Be of Good Courage and Strong

“Be of good courage and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight” 2 Samuel 10:12.

If I were in this situation that Joab finds himself in, sadly I’d be pretty nervous. Joab, the commander of the army and all the mighty men have been ordered by David to go out and fight. And the numbers are against them and Joab knows it. Previous to this moment David sent, in from what I can tell all sincerity, men to comfort the new King of Ammon, whose father had just passed. David was friends with the father and thus wanted to extend the invitation. But whether Hanun the son was still of young age or not wise enough to ignore his friends, he listened to their paranoia and couldn’t see the kindness of David’s actions by sending men to comfort him in his distress. Instead Hanun shamed these men and sent them away.

So of course, the nations are mad at one another. As I read this I think how absurd all the events are leading up to this battle. Silly people putting false meanings behind other people’s actions and because of overthinking they are now looking at thousands of people dying. I realize I probably have a higher view of the sanctity of life than they had back then but come on people. In my opinion (whatever it’s worth) many wars are fought over a great deal of overthinking and miscommunication between parties (and terrible people in those pivotal spots leading everyone else astray). However, I do sympathize with Hanun because I wonder how often I’m lead astray by popular opinion.

But Joab is preparing to fight. He’s split the army in two with his brother leading the other half. If one needs help the other will assist. I love the idea behind what this verse says- “Be of good courage and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” I love his strength, his calm, his enduring belief that if God wills, God provides. I love his confidence. But what I really love is his willingness to do what he can to make the situation better.

Too often we look at dire situations and we’re prone to give up. When we see the odds against us we’re far too quick to throw in the towel and run away. But David and Joab pray. They know God and they believe that if He chooses to, He can. But they believe in a practical sense knowing they still have responsibility here. There’s no pouting from Joab, no whining to make sure God’s actually paying attention and knows what’s going on. He’s pledged loyalty to God and will complete his task. He’s going to be strong and courageous just like God challenged Joshua to be. But Joab’s final word isn’t a plea for help; it’s a statement of faith in God’s plan being bigger than his.

“And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” Do I have this kind of faith? Not my will Lord, not mine but Your will be done. Not what seems good to me or what’s popular but what’s good to You, do that. Do I know God well enough to deeply trust that what’s good in His sight is actually good?

We spend our prayer lives asking for this and that, money, jobs, health, marriage and a laundry list of other services. But I wonder how much time we spend with God, learning from Him, listening to Him, to find that what’s good in His sight is what’s good for us and we can trust in His goodness. I wonder if we actually believe He knows what’s going on all the time and our whining, complaining and sobbing before Him may help us feel better but I’m not sure how much good it actually does to teach us. We have this amazing God before us, longing to be in intimate relations with us, longing for us to know His goodness so that we can find His confidence, even in dire situations.

Laughter and Might

"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, 'Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision...Yet the Lord has said to me...'Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession'...Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling...Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him" Psalm 2, select parts (but feel free to read the whole thing).

Seems like our God is much smaller and much less capable than this passage infers. Not only does it infer He's pretty might but it says God laughs at the mightiest people on the planet when they try to plot harm on His children. But our god is too often in a box- he's shoved in the corner or left at home or kept in your hip pocket for an emergency. He's a safety net only guy that we call out to in desperation when we've gotten into another situation. We don't spend quality time with him and when we talk to him it's the laundry list of needs, mainly including "bless her, bless me" and "be with her, be with me." I read a book about a month ago where the author, Daniel Henderson, said he thought most people's prayer lives would be quite silent if we took out those two phrases.

Picture this passage. The kings and rulers of the earth are plotting. These powerful, ruthless, tyrannical men of the world who everyone probably was deathly afraid of angering were setting themselves to destroy God's anointed. They had decided and the death of many was near.

But before God held them in derision, He laughed at them. In my head He shakes His head in sadness that they hadn't grasped His authority and dominion, that they were so illogical as to think they could do what they want and overpower God. But I wonder how different, even as Christians, we truly are from these men.

Our god-in-a-box isn't powerful. He isn't mighty or strong. He's an idol and He isn't real. The real God is this God, the mighty God who sees that we are dust and not even a dot on the map of eternity. He doesn't need us and He doesn't get confused or flustered when we make plans. But despite our nothingness God makes us very much something. He calls us His people and says when other people plot against us it's like plotting against God and Jesus directly. And He doesn't tolerate that.

And beyond all this fighting for us and His mighty hand covering us, He still says "Ask of me."  Ask of me and I'll give you everything. You think you'll never get a job? You think you'll never get out of the miserable relationship you're in? You think you're stuck and life isn't worth it anymore? He gets it and He's saying "Ask of me." If He is who He says He is, if the Bible is correct then what are we doing mucking around in all the earthly stuff? Don't we believe God can do anything? Don't we want a God who is all-powerful? If He can go head-to-head with the greatest forces of the world and laugh because it's not even a challenge, I'm pretty sure He can also help you. It just takes faith to believe He will- and the amazing thing is He supplies that too.

Mistaken Prayer

"Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord"  Psalm 107:43.

I've often thought there are many parts, particularly in the Old Testament, where God is a very severe God, a wrathful God that sometimes takes a long while to relent if He does at all. And can we believe the Bible teachers that say He's a God of mercy who disciplines those He loves? Psalm 107 beautifully answers all those questions and provides deeper insight into the human condition.

Psalm 107 paints this tragic portrait of humanity and actually the very opposite idea of how severe we often think God. It points to God's extreme goodness and mercy and shows humanity to blame for all chastisement and correction. It's tragic to me because the human condition is so poignantly independent, and that to our demise.  This whole chapter is about God's people, His chosen people, wandering off in pursuit of lesser things that lead to darkness and emptiness. And four times it says "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses" (vs. 6,13,19,28). I look at the Israelites and I think "When will they learn?" God verbally talks to them, how hard could it be to just do what He says? But it must have been infinitely hard, and the more I live life the more I understand their humanity. God doesn't speak audibly to me, not that I doubt His ability, but yet He's provided me with these guides, the Bible and the Holy Spirit, that likely have greater ability to pull me in the right direction than even the Israelites knew in Psalm 107's reflection of events.

But the point I want to make here is the deep sadness I feel in relation to their plight. They call out to God AFTER they've dug themselves into a hole so deep they needed the supernatural to rescue them. It's this continual loop of giving thanks to God for His goodness and praising His name, then slinking downwards rather quickly to set their hearts on lesser things. Then getting too easily caught it darkness and death and needing to be rescued to THEN call out to God. But He rescues anyway. He rescues knowing they'll be back in this position in no time at all. He rescues because He is God and He is good and He is abundantly merciful. He's not accepting of our human condition but He's our Creator and He's chosen to love us and rescue us from ourselves.

I find it intriguing that we often don't learn from experience to experience. We too quickly cast off the trying times in our lives because we don't want to remember the painful memories of oppression and sadness. But really, if we allowed those things to remain as a gentle reminder of His goodness to bring us out, not remain as a crippling to our souls, then we might, just might learn and rely on Him in the good and the bad so that maybe we wouldn't have to endure so much of the bad--or at least we wouldn't view those trying times as bad as before. I think God wants to offer us infinitely more than we even know and we're holding ourselves back from that life of pure joy and peace by turning so quickly away from Him to lesser things.

Prayer is not meant as a last resort. It's not intended to be used solely in the depths of despair and trial. It's meant to praise God, to commune with Him, to meet Him in the stillness and find the right way, the way He'd have us travel so that maybe we wouldn't need or even feel so many moments of despair and helplessness. Maybe the Psalmist is right in this chapter in his deep longing for the people to "give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"  (vs 8 and others). He pleads for that to happen so that they can follow the right way and know God's goodness. I wonder what it would look like if we prayed without needing something- what kind of a world would that be and what kind of works would God perform in that world?