God is our rock and fortress and shield (Psalm 18). He protects us.
God fights our battles and wars. What we can do, isn’t because of our own power and strength, but because God is with us. His Spirit gives life and power:
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zech 4,6)
From the Pentateuch and from the book of Joshua, we learn that God fight the wars for Israel.
“let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” (Pent 20,3-4)
Lessons from King David
How did David win over Goliath? Goliath was a very strong giant, and David was a little shepherd boy. David did not win by his own strength. He won because he knew that it was God who helped him kill lions and bears when David was a shepherd. He had faith that it was God who rescued David from those dangers, and he trusted that God also would rescue him from Goliath.
David didn’t have any sword, but he won over Goliath anyway. To Goliath he said:
“Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” (1 Sam 17, 45-47)
He didn’t come in his own name; he came in name of the Lord. The battle is God’s. David gave all honor to God.
God had anointed David, and he was not only with David on the battlefield. King Saul was jealous of David and an evil spirit rushed upon Saul, but David played the lyre, and Saul was refreshed and well and the evil spirit departed from him.
We see that Faith in God and worshipping God in song and music are some of the weapons God uses against our enemies.
David knew he got his strength and protection from God. We see that expressed in the psalms, for instance psalm 3 and
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4,8)
“For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
6And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.” (Psalm 27,5-6)
Remember David was not a perfect man. He made mistakes and he did sin. He fell in love with another man’s wife and killed this man.
All the good times and victories Israel experienced while David was a king, was not because of David as a person, but because David loved and trusted God. All glory and honor are God’s.
What about adversity? David had many enemies, and he met a lot of adversity. There were dark times. He trusted God was with him, also in dark times:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.” (Psalm 23,4)
Faith in Jesus overcomes the world
When you meet adversity and struggles, it doesn’t mean God has left you or abandoned you. Jesus met a lot of adversity! Everyone goes through hard seasons, and God is still with them.
Remember there is a lot you can’t see. We live by faith:
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4,17-18)
Indeed, it’s often hard to be in the world, but everyone, who believes Jesus is the son of God, will overcome the world:
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5,4-5)
Recent Comments