Thanks for stopping by! This is Day 13 of my 2015 “31 Days Reflecting on God” series. Find the rest over here.
He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend even the strongest bow.
You give me your protective shield;
your right hand supports me;
your willingness to help enables me to prevail.
You widen my path;
my feet do not slip.
I chase my enemies and catch them;
I do not turn back until I wipe them out.
I beat them to death;
they fall at my feet.
You give me strength for battle;
you make my foes kneel before me. Psalm 18:34-39
I realized recently that the Bible often treats life like it’s a battle zone. Here in the US we generally feel safe and protected from most of the violence that is normal to people in less privileged areas of the world. So we start to view life through pristine, rose-colored glasses, and assume that pain and suffering are actually abnormal.
So we can begin to think of God in terms of non-violence and pacifism. And when hard things come we wonder what lesson he’s trying to teach us. We complain about the injustice of life because we feel we deserve lives of ease and comfort.
But God makes it clear that the enemy surrounds us and that he’ll do anything in his power to take us down. Jesus said to expect hardship. Peter wrote that we shouldn’t be surprised by fiery trials. And God describes himself as a warrior, fighting for his people.
I don’t want to seem negative, because I truly believe life is beautiful and wonderful, but life is also ugly and painful. We seriously need to recognize that we have an enemy out to get us and he’ll use sickness, abuse, loneliness, fear, depression, persecution, temptation and even death to attack us.
But we aren’t in this as “every man for himself.” No. God trains our hands for battle. His “willingness to help us enables us to prevail.” He’s fighting with us, protecting us, backing us up. He encourages us to fight and fight hard, and in the end he’s the one who gives us the victory over the enemy.
God fights fiercely. He’s a jealous, protective God who won’t let us be trampled by the enemy. Could he wipe out the enemy with one word? Yes. Sometimes he does. But sometimes he calls us to fight alongside him in the battle, to stand firm with his armor shielding us, and using the weapons he’s been teaching us to wield – the weapons of prayer and faith and truth.
He’s a fighter, our God. He fights for the weak and helpless. He protects the defenseless. And he trains our hands to fight the good fight of faith by his strength every day of our lives.