09/10/2012 - The secret of serving the Lord

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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 Chronicles 19:13

The bond between the Ammonites and the Syrians described in I Chronicles verse 19 turned out to be the biggest confederation ever established against Israel. After the children of Ammon enraged David by cutting off the beards of those sent by the latter in a gesture to bring comfort for the death of their king many armies were gathered together to fight against the people of God; to do so a huge amount of money was spent to hire for themselves thirty two thousand chariots and also to call up countless horsemen from Mesopotamia, from the Syrian king of Maacah and those from Zobah.

Joab was the chief commander of the army of Israel and he was sent along with all the brave men to war. He split his forces into two groups: his group would face the Syrians and that of Abishai, his brother, the Ammonites. Thus, in case one of them needed assistance the other one would come to help. The chief commander then revealed the secret of his success to his brother: “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God”. Then he carried on saying, “And may the LORD do what is good in His sight.” 

Now, that must be our attitude whenever we engage in an enterprise we know to be the will of The Lord for us, and that very attitude will cause the enemy to despair and beat retreat. The devil can only win battles in the lives of those who won’t take attitudes with spiritual weaponry (II Corinthians 10:4), those who won’t fulfil the divine calling either. Therefore, we only have to resist with determination – as we’re based on The Word of God – for him to continue being the-all-time coward he has always been.

The Syrians could not cope with that and then they fled and the Ammonites followed suit. Thus Joab could go back to Jerusalem. Yet, the chief commander of the army of Hadadezer – the king of Zobah – masterminded a new attack against the children of Israel. As King David was informed about that he gathered his army together and led a counter-attack by tearing down seven thousand chariots and forty thousand foot men. On account of that massacre the Syrians began serving David and never again were they of any assistance to the children of Ammon.

This is the lesson we learn from that report: we mustn’t stop fighting against the forces of evil. They must be defeated or else we’ll always be in trouble. Demons must be well aware that you’re a soldier of The Lord and that you’ll never fail to fulfil the divine ordinances. Yet, in battles, you are only to be strong and of good courage because The Most High has promised that He’ll never forsake those who put their trust in Him.

Just like David we won’t be affected either. The stronger and the more determined we act regarding the divine work the more our Father will stretch out His hand to help us. So, whatever the force the enemy might be using against you or your family you must be strong and fearless. By doing so, you’ll have the necessary authority to make him run in despair.

Joab said to Abishai that they should fight on their people’s behalf and also on behalf of the cities of The Lord God. You must also fight for yourself, for your family, for your people and for the work of The Lord. Those who do that will have assistance from The Most High at all times, considering that He’ll be with all those who aren’t selfish, those who do His will.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares