Worshippers And Warriors

"God trains my hands for battle; He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; Your help has made me great. You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping."
                                                                    Psalm 18:34-36




Working our way out of a difficult situation in our lives can sometimes take awhile, even when we have God on our side.  Knowing that God has the ability to instantaneously deliver us can sometimes cause more angst as we struggle against the knowledge that He chooses not to, yet. We can ask Him all the "why" questions (which is perfectly fine), only to find out that there are better questions to ask.  Examples of better questions might be, "God, what part of Yourself are You revealing to me in this situation?" or "God, what parts of myself need to be changed as a result of what I am experiencing?"

If we have the right attitude and perspective, there is so much we can learn. That is what David did, when he was in the midst of an intense battle, where King Saul was trying to take his life. No matter how much Saul came against David and persecuted him, David never considered Saul his enemy. Instead, he sought God for strategies and gave praise and thanks to the Lord for His many mercies. David learned how to both war and worship-- God's way.

The entire 18th Psalm is the psalm of praise and victory that David wrote after God delivered him and made him king over all of Israel and all the nations that stood in opposition to Israel. It shows how David did what he could do and then trusted God to do what only He could do. There was never a Plan "B"; only God's Plan "A", which was a plan of deliverance and coming out on top so that God would be glorified.

Throughout the Bible, God refers to Himself as a warrior. In Exodus, we are tole, "The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His Name" (Exodus 15:3). In Revelation 19, we are told that Jesus is coming back to earth as a warrior riding a white horse, followed by a mighty army with a sword. All the great men and women that God used mightily had to first be a warrior in their heart.

According to Merriam-Webster, a warrior is defined as "a person engaged or experienced in warfare".  In other words, a warrior fights for something greater than himself. In the passage above, we are told that God trained David's hands for battle, and He does the same for us today. Each one of us should be engaged in some type of battle that is greater than ourselves-- an unsaved loved one, a cause of injustice, or standing for what is right in an ungodly society. We can do this through both prayers and actions.

When we put on the armor of God daily (Ephesians 6), we hold both the sword and the shield. The sword is the Word of God, which we declare over our circumstances and the shield is what gives us victory over the enemy. When our hearts are pure before God, we can worship Him in advance for what He is going to accomplish on our behalf.

Hope leads to faith and both march us closer to our victory. What we focus on determines if we are hopeful or hopeless. We must take our lives back and hold onto hope, because a victim suffers defeat and not victory. God calls us to be victorious. In fact, Jesus already died and paid the price for our victories.

Now, for those of you who are suffering, the last thing I want to do is to sound trite and even intimate that victory is easy. Actually, it rarely is. Often, we must wait on the timing of God and learn to trust Him even when are circumstances are loudly screaming the opposite. These are the times to worship Him with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

Worship will bring us into the presence of God and more understanding of the heart of God. There is nothing our country needs more of today than this. If people really understood God's heart and love for themselves, they wouldn't feel the need to reject Him and rebel against His precepts. They would be drawn to Him and in love with the goodness of who He is.

Revival in our nation will occur when God's children become both warriors and worshippers. Jesus tells us that "the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers" (John 4:23). We must worship God first and then get in the fight in the world around us. One of the best ways to fight is through prayer and intercession.

Not one of us is called to sit on the bench. Each one of us can do something. We can pray, and worship, and serve, and love. Given the hour on the Kingdom calendar, we should be even more cognizant to what God is calling us to do. We cannot be distracted by life, or circumstances, or anything else. We are here with purpose, and I know each one of us want to fulfill our calling and purpose. We can and must stay in the fight regardless of any limitations we may have.

David called on God and God delivered him. He obeyed God and God rewarded him. He submitted to God and God equipped him. He worshipped God and God was glorified in a mighty way.

Very often, our difficult circumstances are a set-up from the Almighty so that others may see Him in our lives. God will vindicate us in His timing and in His way. When we are patient, trusting His processes, we will see that He worked all things together for our good. In the meantime, we are called to be both worshippers and warriors!


"Lord, raise up warriors, who will fight on their knees, who will worship You with their whole heart."
                                                         The movie War Room