the perfect account of this reality for the wicked in his Parable of the Tenants in Luke 20. In this story, a vineyard owner leaves for a time and entrusts his fields to some farmers. At the time of the harvest, he sends several servants to them to receive some of its fruit, but the tenants beat the servants in defiance to the demands of the owner. Finally, the owner determined to send his very Son in hopes of the farmers respecting His will, but these farmers were even more determined in their rebellion against the owner. They thought to themselves that the Son was an heir to the vineyard; thus, if they were to kill the Son then the inheritance would be their own. Jesus then records the fate of such defiance when He said, "the Owner will come and kill those tenants . . . . (he) on whom the Stone falls will be crushed" (Luke 20:16,18). The hearers of this parable were indignant at such a story, for they knew that Jesus was referring to their own rebellion. They had defied the prophets whom God had sent (the servants in the story), and ultimately they were rejecting the Son (Jesus Christ). Even though Jesus shared this story to bring clarity to their disposition toward Him as Lord, the teachers of the law looked for a way to arrest Him immediately for His proclamations against them. This was rebellion at its worst.

We must be ever mindful of our disposition toward the Lord. We must understand that God will not be mocked and will satisfy His holiness by judging the defiant heart against Him. We would do well to surrender ourselves wholly to His Lordship and enjoy the blessings of His salvation. It is then that Our Merciful Savior will "lift up our horns" in glory (Psalm 75:10).