“I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer me! Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies. Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.” (v3-6,10-13)
This Psalm titled “With God We Shall Do Valiantly” is fairly straight-forward. It clearly states David’s faith in God to deliver Israel from their enemies, knowing that without God they cannot prevail.
The final two verses really resound with me: “Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.” (v12-13) In what area(s) of our lives have we sought the wisdom/help of the world, rather than God’s?
I’ve fallen prey to the wisdom of the world (ie. our enemy) many times – there’s an entire economy built around “self-help” and “DIY” (Do It Yourself). It’s not that those things are inherently bad, showing some independence from the world can be a healthy thing to a point, but I should not be independent from God in the process. In fact, losing dependence on God requires no effort at all it seems. To the contrary, dependence on God takes great effort since the enemy tries to distract us from God.
The truth is, God designed us to be dependent on Him, yet we frequently forget to do so, and fail miserably trying to get through life on our own – either solo or with the world’s/enemy’s wisdom. This is a contributor to burnout – trying to do things (sometimes even “God’s work”) on our own strength, without God’s help. Though the work may be noble, if we approach it in a way that is not fully fueled and supported by God, we will eventually fail.
What this means for us today is putting all of our trust in God, and the people led by His Spirit. David had the entire army of Israel – it’s not like he was standing alone against the neighboring countries – yet he didn’t have any confidence of victory with his people, unless God was their central leader. This needs to be true of us today as well – living each moment of our lives as if God is directing it, and providing for our needs in the moment, as we seek to do His will. If everything we do is with God and for God, we will be unstoppable, because God will not allow us to fail the mission He sets before us. The only requirement is fully surrendering our selfs (yes, I did that on purpose), taking up our crosses, and following Him (Lk 9:23).
Father God, thank you so much for the gift of salvation. Father, please help us to live fully surrendered to the truth that You alone are our Lord, and You alone deserve our trust. Father may we be a people fully surrendered to You, seeking only Your wisdom and guidance, just as Jesus’ did. May we learn to do all things for You, and through the strength that only You can provide. May we learn to lean not on our own understanding, but on every word that comes from You. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training