SCRIPTURE: Psalm 144
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION
- These words need to be read in their context, then applied to our own context. In David’s day, when violence and war were normal, being trained for battle and subduing the enemy was critical. The enemy – often foreigners, or non Jews – was a constant threat to the tiny, vulnerable nation of Israel. If not for God’s power and protection, the kingdom of Israel could not survive. David recognizes that the ONLY reason the nation of Israel is doing well is because of God!
- The enemy today is Satan, and he uses all kinds of people and situations to deceive and defeat us. We are very much in need of training for battle, but the battle we face is spiritual. We are also totally dependent on the Lord for His power and protection. To go through each day without Him is to enter the battlefield without armour and weapons. We are assured of victory with Him, and we will be blessed if we cling to Him. ‘Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord’.
- We are nothing without the Lord [‘a fleeting shadow’], but with Him we are more than conquerors. If I want victory in spiritual warfare, I need to mentally, verbally and actively put the Lord first in my life. David did this by singing and writing songs, telling people about the Lord, and repeating out loud his own confidence in Him. He found new ways to do this every day (a new song).
- The Lord did not make this world a battlezone, we did. We have unleashed the fury of hell, and we do not need to look far to see its devastating affect. In this world, there are no guarantees of ease, comfort, health, success, long life, happiness, justice, food and drink, protection. Many of us live under the illusion of the ‘good life’, but countless billions are living in horrible conditions, while we bury our heads in the sand. This world is a battlezone, and our lounging in the tents while others fight and suffer and die does not change this.
- We must join Jesus on the battlefield. He did not call us to sit in the bleachers, He called us to get into the ‘game’ (though it is not a game). We need to be trained for battle, for fight the good fight of the faith, for assaulting the gates of Hades, which annot stand up against Jesus and His followers. Practically speaking, we must become ambassadors and agents of mercy, of service, of love. We need to show people “with deeds of love and mercy” Who God really is, what He is really like.
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to stand up with You, to train myself for action, and to get out there and do it! May I be a faithful ‘soldier’ of the cross.
Go this and live! That is what the Master said. However, we have each gone after our own ways. As it is also found in Jeremiah 8, God’s people do not know the requirements of th Lord. They have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have? These words can also be spoken today.
In order to live and truly live, I must know Him. To know is also to grow in Him by knowing what He requires of me and so I must be immersed in His Word so that God will lead me and guide me in the way that I should go. Then I will be able to stand stand for Jesus Christ. Then am I trained as the Psalmist states and He will be my fortress, refuge and stronghold all the days of my life as I live for Jesus.
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.