Fighting to Win (part three): Understanding What’s At Stake


“‘And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.’” (1 Samuel 17:18, KJV).

How do thee, my brethren, fare this day? Fare thee well, or fare thee less? However thee fare, thou Father is aware, and his love for thee exceeds thy need. So thus, I invite thee to come and find thy Master’s feet and receive thy portion of his love unto thee.

Please read today’s scripture focus, 1 Samuel 17:14-32, in whatever version thee desireth!

I love the King James rendering of 1 Samuel 17:18. Sometimes the King’s English speaks with a rich eloquence that puts my mind to thinking and my heart to dreaming. David’s story is worthy of a dream or two. It certainly is worth our pondering, for it has much to teach us about the art of war. About the winning and losing of battles. About the gains and losses of confrontation.

For in every fight, something stands to be gained and something stands to be lost. Weighing the difference between the two is of paramount importance when kingdom business is at hand. Not every battle is ours to embrace, but every battle should be weighed in accordance with God’s divine perspective (part one). The enemy understands our propensity for a good fight. He’s perfected the lure and baited his hook with just enough intrigue and drama to engage our thoughts (part two). And if not checked, our thoughts can sometimes lead us into a war that we were never meant to fight.

So how do we know the difference? How do we know when the battle belongs to us and is worthy of our sacred participation? We start by doing just exactly what boy David did.

We listen to our Father.

“Now Jesse said to his son David, ‘Take this … for your brothers. Take along these … to the commanders of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.’” (1 Samuel 17:17-19).

David’s earthly father, Jesse, sent David to battle; not to fight but to check on the welfare of his brothers…to see how thy brethren were faring. They were faring poorly. Floundering in their fear, they took to their hiding, and when David was unable to secure the “assurance” that his father was looking for, David altered his plan. No longer would this be a mission of provision, but rather it would become a mission of kingdom priority…a father’s priority.

Assurance. The Hebrew transliterated word rubbah meaning “…a tangible sign of a current or soon-expected reality. It was used specifically in reference to an assurance of well-being brought from the battlefield.”[i]

The only tangible sign of a soon-expected reality was a stance of fear and dismay. And where there is fear…where there is dismay…the soon-expected reality is sure defeat. Thus David, rather than returning home without any pledge or assurance for his father, pushed the matter to a head. He postured himself for participation in the battle because David knew that…

Sometimes, one is called to battle because the welfare of the brethren is at stake.

David’s brethren? The Israelites. God’s flock. The sheep of his sacred pasture. The apple of his eye. They were the children of Promise, barely living within the pasturelands of Promise. Milk and honey were yesterday’s taste. Today’s palate was limited to a faithless trembling that swallowed difficult and soured the stomach.

The hearts of a nation laid themselves bare for the taking, and David was quick to recognize their nakedness.

“David asked the men standing near him, ‘What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?’ … ‘Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.’” (1 Samuel 17:26, 32).

David entered the arena as a shepherd boy, the son of Jesse. But in one transforming moment, David refined his identity. He would retain his role as shepherd, but this time, as the son of his heavenly Father. Not only were the brethren not faring well, but the identity of his Father’s people stood to know fracture and disgrace at the hands of the enemy. David postured himself for participation in the battle because David knew that…

Sometimes, one is called to battle because the honor of a Father is at stake.

There you have it. Two good reasons to enter a battle with the enemy.

A brethren’s welfare. A heavenly Father’s honor.

There are other worthy reasons to find our fight, but these two offer us some perspective in the matter. David had no way of knowing what lie ahead for him as he loaded his father’s grain and bread and cheeses into his pack. He only knew that he had to go for the sake of his father’s assurance…for a tangible sign of a soon-expected reality. A reality that would eventually shout victory because his heavenly Father’s assurance went with him.

It, too, goes with us this day. You need to know this, for many of you are facing a battle of untold proportions. You are weighing the matter out upon the soil of your faith…hoping for a win but, perhaps, expecting a loss. You may be fighting for the welfare of the brethren…for your brothers and sisters. For your sons and daughters. For your family and for your church. You may be fighting for the honor of your Father. For his name. For his renown. For his truth and for his Word.

It is good to understand what leads us into battle, and as a woman who loves her brethren and who loves her God, I will always find my fight on behalf of them both. And so I ask you again…

How do thee, my brethren, fare this day? Fare thee well or fare thee less, you have a friend in me. You fight not alone. You fight with an ally who is privileged to enter the battle alongside you. Together, we will march in victory with our Father at the lead until he ushers us from this battlefield into our forever field. A spacious place of milk and honey. An easy swallow for eternity and well beyond. And so I pray…

“Lead on O king Eternal, The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest, Thy tents shall be our home.
Thro’ days of preparation, Thy grace has made us strong,
And now O King Eternal, We lift our battle song.

Lead on O king Eternal, Till sin’s fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper, the sweet Amen of peace.
For not with swords loud clashing, Nor roll of stirring drums,
With deeds of love and mercy, The heav’nly kingdom comes.

Lead on O King eternal, We follow not with fears,
For gladness breaks like morning, Where’er Thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted o’er us, We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest: Lead on, O God of might.”
[ii]

Amen.

As always,

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Please feel free to leave a comment. At the end of our study, I will enter all comments into a drawing for a give-away. If you have a special prayer request, please indicate within your comment or via my e-mail on the side-bar. You give me much joy, my blogging friends. God be close to you this weekend.

[i]Baker & Carpenter, “rubbah,” The Complete Word Study Dictionary Old Testament (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2003), 6156.
[ii] Ernest Shurtleff, “Lead On, O King Eternal,” Then Sings My Soul Book 2 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), 202-203.

(allrightsreserved, elaineolsen – 2008)

13 Responses to Fighting to Win (part three): Understanding What’s At Stake

  1. “So how do we know the difference? How do we know when the battle belongs to us and is worthy of our sacred participation? We start by doing just exactly what boy David did.
    We listen to our Father.”~

    I like your thoughts here. A little over a year ago, my husband and I had to deal with a crushing blow that happened at his job.

    Long story short he had to take a pay cut that was devastating to us.
    He tried to find another job, but there weren’t any jobs to be had.

    I was so emotionally drained not only because of this situation, it was just simply the icing on the cake. We had such a difficult year of health issues, raising teenagers, etc., etc., so by the time the pay cut came about I just “lost it.”

    I went in to fix it mode. (Sometimes referred to as panic.) I made up a list of things that I needed to try to do to “fix” or “take care” of all the issues we were having to deal with.

    Of course the entire list was full of unreasonable solutions.:)

    Finally one day after crying myself to the point of near dehydration, I prayed to God and opened up my Bible.

    He gave me this verse that day.
    Exodus 14:14
    “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

    So, back to your statement at the top of this (very long) comment; I heard God loud and clear this day.
    The situation with my husband’s job was not our battle to fight; it was His.

    The job situation (for the time being) is still the same, but God has done miraculous things regarding our finances. Things we could not even make up if we tried.

    So many people didn’t understand why I didn’t go “get a job that pays money,” instead of staying at home and homeschooling the boys. I got a lot of “funny” looks when I explained to them what God had told me…….It was His battle to fight, and He did not need my help. He just wanted me to trust Him.:)

    Once I listened to my Father, I had (and still have) so much peace. I’m not saying I never have a bad day, but with this particular situation, He has told me to “be still”……and that is so much better than chasing my tail.:)

    Another wonderful post, Elaine.
    God Bless,
    Amy:)

  2. I have really missed you and talking to you…

    Whew…

    Good study… I’m listening to John Elridge the Sacred Romance right now.. It’s good.. reminds me a little of this study and what is worth fighting for.. or the passion of our heart…

    I hope to sit in my hammock and write some tomorrow…

    I hope you are doing well.. we need to catch up…

    love ya
    Connie

  3. Hey Elaine, I have never met the preacher that you asked about, but my husband and I both used to love to listen to him on the radio..:)

    Happy Mother’s Day!
    God Bless,
    Amy:)

  4. Elaine!I am back. HAven’t been able to get to the computer with all else going on…but had to stop over and say quick hey!
    I did a QUICK post. But have so much reading to catch up on (according to what you have up now!) I will love that! You are an incredible blessing!
    Love you—and have an especially blessed Mother’s Day.

  5. Thank you for your precious comment. I smiled at your statement about how once we cradled our boys and now they often “cradle” us.

    Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

    Blessings,
    Tracy

    P.S. Looking forward to working through part three and sharing a couple of thoughts on part two…(still a bit behind this week)

  6. Happy Mothers Day! And thanks for the comment on Laced with Grace.

    I’ve never taken a photo of the tabletop. I should though. I never sealed the grout and now it’s not as pretty as it once was.

    I think you should go for whatever project you have in mind.

  7. Hi Elaine:
    Wonderful thoughts on 1Samuel 17: 14-32. I never thought about it like that before.

    The prayer at the end was awesome!
    Thanks for doing this Blog Bible Study. It is so much fun.

    Marita

  8. Another great post, Elaine. It is amazing how many thoughts you can bring out of just a few scriptures. But God’s knowledge is unlimited isn’t it?

    You asked what my “artistic bent” was. The strongest would be music as I was born in a musical family. I was church pianist for many years, starting as a teen. And singing also had a big part in my life. I think I was about fifteen or sixteen when I started singing in a ladies trio. But I do very little of this now. I play on the computer keyboard 🙂

    I trust you had a very special Mother’s Day!

    mary

  9. For a brethren’s (sister’s) welfare, and my heavenly Father’s honor I’d have to say it would be a fight worth having. Thanks Elaine for the lesson.

  10. How many times have been bloodied when I chose a battle that wasn’t mine to fight! Oh how I have to pray before I choose to just jump in!

    Lead on Eternal King….

  11. I’m playing catch up and just finally last night and today had a chance to read through this and it’s accompanying scripture.

    Boy, does this speak to me this week. I am fighting a battle that seems to rear its head a couple of times a year, typically with little or no warning. I always pray for a heart of humility in how to respond…yet simultaneously feel somewhat paralyzed by fear (and as you said…where there is fear, there is dismay…) and so I simply continue in prayer until the present battle subsides…but always faithlessly expecting “a next time.” Oh that I may LISTEN to my Father, with a expectant and believing heart, that it is HE who can ultimately win the battle. I’m asking the Lord for a fresh realization of what is at stake that I may be propelled to action rather than paralyzed with fear, should that be what He desires in order to bring about victory.

    Thank you for these incredible insights and for your prayers on our behalf as you write…looking forward to working through the rest of these.

    Blessings my friend.
    Tracy

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