Our Part in the Battle

Psalm 108:13

Psalm 108:13 “Through God we will do valiantly, And it is He who will trample down our enemies.”

FROM NOTES:

This is a truth that our efforts are coupled with God's power to win our battles. We must fight our battles, first of all. We have to stand up, show up to the battlefield. We have to put on our armor and march. Mainly, we have to know that the extent to which we participate in the battle depends on God. Sometimes He does it all, as in Egypt. Sometimes He lets us march and shout, as in Jericho. Yet sometimes He lets us throw stones, as with Goliath. Most of the time, however, the battle is hard fought and lengthy, the reality for which we must be prepared. Sure we give much credence to the battles that God supernaturally influenced, but those in which He is not mentioned are no less affected by His sovereign power. Our job is to show up as if we are going to fight, knowing that it won't be our swords,, rocks, or ability, but God's hand that defeats our adversaries.

We suit up, we show up, we strike courageously, but it God who will give us the victory.

That's comforting. Even when we fight and appear to be losing, God still defeats our enemies. He only allows us to fight so we can see that we can. This is how the psalmist can say, "through God we will do valiantly." We have courage because we know He will win the battle for us.

NEW NOTES

Psalm 60:12 “Through God we will do valiantly, And it is He who will trample down our enemies.”

OUTLINE:

Context.

Verses 1-5. David starts the psalm with praise to God for His mercy and truth (a recurring theme throughout the bible).

Verse 6. He then states his plea for help. He asks God to rescue and save.

Verses 7-9. God responds by noting His holiness and sovereignty over Israel and their enemies. God owns it all.

Verses 10-12. David responds with his need for God’s help. He needs God to lead, he needs God to go with his armies, he needs God to help against the enemy, because man’s help is worthless.

Through God.

Our first responsibility is to be in relationship with God.

To act through God means:

The word “through” also means in or with.

Through, in, and with all simply say that it’s God’s power that gets it done.

This phrase, through God, cannot be underestimated. It means God is the vehicle that gets me where I am trying go. Without God, it is like trying to get to Africa without a boat or airplane. You and I so need God that it is impossible to move successfully without Him.

Many are stuck where they are because they won’t go through God. Many are standing at sea of circumstance with a view of what you want to be on the other side. The only way to get there is through God.

The word could also mean in Him. If you want to get to the other shore, you have to board the ship. And if you want to board the ship, you have to obey the captain. You can’t expect God to take you places when you’re rebelling against Him. You have to be in His will. And that means stop doing what He doesn’t want you to do. And that means start doing what He wants you to do. And the strangest thing is that the latter controls the former. Meaning if you start doing what God wants you to do, you will ultimately stop doing what He doesn’t want you to do. You and I have to be in Him.

The word could also mean with Him. A lot of times we have the tendency to want to hijack the ship. We’re good at understanding that we can’t get there without God, and we know that we need to obey God, but we sometimes still fall into that trap of wanting to be God. Sure, we don’t say it like that, nobody really does. But when take matters into our own hands, we are hijacking God’s plan. When we scream and holler for stuff God hasn’t approved, we are hijacking God’s plan. When try to go where we shouldn’t go and do what we shouldn’t do (good or bad), we are hijacking God’s plan. And we are no longer with God. And we are subject to shipwreck.

1 Timothy 1:19 “keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.” Paul was saying that if you don’t stay with God and walk by faith, you will steer your life into the rocky shores of failure. Some of us know people who were once faithful and powerful men and women of God, but somewhere along the line took a wrong turn and are off course either headed for catastrophe or are already there. We have to stay with God. As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Col. 2:6). He doesn’t change, so how can you change directions and still claim to be with, in, and working through Him? It’s not possible.

So through God, in God, and with God all come with responsibility on our part. We have to have a relationship with God that makes Him our sole source of existence, of power, of wisdom, of knowledge, of freedom, of joy, of success, of victory. We can quote Paul all we want to, get stickers tattoos and socks, saying Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” But you will not get that strength to do all things if you are not first and foremost cultivating a relationship with Him that acknowledges Him as the only source of life, with everything else as secondary.

You have to come to the point where you won’t move without Him. You won’t stand without Him. You won’t speak without Him. You won’t so much as leave the house without acknowledging Him, and asking for His will to be done.

We will do valiantly.

It is only through, in, and with God that we will do valiantly. But once we are through, in, and with God, we still have a part in the battle. David says, “we will do valiantly.” Valiantly means we are going to show strength, we are going to be courageous, and we are to going to be skillful.

But even though I stand and preach through God, in God, and with God, I wouldn’t dare walk up those lonely steps to the pulpit without preparation. I’ve heard it said that we should pray like it all depends on God and then work like it all depends on us. There’s truth to that statement. Because even though I have my relationship with God the way it needs to be, I still have to show up to the battlefield. I still have to be ready to fight.

But doesn’t God promise to fight our battles? Good question. Short answer: Yes. Biblically accurate answer: Yes, but you have to participate. You don’t get to sit on the couch and send God to fight your battles. Remember, He is the king, not you. His presence gives you power, but you still have to act.

Our efforts are coupled with God's power to win our battles. This is how it works in the bible. We must be prepared to fight, first of all. We have to stand up and show up to the battlefield. We have to put on our armor and march. Mainly, we have to know that the extent to which we participate in the battle depends on God.

Sometimes He does it all, as in Egypt.

Sometimes He lets us march and shout, as in Jericho.

Sometimes He lets us form and set up camps like Gideon.

Sometimes He lets us throw stones, as with Goliath.

But Most of the time, however, the battle is hard fought and lengthy, the reality for which we must be prepared. Understand that Joshua, Gideon, and David came to fight. They had no idea how the battle was going to go, they just knew God was with them, so they went to the battlefield.

Sure we give much credence to the battles that God supernaturally influenced, but those in which He is not mentioned are no less affected by His sovereign power. Our job is to show up as if we are going to fight, knowing that it won't be our swords, rocks, or ability, but God's hand that defeats our adversaries.

But we have to fight. Because fighting shows our faith in God. Standing against our enemies shows our belief in God’s righteousness, character, truth, and love. Sometimes you’ll have to fight, sometimes you won’t, but you have to be prepared.

As a former coach, one of the biggest problems during the game was often those guys who were just not good at it. And in middle school, where I coached, they had to play. I had to put them in the game. Now the problem is that they weren’t prepared. There were kids that I would make sure got some play time, because they came to every practice and ran every sprint, did every drill. Not good, but they worked hard. There were kids would I didn’t want to put in because they didn’t try in practice, they were scared, they were timid, they had very little heart for the game. So they got as little play time as I could give them. And here’s what I would tell them. I would say to the whole team that I would rather let your parents be mad at me for not putting you in, than for them to watch you embarrass yourself on the field. i would rather they think you’re good and I’m bad, than to have them see just how bad you really are. It sounds cruel, but its true.

Some of us are constantly trying to jump out on the battlefield and be seen, but you’re not ready. You want an audience, but you’re not prepared. You want people to pay attention. You want folks to listen to you. But the reality is that you haven’t spent enough time in preparation and God is not willing to let you embarrass yourself and Him.

It is He who shall tread down our adversaries.

Ultimately, it is God will will defeat our enemies. He alone gives the victory. He alone gets the praise.

We must work through Him, in Him, and with Him.

We need to prepare ourselves for battle. We need to armor up. We need to march in full Christian uniform. Being well versed in God’s truth.

And then we need to show up to the battlefield and do our very best for His glory.