Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day two thousand seven hundred eighty-seven of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Today, we arrive at the grand finale of our journey through Psalm One Hundred Eight. We are trekking through the final stanza, verses ten through thirteen, in the New Living Translation.

In our previous trek, we stood in the War Room of Heaven. We heard the Divine Oracle in verses six through nine, where Yahweh looked at the map of the Middle East and claimed His territory. We heard Him declare, "Gilead is mine... Manasseh is mine... Moab is my washbasin... I will wipe my feet on Edom."

It was a breathtaking assertion of ownership. We saw God claiming the hostile nations as His servants—His washpots and His shoe-racks. It was a moment of high theology and divine confidence.

But today, the scene shifts from the map on the wall to the mud on the ground.

In Psalm One Hundred Eight, verses ten through thirteen, King David takes that divine promise and tries to walk it out in the real world. And he immediately hits a wall—literally. He finds himself standing outside the "fortified city" of Edom.

The map says Edom belongs to God. But the reality says Edom is locked up tight behind impregnable walls.

This is where the rubber meets the road in our spiritual lives. It is one thing to sing about victory in the sanctuary; it is another thing to secure it on the battlefield. It is one thing to believe God owns the problem; it is another to see Him conquer it.

In these final four verses, we will see the transition from Promise to Petition, and finally to Participation. We will learn that the only way to breach the fortified city is to abandon human strategies and rely on the Divine Warrior to do the trampling.

So, let us draw our swords one last time and march toward the gate.

The first segment is: The Crisis of Geography: The Impregnable City.

Psalm One Hundred Eight: verse ten.

Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me to Edom?

The psalm moves from God’s voice back to David’s voice. And David has a logistical problem.

God just said in verse nine: "I will wipe my feet on Edom."   David responds: "Okay, Lord. But who is going to get me inside?"

To understand the weight of this question, we have to look at the geography. The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah, and later Petra (Sela).

Edom was legendary for its natural defenses. It was carved into the red sandstone cliffs. The only way in was through a narrow canyon called the Siq. It was a natural fortress that armies broke themselves against for centuries. It was the "Fortified City" (Ir Mibzar) par excellence.

When David looks at these walls, he realizes that human military strategy is not enough. You cannot just march into Edom. The cliffs are too high; the gates are too strong.

This represents the "Impossible Situation" in our lives. We all have an "Edom." It might be a hardened heart in a family member. It might be a financial crisis that has no logical exit. It might be a cultural stronghold that seems utterly resistant to the Gospel.

We have the promise—we know God is sovereign—but we are standing outside the locked gate, asking, "Who will bring me in?"

The second segment is: The Crisis of Theology: The Silence of the General.

Psalm One Hundred Eight: verse eleven.

Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march forth with our armies?

The physical obstacle leads to a spiritual crisis.

Wait a minute. Just a few verses ago (verse one), David was singing, "My heart is confident!" He was waking the dawn with his praise! How did he get from "My heart is confident" to "Have you rejected us?" so quickly?

This is the raw honesty of the Psalms. David is experiencing the tension between the Oracle (what God said) and the Experience (what he sees).

He sees the closed gates of Edom. And historically, he may be remembering a previous defeat or a time when the battle went badly. It feels like rejection.

But the key phrase is the second half: "Will you no longer march forth with our armies?"

This brings us straight back to the Ancient Israelite Divine Council worldview.

In ancient Near Eastern warfare, a battle was never just men killing men. It was gods fighting gods. When an army marched out, they believed their deity marched in front of them (or above them) to secure the victory.

Israel believed this too. Yahweh is the "Lord of Hosts" (Yahweh Sabaoth)—the God of the Angelic Armies. When David went to war, he expected the invisible host of heaven to go with him.

David’s fear here is that the Divine Warrior has stayed home. If God does not "march forth" (yatsa) with the armies, then Israel is just a group of guys with sharp metal sticks fighting against a fortress. And without the spiritual air support, they are doomed.

He realizes that the stronghold of Edom is not just physical; it is spiritual. The gods of Edom (the principalities behind the nation) are entrenched there. Unless Yahweh marches out to engage the spiritual powers, David cannot breach the physical walls.

The third segment is: The Renunciation of the Flesh: The Uselessness of Man.

Psalm One Hundred Eight: verse twelve.

Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless.

Standing before the impossible wall, feeling the silence of heaven, David makes a critical decision. He stops looking sideways and looks up.

The word for "help" here is not just assistance; it is ezrah—saving succor.

And then comes the confession that is the turning point of the battle: "...for all human help is useless."

The Hebrew phrase is shav teshuat adam—"Vain (or empty) is the salvation of man."

David was a king. He had generals. He had chariots. He had mercenaries (the Cherethites and Pelethites). He had political alliances. It would have been very easy for him to trust in his "human help."

But standing before Edom, he realizes the truth: It is all vapor.

Against the "fortified cities" of life—and against the spiritual powers of darkness—human strategy is useless. Self-help books are useless. Political maneuvering is useless. Money is useless.

This is the point of total surrender. It is the realization that "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Psalm 127). Unless the Lord breaches the city, the army fights in vain.

This confession clears the deck. It strips away the idols of self-reliance. It tells God, "I am not holding a backup plan in my pocket. If You don't show up, we die at this gate."

The fourth segment is: The Divine Synergy: We Fight, He Tramples.

Psalm One Hundred Eight: verse thirteen.

With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.

Because David has abandoned human help, he is now ready for divine empowerment. The psalm ends with a roar of renewed confidence.

The literal Hebrew is simply: "In God we will do valiantly" (or make chayil—power/wealth/strength).

Notice the preposition: "In God." Not "for God," not "near God," but in God. Our valor, our courage, and our action are situated inside the sphere of His power.

And notice the partnership: "WE will do mighty things."

Wait—I thought human help was useless?

Here is the paradox of faith. Human help relied upon as a substitute for God is useless. But human action empowered by God is mighty. God doesn't want David to sit on the couch and wait for Edom to fall. He wants David to fight. But He wants David to fight in Him.

And why will they be successful?

"HE" (God) is the one doing the trampling.

The Hebrew word bus (trample) creates a vivid image. It is the image of the Victorious Warrior stepping on the necks of his enemies. Or, to use the imagery from verse nine, it is the foot coming down on Edom.

This brings us full circle to Genesis Three, verse fifteen—the first prophecy in the Bible. The Seed of the Woman will crush (or trample) the head of the Serpent.

In the Divine Council worldview, this is the ultimate victory. The human army may swing the swords, but it is the Divine Boot of Yahweh that crushes the spiritual opposition. He tramples the "foes"—not just the human Edomites, but the dark powers that animate them.

The battle arrangement is this:

This is the secret to the Christian life. As Paul says in Romans Sixteen: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Note whose feet (yours) and whose power (God's). It is His weight, but He uses our feet to do the stomping.

Psalm One Hundred Eight takes us on a journey from the Sanctuary to the Battlefield.

It begins with the Fixed Heart (waking the dawn). It moves to the Divine Map (claiming the promise). It confronts the Fortified City (the reality of the obstacle). It renounces Human Help (the death of pride). And it ends with the Divine Stomp (the victory of God).

This is the remix we need for our lives.

You may be facing a "fortified city" today. You may have a promise from God that seems contradicted by the locked gates in front of you.

Do not give up. Do not look for a political solution or a quick fix from "human help."

Instead, do what David did. Look up. Remind God of His promise ("Edom is your washbasin!"). Admit your total dependence ("Human help is useless").

And then, get up and do mighty things. Take the step of faith. Swing the sword of the Spirit. Because when you move In God, He moves With You. And there is no wall in Edom, and no demon in hell, that can stand against the weight of His foot.

If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of, ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.   As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Live Abundantly.   Love Unconditionally.   Listen Intentionally.   Learn Continuously.   Lend to others Generously.   Lead with Integrity.   Leave a Living Legacy Each Day.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to’ Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!