Seeking Whom He May Devour

Trevor Peterson 1991

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8) The gigantic soldier stood before his masters throne, his muscled arm raised, sword held in salute. The attack was successful, my lord. The rebellion has been reduced to a cowering rabble. The Prince made no response, deep in thought, sprawled upon his majestic seat, but the big man dared not breathe with an attitude of impatience. It was not wise to incense his Prince. A long while later, possibly a full hour, the shadowy form began to move. It stood up to full height, nearly lling that end of the massive hall. To behold it would slay most battle-seasoned champions; to describe it is an impossibility. The huge chest slowly expanded, drawing in enormous amounts of the foul air, and the voice began, more hideous than death itself. I did not expect the battle to be so short. I would have thought the Kings forces more prepared than that. The warrior made no answer. Well? the giant shouted. We too were surprised at the weakness of the enemy. They were poorly organized and few were well-armed. Thats impossible! The King is the best general I know. There is no way his army could be so disorderly; it must be a trick. I only tell you what I saw. Some had no helmets; others no shields. Some wore no shoes; others no belts. I remember seeing homemade breastplates on some; those usually shattered with one blow. The condition of their swords was pitiful: some had none, others were beautifully made, but broke quickly; still others were rusted in their sheaths; and some carried only daggers. As 1

for their ranks, those on the right were strong, but kept themselves separated from the rest. Those on the left were weak and fell easily. Those in the middle hesitated and were cut down. It seems that communication with the King is quite poor these days. A low rumble, possibly a laugh, emerged from the giant. If they continue to forget the words of the King, well soon have them at our mercy. Well done; see to it that the troops are given a double ration of wine tonight. To hear is to obey, said the soldier, and backing away slowly, he departed. As he walked quickly down the corridor, he heard the unsuppressed, sinister laughter of the Prince. That night, in the remnant camp, spirits were lower than ever before. Just twelve hours ago victory had looked so certain, but now what? The deaths were innumerable, and if any was without wounds, he must have missed the battle. What had gone wrong? This very question was being discussed in the council pavilion. Here the various leaders and captains of numerous divisions and factions had gathered to discuss the days failures. The rst commander to speak approached the task with relish. He waited a few seconds and proceeded in an exhorting tone: Fellow countrymen, leaders and above all, servants of the King: . . . He paused for added eect. We are gathered here to decide what went wrong and how to go about making amends for our mistakes. I shall get to the point: we didnt ght hard enough. Despite our seeming to do so, we really didnt go all out. The only way to win this war is through diligence and perseverance. We must drive ourselves to the limit and punish those who do not. We must refuse to stop until we have stormed the very gates of the Prince . . . . A good deal more was said, but of this enough has been written. The next speaker expressed another approach to the problem. There is no way to win this on our own, he said. The only solution is to send a message at once to the King and let him handle it. The problem began with his departure and should end with his return. And so the debate continued, upon one side those who would ght harder, and on the other those who would sit back and let the King ght his own battles. At midnight, when it seemed the two sides would come to blows any minute, a stranger stood up amongst them. No one knew him or had seen him come. He was plainly dressed: a simple tunic, pants, travel-stained boots and cloak and a sword at his side. He wore no armor and carried no other visible weapons. He bore a walking stick, but no burden was upon his back. 2

He waited for the crowd to grow silent and began to speak: Each of you seems to think he has the answer. Has it never occurred to you that perhaps you could send a message to the King and ght harder? Are there no wits among you, that no one has seen the largest problem facing this band of pious fools? You have no strength, because you have no unity; and the only way to recover that unity is through renewed communication with the King. If each of you would see himself as a member of one unit instead of his own division, something might be accomplished. I only pray that you will settle your dierences before our Adversary takes care of them himself. Even as no one had seen him come, no one saw the Stranger go. When he had gone, however, they realized how blind they had been and immediately resolved to end their division and draw up a plea for help from the King, along with an apology. This done, the meeting was adjourned until morning. After his vassal had left and his laugh nished, the Prince began to consider what best course of action he should take. The only dicult part was discerning whether this was a deception by the King, or whether the remnant was truly out of communication with Him. There was one sure way of knowing, but it was dangerous. If the Prince were to do it himself, he might never come back; but if he sent one of his servants . . . it just might work. Immediately the Prince called for one. This wasnt a weak and sensitive humanno, that would never do. This was one of his trusted comrades a Kings servant who had followed him in his own rebellion so long ago. The servant arrived almost instantly and knelt with his face to the oor. What would you have me do, O master? I want you to go before the King. No! Please, anything but that! squealed the servant, raising his head ever so slightly. You will go before the King and bring him a message, continued the Prince. Use whatever manner of salutation you like, but this is what you will tell him: I have observed the dilemma of your people. They will be crushed without your help, but do I care? Obviously you dont either, or surely they wouldnt be in the trouble theyre in now, would they? No matter; by noon, tomorrow I shall have them reduced to ashes, O mighty one! Tell him that, and be sure to address it from myself. You will then return and reveal to me his reaction. To hear is to obey, murmured the servant and ew o. 3

The following day, the leaders of the Kings army returned to the meeting in a greatly altered attitude from the previous night. It was decided that their dierences would be laid aside for awhile and they would act as one body. The apology and supplication were written and sent to the King that morning, and once again they adjourned, determining that after breakfast they would discuss their plan of attack. When the time for the discussion came, however, the Stranger reappeared and once again surprised the entire company with his words. These were as follows: Your repentance and apology were received before you sent them, and you have been forgiven. The King will not send soldiers,at the hearing of this, a collective groan passed through the crowdbut he has sent armor, weapons and guidance for todays battle. This time there were some cheers. Your old armor, with the exception of any helmets, will be replaced with new, and all shall receive new swords. As for a plan of attack, I believe enough of you have read the battle strategies of your ancient counterparts and even of the King himself, to establish an eective course of action. You may require some review in these tactics, which I have been sent to administer. I do not bring all good news, though. A servant of the Enemy has brought a message to the King and has already returned to his master with the response. What was said I may not disclose, but I can assure you he will come in numbers, hoping to nish you o for good. Will we win? Do we have a chance? some asked. I can only say that you always have more than a chance if the King is for you; but now to business. We must discuss the important factors of todays battle. While this discussion continued, the Prince was busily planning his attack. He had already decided that today would be a certain victory for his army. The servant had returned with word that the rebels were indeed out of communication with their King, and in fact the King had said very little, as if he didnt care what happened to them. This time the Prince would send every human in his service to the battle. It would make all of them feel good to have a part in the victory. Once it was over, The Prince could march openly against the King, and this time he would win. At dawn, the Princes hordes began their march toward the remnant camp. Not only did his human servants head into battle, but a number of his comrades traveled with them. At about the eighth hour, the host was forced to pass through a narrow valley, with heavily wooded hillsides. It was here 4

that the attack fell; no longer would the forces of the King take the defensive. The remnant, who had been hard at work establishing their position all through the morning, were well-prepared. As the Enemys forward ranks reached the middle of the valley, they ew down from the hillsides, shattering their opponents weapons, shredding their armor, and piercing to their very hearts. The ranks of the Enemy collapsed upon each other, his generals losing all control as their subordinates ed in confusion. Due to the shouts and loud songs of praise and triumph to the King, from His warriors, the Princes comrades were powerless and ed with the rest. The retreat quickly became a rout and even after the armies reached the open plain, the Enemys minions never looked back. Even when the battle was over, however, the war went on. The battles continue to this day, some large and some small, and not always in the Kings favor. Often, His warriors fall into disarray, dividing on petty issues and matters of opinion. They have various ghting styles which are incompatible without proper direction, but the soldiers cannot rest until the King returns.