Some days are tough. Sometimes it seems as if doing the right thing is like lighting the fuse connected to a bomb of resistance and opposition. It’s easy to mutter the words, “why do I even try?” Sometimes trying to maintain the right perspective and deciding to live like Jesus quickly reveals the beauty of purpose and the joy of provision. But other times loving our neighbor, holding fast to truth and being light in dark places feels more like hugging hornets’ nests than whistling while we work.

Into this reality Psalm 8:2 confidently comes walking in.

Out of the mouth of babies and infants,you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. – Psalm 8:2

To be in bondage, to receive hostility and to be the target of revenge are the three threats mentioned in Psalm 8:2. David identifies the enemy of the Lord (the one who ties things up and keeps them from freedom), and then he speaks of the enemies of God’s people (those who are hostile and the revenge seekers). And if we’re honest this really isn’t a shock. We know we have opposition. Even people who don’t believe in God or agree with created purpose would have a hard time denying the reality of forces in the world that push back on the “good.”

However, what is far more wonderful and surprising is the insight of David as he identifies God’s counterattack on these threats. Because the true question is not, “are there enemies?” The true question is, “what is God doing in the world to respond to these enemies? We ask this because we fundamentally believe God is not idly waiting in some far away place for an unspecified moment in the future, but the testimony of the Scriptures tells us that God is in the middle of the muck of our minutes and deep places of our days.

Obviously, for us on this side of the arrival of Jesus, there is a big picture answer we find. God sent His Son, and on the cross He chose to absorb the sin and violence and judgment mankind earned through rebellion.

But even before the Messiah had showed up David the poet saw something else: God doesn’t just provide one big answer, He continually gives small illustrations of the solution every day, in more places than we can count. Read it again:

Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. – Psalm 8:2

What is God’s daily answer to bondage, hostility and vengeance? Unexpectedly, but beautifully it is babies and children.

It is the cry of babies and children that echoes through the world reminding us that life is not finished no matter how influential death seems to be. Every new life, every time a flower bud begins to open, every time fruit begins to form on the tree and every time the darkness of night is transformed by the birth of the glowing dawn – each of these moments and sounds and sights are what God is doing everyday to remind us that bondage and hostility and vengeance might appear powerful on the surface but their weakness is being exposed by simple and small and common signs of new life!

With this being true, it begs some better questions than “why is there so much evil in the world?” The psalmist is telling us something profound here and the questions we should probably be asking are:

• What am I missing each day?
• What strength am I refusing to take hold of by moving so quickly and efficiently that I’m overlooking God’s gifts in the world?
• How do I need to change my perspective, schedule and patterns so I’m living with greater awareness of life even when death seems so prevalent?

Consider this statistic (and this was not buried in mountains of research…I found it with very little effort): in 2023 there were 61 million deaths globally. That represents a lot of funerals, a lot of burials, a lot of tears and a lot of loss. But now look at the other side. In 2023 there were 134 million babies born. There were more than twice as many instances of new life as there were losses of life! And if God is announcing strength and victory through the voices of babies and infants there is no comparison between them! God’s power and provision are lapping the competition. His victory stacks up twice as tall as bondage, hostility and revenge!

If God gave children and infants to help me, why am I not paying more attention to them? Why am I so consumed and concerned with “adult” matters when there’s an untold supply of untapped strength in maternity wards, daycares and nurseries? What if I chose to see every child and every flower and every cloud formation and every “new” thing today as an explosive source of grace waiting for me to pay close enough attention to let it reveal the strength God has given me for today?