Yelping*** In Delight

From the creation of man till today,
Satan has roamed the earth, stalking men's souls,
Turning them from living God's narrow way,
But dreading the time his Judgment knell tolls!
He knows the painful fate prescribed for him,
And tests the leash that tethers his gambols*;
Amassing men for the Lord to condemn
By strewing heaven's road with hell's brambles**!
Often he's seen the Pit yawning agape,
Out of the corner of his sweeping eye,
While chasing a sinner he hopes to rape,
Whose place in heaven he hopes to deny!
The wolf from hell snatches God's table-crumbs,
Yelping*** in delight when a soul succumbs!

*gambols = evil tricks **brambles = briars
***yelping = shrill short barks

The devils know they are doomed to everlasting punishment---the Bible says so.

"You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons know that---and shudder!" (James 2:19)

I have often wondered why Lucifer ever thought he could best his own Creator in a futile effort to overthrow Him. Some people, those who applaud aspirants who bravely continue on lost causes believe them to be heroic. John Milton, in Book II of his epic poem Paradise Lost, has a scene of Satan picking himself up from the Lake of Fire, where he and his angel cohorts had been cast to, shaking his figurative fist at God and vowing eternal war. The devil appears heroic; more likely, he was calculating that was the best way of inspiring his helpers to continue.

The out-of-date movie trick, where the hero lights a cigarette and tells his gaping heart-throb, "I won't live past 35 anyway!", is not so much heroic as he is seeking to curry a favorable response from the girl. Neither of these examples depicts real heroism.

God permits Satan to continue because the devil provides a pervasive and continuing test of how sincere his followers are in their love for Him. It makes the free will of man a verifiable certainty. For you and me, Satan's access to us means we must stand firm in refusing to follow his tempting blandishments into committing sin. Are you a Christian? If so, you won't engage in premarital or extramarital sex, for example, even if it is offered to you on a silver platter, and your body is screaming "Yes!" Your mind must say "No!" and stick to it.