August 3, 2008

"Our Battle Cry"

1 Samuel 17: 38- 50

There have been many famous battle cries throughout the history of warfare.  "I have not yet begun to fight," said John Paul Jones .  "I shall return," said General Douglas MacArthur. "Remember the Alamo," shouted Sam Houston   Or one of more colorful battle cries was that of General George Patton.  A German general sent a communiqué to him asking him if he would surrender. 

"What shall we respond sir," asked the soldier who was charge sending back the reply. 

Patton's reply?  Nuts! 

"Nuts?" questioned the soldier.

"Send it." 

And then in our story for today there is the battle cry of David, God's chosen king,

"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

As we look at all of these battle cries, one thing that makes them memorable is the circumstances under which they were stated.  In each of these situations the leader was in the middle of battle in a situation seemed hopeless.  And by these words he demonstrated his courage in midst of that hopeless situation.    

In John Paul Jones case, his ship was burning and in danger of sinking when he shouted battle cry to the British admiral who had called on him to surrender.  Douglas MacArthur stated his famous words as he was retreating under fire from the Philippine islands.  Sam Houston's words came as his small army engaged a much larger Mexican army.  Patton's reply came as his battalion was surrounded by the Germans.  And David's, as he face the terrible Philistine warrior Goliath. 

David's battle cry, however, was more than just some courageous words.  David's battle cry showed how he understood the battle before him.  They gave David's perspective on the battle.

What do I mean when I use the word "perspective?"  Perspective has to do with how one views a situation or what he or she thinks about it.  A situation can be the same, but different people view it in different ways.  And how one views a situation often determines what he/ she will do.

Maybe an illustration will help.

"A cowboy was driving down a dirt road, his dog riding the back of the pickup truck, his faithful horse in the trailer behind.  He failed to negotiate the curve and had a terrible accident.  Not wearing a seatbelt, he was thrown from the car and he lay on the roadside groaning in pain.

Sometime later, a highway patrol officer came on the scene.  An animal lover, he saw the horse first.  Realizing the serious injuries, he drew his service revolver and put the animal out of its misery.  He walked around the accident and found the dog, also critically hurt.  He couldn't bear to hear it whine in pain, so he pulled out his gun and ended the dog's suffering as well.

Then he located the cowboy-- who suffered from multiple fractures-- off in the weeds.

"Hey are you okay?" the cop asked.   The cowboy took one look at the smoking revolver in the troopers hand and quickly replied,

The cowboy looked over at his dog and his horse and replied, "Never felt better in my life."

That cowboy's perspective-what he thought about the situation he was in--- certainly influenced what he said to that policeman. Similarly, David's battle cry, which gave his perspective on the situation, explained to everyone why this shepherd boy with no battle experience went out to fight against great giant warrior.

  In v. 47 David shouts, "the battle is the Lord's.  In saying this he indicates that he sees things quite differently than Goliath.   Goliath saw this a battle between two groups of people.  In v. 8 called this a battle between the Philistines and the "servants of Saul."  We see in v. 10 that he believed that he was defying and cursing Israel.

The soldiers in Saul's army agreed with Goliath.  They told David in v. 25,

"Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely, he has come up to defy Israel;

Both saw this as merely a battle between two peoples, Israel and the Philistines. But that's not how David saw it.  Listen again to what he says to Goliath,

 I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Here he proclaims the same truth that he did in v. 26, when he said,

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

David saw a pagan rebel challenging the living God.. He didn't just see Philistines and Israelites.  To him the Philistines are uncircumcised: They are not God's people and God had not promised to be their God. To him the Israelites are God's chosen people and their army is the "army of the living God. And to challenge God's people is challenge God himself. This pagan rebel was challenging the God of heaven and earth.  And he is the only true God there is.  As Psalm 115 puts it   Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.  But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

Brother or sister, how do you view the struggles in which the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is engaged?   Are they merely a struggle with other human beings or are they struggles between the rebel soldiers of the devil and the army of Jesus Christ?  Do you really see it battle between Satan and God?

How does Paul put it in Ephesians?

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

 When we go out and witness, are we merely just trying to make our church grow or are we recruiting new soldiers for our king? Are we gaining new brothers and sister in Christ?  When we fight racism, abortion, or other injustices are we fighting merely for human rights or are we fighting those who are attempting to destroy the moral order of. the living God?  People of God, "what is your perspective on the battles we are fighting???"

Seeing the battle as one between Satan and God makes our battle one that's worth fighting. Viewing the battle in the proper perspective makes us willing to set our fears, it prods us from our complacency, it forces us to engage the enemy.

That is why David was so alarmed that no one in Saul's stood up to Goliath. This uncircumcised pagan cursed the living God!!!! And nothing could stop David from engaging him- not his envious brother, not his lack of battle experience, not skepticism of the kings, nor ridicule of the giant. Nothing could stop him. God's honor was being maligned. God's people must act

The battle between God and Satan is the most important struggle there is. As God's people, we have no choice but to be involved. No, we are not all called to be involved in the same way. God gives us different gifts. But we all must be involved.  And this struggle involves all of life. It involves our families. We must struggle against and fight all the Satanic forces that attempt to break up families and promote selfish individualism. Kids, fighting the battle means being obedient and honoring our parents in a world where our friends are sassing and rebelling against theirs.  Fathers and mothers, fighting the battle means loving our children, even if it means setting aside some of our own desires. It means loving our spouses in the same way Christ loves his church. The battle involves our working life. It involves our political choices. It involves our everyday relationships. In all we do we must demonstrate, work for, and struggle for the love, the joy, the peace, and that he intended for his world. In everything we do and through direct confrontations we must attempt to win the world for our Lord and Savior. Not doing so means that we who claim to be children of the living God, are sitting by while rebel human beings dishonor the name of our God.

But we must careful here that our own self-centeredness and pride or our love of our country, or even our love for our families will not cause us to equate our personal, our national, or family battles with the battles of God. For the cause of God cannot be equated with the cause of an individual, a squabble between families, or even the cause of secular nation. (One must not equate Israel with the United States. Israel was a special people of God.  The United States is secular nation.) But, that is why we need soldiers in God's army to serve as politicians and as soldiers in the United States army. For unless God's people are involved in issues of war and peace, how can this country be influenced by Biblical concerns of justice and righteousness

As Christians, we must also not equate our own opinions and prejudices with God's battles. We must very careful to try to understand what God says in Word and try hard to understand the world around us. We must not let our personal battles or misunderstandings get in the way of our battle for the Lord. 

Viewing things in the right' perspective is not only important for helping us understand the importance of the battle, it also determines what our weapon will be.

 Because David saw that the battle is the Lord's he did not trust in human weapons or human skill.  Saul's assessment of David's abilities as soldier was accurate. He was not a warrior; he was a shepherd.  If he depended on his own skill, David wouldn't have a chance. Saul pointed this out in verse 33. He told David that he was only a youth, but Goliath was a soldier from his youth up. He was saying to David that even when Goliath was a youth like you he was a fighter. He would have beaten you then.  And now he's an experienced soldier, you don't have a chance!

David proved that what Saul said about him was true. He put on the armor of a warrior and took a sword in his hand. But, he could hardly walk. He wasn't used to the weapons of warrior, because he wasn't a warrior. But he knew that difference in the battle would not come from skill in weaponry, but from the fact that the battle was the Lord's. It wasn't human skill or cunning that would make the difference, but the living God of heaven and earth. Goliath laughed at his sticks and stones and he had every reason to laugh. These were not the weapons of a soldier. But the truth is that they were not David real weapons either.  Listen again to his words

"you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord."

But what does David mean when he used the words, "the name of the Lord>" When he said this he was really telling Goliath that God himself was present right there on the battlefield and that he was fighting by the power of God. In Old Testament times the name of someone stood for that person himself. When the Psalms call on us to praise God's name, they are telling us to praise God. Thus, from David's perspective God was doing the fighting. David saw himself simply as God's instrument. That was the same perspective that he had used to reassure King Saul.   David told Saul, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from this Philistine."

Notice that David said to Goliath that the purpose of this whole fight was to show Israel, Philistia, and all gathered around, "it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, but that the battle is the Lord's." That was something that Philistines didn't know and Saul and God's people had forgotten.

And that message is very relevant for the church today. In our efforts to evangelize the lost, we plan and organize; in our fight against evil in our society we march and protest and organize politically. God can use all of that. But let's keep the right perspective. We must realize that the battle is the Lord's.   Our organizing and planning and struggling mean nothing unless it is done with trust in the living God. It's God who bring victory and him alone

All of the memorable battle cries that I referred to a few minutes were cries of successful generals and admirals. Probably most memorable battle cries are. We tend to remember winners more than losers. And we find in our story that David too was a successful in his fight against Goliath.

But, as we engage the enemy today, how do we know what outcome will be?  We are still in the middle of the battle. The enemy is still throwing his spears at us. And some of us have been wounded.

Today, as those who are still fighting, we can know the outcome of the battle only by faith. But, our faith rests on the reality of what God has already accomplished in Jesus Christ.   It rests on the truth that Apostle Paul points to in Colossians 2: 13- 15

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,  having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

We know that our God will prevail, because we have known his power in our own lives.  In spite of our doubts and fears, in spite of our sins, we know that we belong to Jesus and that nothing will separate us from his love.

Yet in the thick of conflict our battle cry is a cry of faith. Someday our faith will be sight, but not yet. Today we cry out in faith. The battle is the Lord's!   And the Lord in whose name we fight will give us the strength we need to achieve nothing less than full victory Nothing less.   AMEN !