THE GOD OF THE ARMIES OF ISRAEL

As Goliath thundered his challenge, the armies of Israel quailed. Eliab was a man of some stature, 1 Sam. 16. 7, but he was unwilling for the duel. Every man in the army was dwarfed by King Saul, 1 Sam. 9. 2, but he had no heart for the fight. Thankfully, the armies of Israel had a God, and there was a young man who had confidence in that God. His confidence, courage and commitment embarrassed the two big men, and the one was angry, v. 28, the other sceptical, v. 33. The one charged him with pride, and the other with inexperience, hence the need for the ill-fitting, untested armour! David was neither proud nor inexperienced. His confidence was in the God of the armies of Israel, v. 45, a God whom he had proved in the emergencies of life, vv. 34-37.

On occasions, the God of the armies of Israel gave them victory without a blow being struck. After the Exodus, the message to the people was, ‘stand still… The LORD shall fight for you’, Exod. 14. 13-14. A ‘great multitude’ came against Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 20. 2, a company against whom they had ‘no might’, v. 12, but the word of encouragement was, ‘Ye shall not need to fight in this battle’, v. 17. Hezekiah took precautions in the face of the Assyrian threat, but in the final analysis, his trust was in the God of the armies of Israel: ‘with him (Sennacherib) is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles’, 2 Chr. 32. 8. Let us take courage from these incidents, and in circumstances where no strategy seems appropriate, depend on Him and rejoice in this, ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ Rom. 8. 31.

As in David’s situation, there are occasions when we have to be militant. The one who said, ‘I have fought a good fight’, 2 Tim. 4. 7, urges us, ‘Fight the good fight of faith’, 1 Tim. 6. 12. ‘Earnestly contend for the faith’ is the command from Jude, v. 3. In various spheres, the believer is on military service, and his courage and commitment should be such as to please the God of the army, the One who ‘hath chosen him to be a soldier’, 2 Tim. 2. 4. He is the only source of victory, for ‘greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world’, 1 John 4. 4.