God's Squeeze Play

Aim: To understand that the Lord fights our battles for us, often in ways we would never expect.

Exegesis: God squeezes our violent enemies. He turns their pride into despair (v. 20), their plans into disaster (vv. 21-22a), and their power into death (vv. 22b-23). God squeezes our passive enemies. God cleanses the land for us (vv. 24-26) and spares the loot for us (v. 27). God squeezes our deadly enemy. Our old life is gone (v. 28), our old nemesis is crushed (v. 29a), and our old sins are buried (v. 29b).

Key verse: v. 22 ''Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape.''