God's Strength
As we continue our spiritual journey,
we must look to God to sustain us and
to protect us from Satan and his evil cohorts.
Here now his Gene Getz:
David wrote this psalm.
And it's another psalm of ascent.
And you'll notice that in this Principle
as I apply it generally,
I talk about our spiritual journey.
But when you go back to the historical setting.
The geographical setting.
You'll find that it was a literal journey.
It wasn't just a spiritual journey.
It was that as the children of Israel were
going up to Jerusalem
from all over the then known world
where they were scattered at times.
They were literally going up to Jerusalem.
So it was a literal journey
that they took to celebrate the Passover
and other feasts.
It was also a spiritual journey for them
with unique spiritual significance.
But the fact is that there is a
significance for us today
when we look at what happened
in the Old Testament.
As we look through the lens of the New Testament
and see how that impacts us.
Not in our literal, physical journey
but in our spiritual journey that God
has called us to.
So that's what we want to look at.
And we begin with what I've called
David's reflections. Notice:
If the Lord had not been on our side--
let Israel say...
And at this point, let me simply point out again
that these are called songs of ascent.
And so David is writing this poetry to be
sung in response to a leader.
And the leader would say:
If the Lord had not been on our side--
let Israel say...
Let Israel say:
In other words, all of you who are
making this journey, respond.
Respond with this great truth.
So they go on responding in a
choral affect, as it were:
...If the Lord had not been on our side
when men attacked us,
then they would have swallowed us alive
in their burning anger against us.
In other words:
David is reflecting on the victories that
God has given Israel.
And they had these victories
because of God's protection.
And that's why he says here,
Psalm 124:6 to 8:
Praise the Lord:
Praise the LORD, who has not let us be
ripped apart by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird from
the hunter's net;
the net is torn, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of Yahweh,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Now let me go back and just insert
between what is David's reflection
and God's protection--
just a specific memory.
And it's possible that David was
reflecting on the fact
that when he was just a young shepherd boy.
God had already had Samuel anoint him
to be the future king of Israel.
But that's still in the future.
And he was still taking care of
his father's sheep there in Bethlehem.
Out on the hills.
But periodically, his father would
send him to check on his brothers
who are in the army of Israel
under Saul's leadership as king.
And so his father said:
I want you to go up and check on my sons.
So they did.
They were doing battle against the Philistines
in what it's called the Valley of Elah.
It's not too far from Jerusalem.
Not too far from the Mediterranean Sea.
Sort of halfway in between.
And those of you who've been to Israel,
we've stood in the valley of Elah
and looked up at the hills on one side.
The hills on the other side.
On one side were the armies of Israel
under Saul's leadership.
On the other side were the Philistines.
And on this particular occasion,
this huge giant named Goliath
comes out into the valley.
And he shouts.
And he says:
Send me a man
to take me on.
If you win, then as Philistines, all of us
will be your servants.
But if we win, all of you will become our servants.
And he was blaspheming the name
of God of Israel.
And young David heard this.
And he inquired:
What does this all mean?
And he found out who this giant was.
And so basically, eventually, he went out
and confronted this giant.
And you'll notice what he said
which is really a tremendous statement.
It relates, I think to this psalm:
David said to the Philistine:
You come against me with a dagger,
[a] spear, and [a] sword, but I come
against you in the name of Yahweh of Hosts,
the God of Israel's [armies]--
you have defied Him.
And the significant correlation here is:
It goes back to the fact that it's in the
name of God,
of Yahweh, that Israel was victorious.
Now when David penned this psalm,
he had many reflections
of what God had done.
Victory after victory
when he had become king.
So he's reflecting on God's protection of them.
And they would sing this song as they
proceeded up to Jerusalem.
Now when we look at this through
the lens of the New Testament,
what do we see?
Let's take one example.
Let's take Peter as he described our
archenemy--the Devil,
1st Peter 5:8 to 9:
Be serious! Be alert!
Your adversary the Devil is
prowling around like a roaring lion...
Now notice the metaphors.
See, David used a lot of metaphors here
when he penned this psalm.
Metaphors that related to being
ripped apart by their teeth.
And here you have a similar metaphor.
And perhaps Peter was reflecting on this psalm
when he said:
...Your adversary the devil is prowling
around like a roaring lion,
looking for anyone he can devour. ...
Anyone he can rip apart.
Anyone he can tear apart.
Now David was thinking literally of
the enemies of Israel.
But here, Peter is thinking about
our archenemy the Devil. Satan himself.
And so he goes on to say:
...Resist him and be firm in the faith,
knowing that the same sufferings are
being experienced by your fellow believers
throughout the world.
And as I was reflecting on this,
I thought: You know, we really can't identify
in our culture with the Christians around this world
who are literally being ripped apart,
as it were, by Satan.
Through the enemies--literally the enemies.
Human enemies that hate Christianity.
And it's happening more and more today.
Even the secular press is talking about
how many times Christians are being
persecuted around the world.
So there's a real application to us here.
And we go to the apostle Paul.
who explained in Ephesians chapter 6.
He says:
Finally be strengthened by the Lord
and by His vast strength. ...
Now that sounds, in a sense, like
what David wrote.
But he was talking about literal enemies.
Who is our enemy?
Well Paul explains:
...Put on the full armor of God so that you can
stand against the tactics of the Devil. ...
What are those tactics?
...For our battle is not against flesh and blood...
Now, our enemies may be reflected
in flesh and blood
but our ultimate battle is against Satan.
And so Paul goes on.
He said our battle is:
...against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the world powers of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavens.
There's our archenemy.
In our spiritual journey in this life.
The question that I want to throw at you
just to think about is:
In what practical ways can we draw on
God's strength to win our spiritual battles?
Well Paul goes on, I think to give us
some very practical instructions in this
same passage in Ephesians.
In verse 16 of chapter 6 he says:
In every situation take the shield of faith...
In every situation take the shield of faith.
That's the armor that we have.
Not a piece of armor like Goliath had.
Our armor is the shield of faith.
There he's using a metaphor:
...and with it you will be able to extinguish
the flaming arrows of the evil one. ...
The evil one of course is Satan--
attacking us with doubts
and other ways in which he tries
to get through to us.
And then he says:
...Take the helmet of salvation...
Which is really our position in Christ.
...and the sword of the Spirit,
which is God's Word.
And as I think about that,
I think about Jesus
when he went into the wilderness.
You remember?
And he was tempted by Satan.
Now here's a realistic encounter that
Jesus Christ, the Son of God--
God in the flesh--had with Satan himself.
Now, I'm not sure what form Satan took.
But it was Satan.
And he tempted Jesus.
He actually used the Scriptures to tempt Jesus.
But he distorted every statement from Scripture.
And Jesus responded to Satan. And said:
It is written.
Three times.
It is written.
it is written.
And every time Jesus corrected what
was stated with true Scripture.
And after that third time it said:
Satan left him.
It was Jesus, the living Word,
using the written Word to defeat Satan
when he came and tempted Him.
And to me that's a very significant
Principle that grows out of this psalm
in our spiritual battle against Satan.
It's interesting--I was reflecting on this Principle
just in preparation for this presentation.
I was working in a little restaurant that
I like to work in.
And I've gotten to know the waitress
there very well, who's manager
and she's a believer.
And she came up and we were
talking and chatting.
And I was eating and working and so forth.
And I said: Here's a very interesting concept.
And I shared with her just in essence
what I was thinking
about how Jesus handled temptation.
And the importance of the Word of God.
And you know, she turned to me and she reflected.
And she said: You know, she said,
the last couple of weeks
I haven't been in God's Word.
And she said: You know, it really makes a difference.
And then I said something too
because I was a bit convicted.
And I said to her:
I wonder how much I would be in the Word
if I weren't preparing to teach it.
And we both paused.
And she said: You know, that's an interesting thought.
And I had to think about that.
And one of the things that I've been trying
to discipline myself to do recently is:
After I teach these Principles,
is to go back and review the Principle.
Review the context.
Review the New Testament application.
And then get very specific in terms of
my own life.
You never can over study and over apply
the Word of God.
So we're on a spiritual journey.
So here's the Principle to Live By:
As we continue our spiritual journey,
we must look to God to sustain us and to
protect us from Satan and his evil cohorts.
And our greatest means for defeating
Satan is indeed the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God.