Diamonds In The Rough (2008) "Demons"

[reprinted as written by Avenged Sevenfold]
As performed by A7X

I've been thinking lots about my life and
how quick I'd wash it down the drain.
The past tense, the future, nothing matters now.
I act on my own, and I'm to blame.

Living's a wicked dream when things turn out all wrong;
we're all so weak no matter how strong, yeah.

I tried running away from me, convince me that I've grown.
But I can't change so unnaturally; demons, they follow me.
I quit running away from me, convinced that I had grown, but found out all my reasons for insanity, all a part of me.

I don't like that you're calling me a liar,
I don't like that you found out I'm a snake.
Been sneaking around for far too long now,
I don't like how fast my intentions fade.

Karma has beat me down, the worst is yet to come.
Many mistakes, and still I'm so young, yeah.

I tried running away from me, convince me that I've grown.
But I can't change so unnaturally; demons, they follow me.
I quit running away from me, convinced that I had grown, but found out all my reasons for insanity, all a part of me.

I can't count how many times...awakened in fear, nightly, palms sweating.
Dreams of promises I've made to no one but myself, I've been crushed daily.
Don't lend me your hand.
I can't trust myself, so how can you trust me?

We've all made selfish, bad decisions.
We've all tried dishing out the blame.
Convinced ourselves of our own actions,
my problem is, I'll never change.
In doubt, some good comes out.
I'll fold before it's time.
Can't promise you that it's my last time, yeah.

I tried running away from me, convince me that I've grown.
But I can't change so unnaturally; demons, they follow me.
I quit running away from me, convinced that I had grown, but found out all my reasons for insanity, all a part of me.

Truth won't help you now,
almost gone too far, oh, oh.
Truth won't help you now,
almost gone to far, oh, oh.

I'm scarred, yeah;
demons, they follow me, cause my insanity.

I'm scarred, yeah;
demons, they follow me, cause my insanity.

I'm scarred, yeah;
demons, they follow me, cause my insanity.

Demons, they follow me,
cause my insanity.

Demons, they follow me,
cause my insanity.

According to one source, this song might be "about someone's own personal demons, the worst parts of themselves. The pieces of themselves they don't like but personally he seems to think he'll never be able to change them. There are mistakes he has made and parts of himself he hates and he feels like he's always being punished for them.

"But he also feels like it is rightly deserved. He tried to ignore, hide, escape them but they resurface and he finds out he never had changed for the better like he thought. He is also upset someone else has recognized these parts of himself and is warning them about him and his flaws."

The apostle John had a lot to say about sin – the habitual practice of sin was a clear indicator that one was not walking in the light, and did not have God’s life within them.

John reminded his readers that if we say we have no sin, then we deceive ourselves. Everybody has the same condition. Sin is a condition every person was born with, an inherited nature that came from both parents’ sides, and that has been passed down to us, literally, from the very first man and woman, when they were changed by this condition through the events surrounding the Garden of Eden story in the book of Genesis.

Consequently, because sin is something that all people have, everyone has also engaged in sin, which is to fall short of God’s purity and righteousness. Sin is something that we are, that affects what we do, which is to fall short of God's standard. It’s the result of having this inherited sin nature that everyone starts out the same with.

Paul the apostle also talked about sin, indicating that
1) Sin has affected our intellectual ability “No one who understands” by blinding our eyes to what is good and right, removing our ability to understand the truth. The mind doesn’t think that cooperating with and serving God is desirable. Instead of establishing right and wrong on God’s principles, we end up talking about what works or doesn’t work for us.

2) Sin has affected our moral capability “No one who seeks God” Hungry for a personal sense of significance, we end up with self-centered motives, not God centered motives. Living for God, and living by God’s standard of righteousness, does not feel like the way to achieve a sense of personal fulfillment and satisfaction. We want to feel in control, or we want to be a winner, or we want to feel good, feel happy, or we want to feel approved of by each other; we don’t like the idea of having our sinful nature exposed. Feeling right is what a person wants more than being right with God.

3) Sin has affected our wills “No one who does good” It’s not as though people can’t choose God. People can. But sin has so affected our mind and motives that we find we don’t want to choose God.

Paul showed that all the law really does is make you and me conscious of our sin. Since sin doesn’t affect us from the outside, but from the inside, trying to get God’s law to change us from the outside isn’t going to work (so rule following is a dead end). There can be no peace when even some small part of sin remains, hostile towards God. That’s why God said He would circumcise hearts, back in the Old Testament, in one of the books Moses wrote – real change can only come from the inside out, when deep seated hostility towards God’s righteousness, and God Himself, is removed.

Understanding all this makes it possible to understand the absolute necessity for God’s grace in order to live. As the poet pointed out, on his own he simply is incapable of changing himself. You and I need God to totally transform us by –
• Infusing us with His nature, His righteousness, His holiness,
• Causing our morality to become pure,
• Our thoughts to become anchored in the truth,
• Our emotions to begin rejoicing and loving God as well as each other in every situation in life,
• Our wills to cooperate joyfully to the rightness of God’s will

Once you know about the nature of sin, and how to be made entirely new it really would be insanity to not welcome - to not embrace - changing

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