Seeking God for the Battle
2 Samuel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away. And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
Last week we saw David was finally anointed king over all of Israel. God kept His promise and provided for David all he needed - the throne, victory against the enemies of God and His people, and a place to dwell where God’s presence would be.
And we ended by looking at how this all pointed forward to another promise - the greatest promise - that God was still going to keep. That is the promise of Christ. God had fulfilled what He promised to David, but there was still a greater promise to come. And in the meantime, God used David - He worked through David - to work even more promises for His people as they awaited the greatest promise.
And as I said, we are in the same position as David. God has kept His promise to us by sending His Son for our salvation. He has kept His promise by giving us new life and restoring us to Himself. And we know that the promise is yet to be fulfilled at His return.
But even right now, God is fulfilling His promise that all the earth will hear the Gospel. He does that through His church. He also fulfills His promise of our sanctification - that we would grow in holiness and Christ-likeness.
You see? As we await the consummation of the promise fulfilled only in Christ, God continues to work His promises in and through us.
This is what we see Him do through David in our passage today. David is king. That promise is fulfilled. God uses David to point forward to the true King, Jesus Christ - that is in the future from where David stood. And while he and God’s people await that sure promise, God uses them to fulfill even more promises.
Like, he uses them here to win victory - once again - over His enemies.
2 Samuel 5:17 (ESV)
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David.
So the Philistines hear that David is now king over all of Israel, and they all come looking for David. We’re told they came to search for David.
This is an interesting way to put it. They came searching for him. Why would they be searching for him?
Well, we may just assume they are coming to try to kill an enemy king. And that may be part of what’s going on here. But we need to remember that David isn’t just the new king of Israel. He has an existing relationship with the Philistines.
Remember, David lived with the Philistines for a while - for the last year and four months that he was on the run from Saul. And he was a sort of vassal under the king of Gath. David even earned the trust of the king to the point that the king believed David was on their side and would fight against Israel.
But when he tried to bring David into battle against Israel, some of the other men of the Philistines warned the king:
1 Samuel 29:4–5 (ESV)
The commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”
Even the Philistines, for the most part, knew who the real king of Israel was.
And now, here are the Philistines. Their formal vassal - and a mighty warrior at that - is now king over all of Israel. Sure, he had been king of Judah for a long time now, but as long as the Israelite in-fighting was going on, the Philistines were fine with it. You don’t read about the Philistines while David and Ish-bosheth are at war.
But now, David has won that war. And he is going to be a problem for the Philistines now.
Not to mention, the king of Gath has a bone to pick with David after all that’s happened. He trusted David, and now David is the king of their greatest enemies.
But he has been for a while, really. God anointed him king. And from a while back, everyone knew it. Saul knew it. Abner knew it. All of Israel knew it. Even the Philistines knew it. It just hadn’t happened yet.
They all knew the promise, but were just waiting for its inevitable fulfillment.
And as I said, that’s the same position we’re in. We talked about this last week. Because God has kept His greatest promise in Christ, we know that His promise to finish was He started is sure. I asked last week if we believe that, and I heard a lot of agreement around this sanctuary.
So I am going to ask again. Who here believes God kept His promise of salvation in Christ? Who believes Christ is coming again to complete our salvation?
Well, here we are. Having received the promise, but waiting for the promise, and in the meantime knowing God wants to fulfill His promises in and through us. Just like David here.
And just like David, while we wait and while we work, there are going to be battles. The enemies of God are going to come against us.
The powers of darkness - they’re against us. The world - it’s against us. The flesh - indwelling sin - it’s against us. And there are going to be battles to be fought.
And if we keep our eyes and hearts and minds on what we know is sure but just hasn’t happened yet, we will be victorious.
Just like David. You see, the inheritor of God’s promise now had a battle to fight:
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
Now this stronghold is the city of David. In our passage last week, it’s referred to as “the stronghold.” That’s where David now goes when he hears the Philistines are searching for him. But he didn’t go there to hide, he went to prepare for battle.
And why did he go there?
Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
The Valley of Rephaim was just south of Jerusalem. The Philistines come and ready themselves for battle against the new capitol of Israel.
But there is more going on here than just a physical battle. There is a spiritual battle going on here.
First, the word “Rephaim” in the “Valley of Rephaim” is a transliteration of the Hebrew. We see this word “Rephaim” transliterated a bunch of times in the Bible. But it is also translated as “giants” in the Bible.
Without going into too much detail today, understand that the “Rephaim” are giants. And don’t tune out. This is important to understand so much of the Old Testament and how it relates to us.
There were different family lines of the giants. We are given different names for giant tribes in the Bible, like the Emim, the Zamzummim, or the Anakim.
Like we read during Moses’ summary of Israel’s Exodus, he speaks of God forbidding Israel to fight against Moab, and we read:
Deuteronomy 2:10–11 (ESV)
The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
Here we have two different families of Rephaim, or giants.
Now, giants have played a role in Israel’s history. A rather large role. No pun intended.
Why didn’t Israel take the Promised Land when first told to by God? Their faith wavered because, in their own words:
Numbers 13:33 (ESV)
And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak [there’s our Anakim], who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
Giants scared Israel off from doing what God called them to do. Israel got their eyes off God and His promise and instead feared the enemy.
But we find something out about these giants here.
We have the Anakim, who we saw are Rephaim, but are also descended from the Nephilim. And who are the Nephilim? They are a race of half human, half heavenly being that resulted from multiple rebellions of heavenly beings against God. You can come to the Genesis Bible study to learn more.
And these Nephilim - these giants - they were in the Promised Land. But God - because He keeps His promises - He gives Israel victory over them when they obey Him, and the giants are almost wiped out. Almost. A few of them are left. And where did they live?
There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain.
They only remained in the cities of the Philistines. All of the remaining giants were Philistines. Like Goliath.
And here are the Philistines in the Valley of the Giants opposing David up in Zion where God has chosen for His name to dwell, which we saw last week.
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
There is a cosmic battle being described here. David, up on a mountain in the stronghold of Zion, and the enemies of God - some of them part human and part angelic - spread out in the valley of giants - in the valley of divine rebels.
David’s battle wasn’t just against flesh and blood. It was against the cosmic powers over the present darkness.
He was battling God’s enemies both earthly and supernatural.
And here we are - the church - the place of God’s dwelling. The true Zion - the New and heavenly Jerusalem. And who are our battles against? Us who are raised up with Christ in the heavenlies - up to Mt. Zion - where are our battles fought?
Down here. In the world. In the valley. In the valley of rebellion against God. With the world against us, and the powers of darkness against us.
So what should we do? Should we fight with earthly means? Should we fight fire with fire, so to speak, and battle the world on their terms.
I mean, let’s be honest. We’ve all stooped to that before. Fighting harsh words with harsh words - returning insult for insult - and showing ourselves to be more like the world than God tells us we actually are. Is that how we fight our battles?
Or do we seek to do what God calls us to do?
We need to understand the war we are in. It’s the same war David was in.
Ephesians 6:10–18 (ESV)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
And please note, when it comes to spiritual warfare, a lot of Christians have some unbiblical ideas. There is nothing said in the Bible about exorcisms or deliverance ministries. There are no declarations or decrees we are told to make. There is nothing said about any individual, supernatural promptings of the Holy Spirit that will direct us in our war.
Rather, like we see here, we are protected in our supernatural battle by things like truth - believing it and speaking it. Righteousness - striving for it because God has made us righteous. The readiness of the Gospel of peace. Readiness to live out the Gospel - readiness to live out what we say we believe.
We are protected by faith that we are told will render Satan powerless against us. We are protected by the salvation that is the work of God and Him alone.
And when we go into battle, we are to take the battle to the enemy with the weapon God has provided us: the sword of the Spirit, otherwise known as the Word of God and prayer.
This is how David fights his battle against the enemies of God. Before he does anything else, he prays and seeks the Word of God.
2 Samuel 5:19–20 (ESV)
And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there.
David waits on God. He prays to God to reveal to him what He wants him to do. And then when God speaks, David listens, and God gives him the victory.
He is using the sword of the Spirit - the Word of God and prayer - as his weapon.
And because of His faith, and his commitment to the truth, and the righteousness God has granted him, and his willingness to live out what he says he believes, David is protected from the enemy. They are powerless against David because it is God that is fighting the battle through him!
And David knew it was God doing the work.
And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.
David had victory. But he recognizes, in faith, Who won the victory. He even names the place of the battle after God calling it “the Lord” or “the Master of breaking through.”
God did it.
Yet, David did something.
He used the weapons God gave him to fight this battle. This battle that on the surface was a battle against earthly enemies, but at its heart was a spiritual battle against the powers of darkness.
David prayed. And he didn’t ask God how to fight this battle. Take note of that. He asked God if he should fight this particular battle. He came to God in prayer not with an idea of what he was going to do, but with an open and humble heart.
David wanted to do whatever God told Him to do. David sought God’s Word to know God’s will.
And God told him what to do.
Then it was David’s turn to do something else. He had to obey the word of God. And before he even knew what God would say, David was ready to obey.
David prayed, then David obeyed. He obeyed the revealed Word of God.
Now, there are a few questions this raises. Like, how did God speak to David? Was it an audible voice? Did everyone hear it? Did this all happen through the Urim and Thummim like previously?
Three times before, David has inquired of the Lord. Two times, we are told he uses the ephod of the priests that Abiathar had, which means he used the Urim and the Thummim. The third time was in 2 Samuel chapter 2, where David is told to go to Hebron to be anointed king. As we saw, that was likely done through the Urim and Thummim in the ephod like the previous times.
Here, it is also possible that David used the same means. But based on the next inquiry of David, I don’t believe that’s what’s going on here.
But before we get to what is happening and how David is hearing from YHWH, I have a different question. And it’s much more important.
How do we hear from God? When we need to know what to do, how do we know what God wants?
Well, really, the same way David did. So let’s use him as our model.
First, we start with prayer. Not asking God how to do what we want to do, but asking God if we should even do it, and if not, what we should do. And while God does act on the prayers of His people, there is something else that happens when we pray with humble and open hearts to God. It makes us ready to hear what He has to say.
And then, when we’re ready, how do we hear what He has to say? How do we hear Him speak?
First, we have His Word. We have the very words of God in the Bible.
You know, I think many of us would love to have Urim and Thummim, a divine magic 8-ball where we could ask God questions and get answers so we know what to do - I think we’d all say we’d listen if we had that.
But we have the very words of God in the Bible. And yet, at times, we say we wish God would tell us what to do.
He has.
And this doesn’t mean that we pray to God to lead us and then we open our Bibles to a random page to get a direct response. People actually do this.
But I would hate for anyone here to pray about an argument with a brother or sister in Christ or their pastor, ask God how to handle it, then open to “do not spare them but kill man, woman, and child...”
I don’t recommend that.
But if we know God’s Word, because we make an effort to know God’s Word, then we will know what we should do if our hearts are humble and open to hearing God and obeying Him. And we will know God’s Word if we count it important to hear what God has said.
If we really want to know what God wants us to do, realize: He has already told us.
Second, there is the preaching of the Word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of God.
But hearing God through the preaching of His Word requires that same humility and openness. I have had times that someone will come to me after a message and tell me that it felt like the sermon was about them and their situation. I praise God when that happens.
But there have also been plenty of times that I have had people tell me “good message, I hope everyone was listening,” and of course, they mean everyone else. Sometimes they’ll even name names. “I hope such and such was listening, because that big jerk really has bitterness in his heart.”
I am only exaggerating a little. I wish I was kidding.
Please, don’t be one of those people who thinks everyone else really needs to hear the message on Sunday. Because then you have decided you don’t need to hear from God.
Third, we hear God speak through each other. Through our family in Christ. He works through a loving rebuke from a brother or sister. An empathetic ear ready to help us talk it out. Advice from someone who has walked the road we’re on.
But again, it takes an open heart to hear when God is speaking this way.
Brothers and sisters, God speaks to His people.
But here’s the rub. We not only need to hear what God says - through His Word, or through a sermon, or through another Christian as we fellowship and walk side by side - we need to hear it, and obey. Once we know what God says, there is no choice before us.
And do you know what it is when we, in faith, trust God enough to obey when we hear Him speak? It’s spiritual warfare. And God will win the victory.
It was spiritual warfare for David here. And because David prayed, and heard, and obeyed, God won the victory.
And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
Remember what we have spoken about before. In the ancient world, wars between nations weren’t just wars between nations. It was war between their gods. The Philistines brought these idols into battle, which was a custom for many ancient societies, not because they believed the wooden or metal figures were gods, but because they represented the presence of those gods with them.
In this, we see that this was indeed spiritual warfare. God’s people against the world and the powers of darkness. And because David heard and obeyed, it was YHWH against the gods of the Philistines.
And it was no contest. It never is. It never will be.
But this is more than even that. Remember what happened way back when Israel brought the Ark into battle against the Philistines under the judgeship of Eli? Israel lost the battle, and the Ark was lost. And the Philistines saw it as a victory of Dagon over YHWH.
Israel did things the world’s way, and God’s presence among them goes away. That’s not coincidence.
And that, of course, set off a string of events that led to Israel denying God as King and asking for an earthly king - which was Saul - and we know how that all went.
But here, it is the gods of the Philistines that fall to David when he hears God speak and obeys. That’s why David credits God with the victory.
Now that David - God’s anointed - is on the throne, and is obedient to God, it is the Philistine gods who are defeated.
In other words, with David on the throne, God is setting things right.
Just like He would ultimately in Christ.
But that doesn’t mean the war is over. Not for us now, and not for David then. Look at what happens next.
2 Samuel 5:22–23 (ESV)
And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord...
Wait a minute. What did we just read a few verses ago.
2 Samuel 5:18–19 (ESV)
Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord…
And what do we read here?
2 Samuel 5:22–23 (ESV)
And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord…
Now, I have heard a number of Christians say that they don’t like to hear the Old Testament preached. I have heard a great many Christians say they don’t like to read the Old Testament.
And in most cases, the problem in their mind is relevance to them. More specifically, lack thereof. They can’t relate. They say that it just seems like the same thing happens over and over again. Like in 1 Samuel - how may times can Saul throw a spear at David? How many times can David spare Saul’s life? How many times can Saul mess up and outright disobey God?
And I get it. I think it is hard for us to relate because we are so far advanced compared to them and we can’t relate with them. They disobeyed God at the same point more than once. We learn our lesson. We don’t repeat mistakes!
We can’t relate to others among God’s people putting us in the same bad position over and over again. Because we all know that never happens anymore.
We can’t relate to being tempted to sin once we decide we’re not gonna do it anymore, or relate to having to show grace to the same person more than once, or relate to acting rashly even though that never works out well.
Yeah, we don’t do these things… I can totally understand how people find the Old Testament hard to relate to.
And here, we don’t go books or chapters between the same exact thing happening. We get three verses. The same exact thing happens. The Philistines attack, David inquires of God, he obeys God, and the Philistines lose.
So, in response, the Philistines attack.
Wait! You mean that even if we hear God and obey God, the enemy is going to put us in the same position again? Yes. The world, the flesh, and the devil don’t take vacations. The battle is never over on this side of heaven.
We will find the same enemies coming against us again and again - often the same way they have before.
The question is, what do we do when that happens?
The Philistines attack, David inquires of God, he obeys God, and the Philistines lose - and when they attack again, what does David do?
He seeks God. He seeks Him in prayer, and seeks His Word. David wants to hear from God again.
“And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord...”
David does the same thing over and over, too. He seeks God over and over. He seeks to use the sword God gave him to battle with over and over. He prays, and he seek God’s Word, over and over.
What do we do?
Here, David again does what he should, and He seeks God, but notice what God says this time:
And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”
Now there are a few things to notice here. David does not ask God a yes or no question that can be answered by colored stones, does he? He once again comes to the Lord in humility and openness to understand what God wants, but God gives him some very detailed instructions this time.
How does this happen? Did David hear directly from God?
Yes.
David is being shown to be a prophet here. He receives direct revelation from God.
And we know that further because when we read of the last words of David later in the book, he begins by calling himself a prophet. He starts with this:
“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.
What’s more, David was believed to be a prophet by Israel all the way through the time of Christ and the Apostles. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preaches and says:
“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,
And this is exactly what is being pictured here with David’s revelation from God. David, now crowned king, is also a prophet. There is another Who would come that was both King and Prophet.
David is again pointing us forward to Jesus. He is king, and he is prophet; he seeks God’s will, and he obeys God’s will.
But look at what God tells David:
And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”
He tells him how to fight this particular battle. But God makes it clear that it is Him doing the work. David will hear the sound of the army of God marching over the trees. And God says this means David will know…what?
That YHWH has gone out before him to defeat the enemy.
And guess what? This isn’t the only time God does this with the marching and the sound of the army of heaven. Even God does some of the same things over and over again.
He fights for His people.
He saves His people.
He acts in and through His people when they seek Him.
And this is what God still does. When we seek Him. When we seek Him to hear Him and we obey, God fights the battle for us. And the enemy stands no chance.
But realize, we need to seek Him. We need to ask Him what He wants and tell Him what we need. We need to hear Him speak - we need to know what He has said.
And then, we need to obey.
Like David. God did it, but God did it through David’s obedience.
And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
David is obedient, and the battle isn’t only won, it’s an absolute rout.
David chased the Philistines for 17 miles and struck them down.
So I want us to notice, the battle happens over and over. And here, it happens the same exact way twice. The circumstances were exactly the same.
And yet God tells David to do it differently the second time.
In other words, the circumstances were the same, but it isn't about the circumstances!
What we face here in the world is inconsequential to the outcome. Because God is ready to fight for us.
So we can’t get distracted by the circumstances we find ourselves in. We need, instead, to seek God.
It’s about waiting on God, hearing God, and obeying God.
It’s about seeking Him, hearing Him, and obeying Him regardless of the circumstances we are in.
And that means, if we have been trying to fight the battle any other way, we can’t be surprised that the circumstances haven’t changed.
And if we have been trying to fight the battle the same way over and over without first seeking God, our circumstances aren’t going to change. We can’t expect them to.
So maybe you’re here, and you have been fighting the same battle over and over again, the same way, without doing what David did. Without seeking God. Without praying, hearing Him speak, and obeying.
And we need all three, but too often, we only do one, or we don’t do any of them. And we still wonder why we are stuck in the valley facing the same battle over and over again.
Maybe our battle is against the world. And perhaps we’ve been fighting that battle the same way over and over again.
Maybe we try to fight the world on its own terms.
Maybe we use harsh words and insults. Maybe we try to fight using politics. Maybe we try to fight by hunkering down and avoiding those who think differently from us or trying to destroy those with differing opinions. Maybe we try to attack the character of someone rather than address the matter at hand.
These are the weapons of the world.
If we do this in our struggle against the world, we can’t wonder why we aren’t winning the battle.
Maybe we are fighting against the flesh. Against indwelling sin. Maybe we fight it by just trying harder not to gossip or look at pornography. Maybe we fight it by ignoring the bitterness in our own hearts or the wrongs we’ve done to others. Maybe we fight the sin by rationalizing the sin - there are worse things I can do than - fill in the blank.
But if we do this in our struggle against sin, we can’t wonder why we aren’t winning the battle.
No “maybe” this time. We are fighting against the powers of darkness. And their tactic is pretty good. Distract us with the things of the world and place temptations to sin in our path. If we are busy fighting those battles, the real war never gets addressed.
I am quite sure the Philistines loved it when David was fighting Ish-bosheth. Because then the real battle never needed to be fought.
And the real struggle - David’s and ours - is not against flesh and blood, but against the cosmic powers over this present darkness.
So we need to do exactly what David did.
And maybe, this time, like with David - maybe God wants us to change how we battle. Maybe he wants us to change up how we deal with our circumstances.
Because God wants to win the battle.
Are you feeling defeated? Are you feeling…stuck? Are you feeling overwhelmed fighting the same battle over and over again? Are you tired of losing the battle with sin? Are you sick of doing things the way the world says you should?
Are you feeling as if you have been waiting and waiting for God to lift you out of the valley?
Then seek Him. He’s ready to win the battle.
Seek Him Who took on our defeat. Who had our sin placed on His shoulders. Who won the victory for us to fulfill the promise of salvation God made to His people.
Seek Christ!
I could hear the truth of the Gospel over and over again. I need to hear it over and over again. Because the battle is real.
But so are God’s promises. And if we would seek Him - get on our knees and pray, seek Him in His Word to hear what He has said, come to hear the Word preached and to be in fellowship with our family in Christ - if we would do these things - over and over - we would hear God.
And if we hear Him over and over, He will change us, and we will obey. And if we obey, our circumstances will change - and the battle will be won.
Because God is ready and more than able to win the battle.
But if you aren’t seeking God like this… well… if you don’t change anything, nothing will change.
God is ready.
Who is ready to seek God for the battle, and find victory?