But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. You have poured fresh oil over me. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies. My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. (Verses 10-11)
And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the fat(shemen: oil, as for anointing). Isaiah 10:27
Nothing is more distressing than to be yoked to an enemy. I love this psalm because of the super-hero quality of the promise: to be as powerful over our enemies as the aurochs. Though extinct in our day, it was a powerful one-horned ancestor of domestic cattle. Older translations have even described it as a unicorn. Hmm. Swift and powerful, the ox chased down and gored its enemies. Almost magical in its use here. The psalmist was tangled up with an enemy he couldn't escape. Drudging through the days beside an evil foe with little hope of getting away. Feeling more and more caught up in enemy territory while knowing if he could only get free he'd finally go a better direction. Then one day God said, "Enough." From His hands came anointing oil, rich with fresh power to accomplish what the unicorn-wannabe could only dream of. Expiation. Day after day the new power given by God made the captive fat with new vision. Like the hefty wild ox, whose neck grew so big it burst from the yoke choking its neck, the psalmist breaks the chains of bondage and defeats the enemy. Gores his way to safety as the captors fall, vanquished. All because of the anointing--the fresh oil.
What are you yoked to? I know, that's personal. But it's more subtle than it seems on the surface. I think because the drudge of slavery becomes so normal, we forget what how lovely a fresh start is. And, we need to know what we are anointed for. Jesus did: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound (Isaiah 61). It is your specific anointing that will break the yoke of bondage that might be hanging around your neck today. Why? Because purpose trumps prison. We can't be yoked to two masters or we will be split in two trying to go in different directions. And nothing makes us want to get out of jail more powerfully than the effectual doing of what we were born to accomplish. Depression, doubt, fear and pain keep us bound to the enemy. Walking together aimlessly. But when God puts His hands on our heads and speaks purpose, then gives us the power of a unicorn to destroy strongholds, we strain with fattened urgency to be released from our chains!
But don't go out there all chubby and do the thing all by yourself. We need to be yoked again. It's part of the fresh anointing. Counter-intuitive because it makes our burden lighter. Tied together with the One Who knows where we are going. Now there's a great plan! Just so we don't veer too far afield again, Jesus decided to take us on--harness Himself to us, not just harnessing us to Him. Jesus forever bound to our lives, for good and bad. To help us fulfill our own anointing as He fulfilled His. "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11)."
And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the fat(shemen: oil, as for anointing). Isaiah 10:27
Nothing is more distressing than to be yoked to an enemy. I love this psalm because of the super-hero quality of the promise: to be as powerful over our enemies as the aurochs. Though extinct in our day, it was a powerful one-horned ancestor of domestic cattle. Older translations have even described it as a unicorn. Hmm. Swift and powerful, the ox chased down and gored its enemies. Almost magical in its use here. The psalmist was tangled up with an enemy he couldn't escape. Drudging through the days beside an evil foe with little hope of getting away. Feeling more and more caught up in enemy territory while knowing if he could only get free he'd finally go a better direction. Then one day God said, "Enough." From His hands came anointing oil, rich with fresh power to accomplish what the unicorn-wannabe could only dream of. Expiation. Day after day the new power given by God made the captive fat with new vision. Like the hefty wild ox, whose neck grew so big it burst from the yoke choking its neck, the psalmist breaks the chains of bondage and defeats the enemy. Gores his way to safety as the captors fall, vanquished. All because of the anointing--the fresh oil.
What are you yoked to? I know, that's personal. But it's more subtle than it seems on the surface. I think because the drudge of slavery becomes so normal, we forget what how lovely a fresh start is. And, we need to know what we are anointed for. Jesus did: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound (Isaiah 61). It is your specific anointing that will break the yoke of bondage that might be hanging around your neck today. Why? Because purpose trumps prison. We can't be yoked to two masters or we will be split in two trying to go in different directions. And nothing makes us want to get out of jail more powerfully than the effectual doing of what we were born to accomplish. Depression, doubt, fear and pain keep us bound to the enemy. Walking together aimlessly. But when God puts His hands on our heads and speaks purpose, then gives us the power of a unicorn to destroy strongholds, we strain with fattened urgency to be released from our chains!
But don't go out there all chubby and do the thing all by yourself. We need to be yoked again. It's part of the fresh anointing. Counter-intuitive because it makes our burden lighter. Tied together with the One Who knows where we are going. Now there's a great plan! Just so we don't veer too far afield again, Jesus decided to take us on--harness Himself to us, not just harnessing us to Him. Jesus forever bound to our lives, for good and bad. To help us fulfill our own anointing as He fulfilled His. "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11)."
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