Night Creatures

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith.” 1 Peter 5:8-9

“Fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever.” “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man… [T]hey will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain… And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.'” Revelation 20:9-10; 21:3-4; 22:5

He knows the creatures that lurk at night,
only in darkness, out of sight,
but pesky all, those creeping things
who riddle the spirit and undo kings

Those nudges that scatter me out of the way
of God’s true light, the pure of day,
they poke and push into shadows dark
where I can stew, and temptations park

They’re minions of the enemy,
relentlessly prowling to get at me,
the taste of bitterness falsely sweet,
the pebble irritation that grates my feet

The pests of bitterness, anger, and shame
that keep me tangled, frozen, and lame;
the tasty lure of prurient thought,
the lusty want of what others bought

The cloying claw of anxiety,
the senseless fret at what might be,
the striving for things that do not matter,
the waste of time climbing pride’s ladder

The self-centered focus of living for me,
ignoring the hurts and cares and needs
of others in God’s image made
whose lives are lost, with troubles weighed

So I must attune my ears to hear
their scratching advances that creep so near,
I must stay vigilant to see
the demons who come after me

I must learn their wily cries
and recognize their whispered lies,
stay keen and alert to their sneaky advance
and never give their allure a chance

And look them boldly in the eye,
and shout, ‘be gone! I will deny
your power to have a hold on me,
for I’m redeemed, I’ve been set free!

‘Your nightly prowl may slink and linger
but to you, vile pest, I raise my finger
and point you gone, out from my life!
I’m saved and sealed and done with strife!’

I choose to come into the sun
and raise my hands to the Holy One,
to follow Him, clothed in His power,
to flee the devil every hour

So I in freedom can serve and love,
with clear eyes for my God above,
spreading light where e’er I go,
His gospel hope and grace to show

That those entrenched in darkness drear
can know the peace of God is near,
can be loosened from the night
and to salvation wing faith’s flight

Night creatures there will always be
but they need not unsettle me;
their doom is sure, endless light I’ll see,
when the grace-saved rise to eternity. (PEB)

Lord, grant daily resolve to resist the devil and hope in Your triumph.