THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S

By Kingsley Baehr

All of us, at various times in our lives, find ourselves having to fight battles—against sin, against emotional distress, against physical temptations, and against spiritual darkness. In the Old Testament of the Bible, God’s people Israel often had to fight battles against physiccal enemies. Therefore, we can take God’s role in their battles and apply it to our battles listed above. We can read the following excerpts from the Old Testament and ask God to work for us in the same way.

I. WHEN THE SITUATION SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE. – Exodus. 14:13,14

“And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of theLORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace [shut up!].’”

His Will It is His will that I should cast my care on Him each day; He also bids me not to cast my confidence away. But oh! how foolishly I act when taken unaware, I cast away my confidence and carry all my care! — James Seward

II. WHEN WE ARE AFRAID – Deuteronomy – 20:2-4

“So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’”

III. WHEN WE ARE PERSONALLY CONFRONTED BY A GIANT – 1 Samuel 17:45,47

“Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied... Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.’”

IV. WHEN WE FEEL POWERLESS – 2 Chronicles. 14:11

“And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, ‘LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!’” [Asa’s enemy had 1,000,000 soldiers and 300 chariots vs. Asa’s 580,000 soldiers.]

V. WHEN THE ENEMY SEEMS UNCONQUERABLE – 2 Chronicles. 20:15-17

“And he said, ‘Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude,” ‘for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.’” [The three nations that were attacking Israel represented the world, the flesh, and the devil. (Ammon = world; Moab = flesh; Edom = devil.)]

VI. WHEN WE ARE BOMBARDED WITH INTIMIDATING TRASH TALK – 2 Chronicles 32:7,8

“‘Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”

VII. WHEN THE ENEMIES OF GOD ARE TRYING TO ABORT THE WORK OF GOD – Nehemiah 4:19,20

“Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, ‘The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.’”

VIII. WHEN WE WONDER WHETHER GOD REALLY IS ALL POWERFUL Psalm. 115:3 ; 135:6

“But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” “Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places.”

IX. WHEN WE TRY TO DO THINGS IN OUR OWN STRENGTH – Zechariah. 4:6

“So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the LORD of hosts.”’”

And finally, three encouragements from the New Testament of the Bible

X. WHEN WE FOCUS ON THE ENEMY RATHER THAN ON GOD – Romans. 8:31-39

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

XI. WHAT OUR JOB IS – 1 Timothy. 5:12

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” [We often leave off the last two words “of faith” when we battle our enemies. Our battleis not against the enemies, but is to exercise faith in an unseen God Who will fight the enemies for us.That is the battle against doubt and for faith that we must fight.] “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.” —George Muller

XII. WHAT OUR TESTIMONY SHOULD BE – 2 Timothy. 4:7

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”