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The Battle Belongs to the Lord


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The Battle Belongs to the Lord

 

I got a text at 4:15 AM on Wednesday from Dad, who said that God fought the battles of the good kings of Judah in the Old Testament. He wanted a sermon on how that happens with Christians and our battles. God absolutely did fight the battles for His righteous children in the Old Testament. He even helped out wicked, evil, idolatrous Ahab one time. 

I Kings 20: 13

 

So let’s ask ourselves a few questions and answer honestly in your mind. What are the circumstances in your life that make you feel like an underdog?  In which area do the odds against you seem so overwhelming that they are insurmountable? When in your life do you feel like everybody and everything is working against you?  I would be surprised if there’s not some situation like that, either physical or social or financial or domestic or spiritual, in each and every one of our lives multiple times a day. When you think of what that thing is for you, imagine approaching it with the spirit of the words of a beautiful song that we don’t have in our books because it was written after our books were published. The title of the song is “The Battle Belongs to the Lord”, and that’s the theme of our lesson today. I’ve included the words in an extra handout so we can learn it and sing it at the end of the lesson.


 

The first verse of the song goes like this. I’ll sing it to get you the melody, and ya’ll sing it with me the second time. As you’re singing, pay attention to the words. 

 

“In heavenly armor we’ll enter the land,

 

The battle belongs to the Lord.

 

No weapon that’s fashioned against us will stand,

 

The battle belongs to the Lord.”

 

The willingness to face life with that spirit is an important part of what it means to be the Lord’s people. The fact that the battle is the Lord’s is a very meaningful Bible theme, and our actions taken in keeping with this conviction is called faith. But this is also a theme which needs to be understood biblically and applied properly.  Let’s think through it together.

 

The Scriptures most definitely teach that the battles facing His children clearly belong to the Lord. The truth is clearly demonstrated in two striking episodes from the days of the kings.  One is from the best known event of David’s life. The imposing, intimidating Philistine champion Goliath had been confronting Saul and the ranks of Israel day after day, mockingly defying them to send some representative out to fight him. 

When the young man David arrived and saw the armies of the living God cowering in dismay before their idolatrous opposition, he volunteered to go out in Israel’s behalf, taking only his staff, his sling, and five smooth stones in his shepherd’s pouch. The huge, heavily-armed Philistine came to meet him with disdain, cursing David by his gods and promising to deliver his body over to the vultures there in the field. David’s dramatic response is recorded for us.

I Samuel 17:45-47

 

The Philistine champion was delivered into the hand of the youth who believed unquestionably that the battle belonged to the Lord. 

 

The other comes a little more than a hundred years later when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. God fought the battles for the righteous kings of Judah. Here we see where a huge multitude from Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir came up against Jehoshaphat for battle.  Jehoshaphat was afraid, but he did what he was in the habit of doing. He set his face to seek the face of the Lord. He had all of Judah assemble to seek help from the Lord, in whose hands are power and might so that none are able to withstand him, and he prayed.

II Chronicles 20: 12

 

The Lord’s dramatic response to his prayer is recorded for us. 

II Chronicles 20:15-17

 

The battle was the Lord’s.  He set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, and they all destroyed each other. 

 

The idea of the battle being the Lord’s appears in several other passages, even if the phrase is not used.  Hannah stated it in a prayer.  

I Samuel 2: 9

 

We have Elisha’s reaction while being surrounded by horses and chariots and a great army of Syrians.

II Kings 6:16

 

Why was Elisha not worried? Because he knew that the battle belonged to the Lord.

II Kings 6: 17

 

Zechariah states the theme of the battle belonging to the Lord.

Zechariah  4: 6

 

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible clearly teaches us that the battle belongs to the Lord. It is up to us to figure out and see exactly what this means and what it does not mean. It does not mean that the Lord would have us go out to engage in a violent physical action in behalf of his cause. He has not called us to engage in any holy wars. 

He has not promised us any triumphs over political foes. The Lord’s kingdom is spiritual. It exists in any nation in the world where people obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 10:3-5

 

It does mean that when we are willing to follow him and uphold his cause and wait for him, he will be with us, with the power and wisdom to overcome the strongest enemies by the weakest means. David courageously went out to meet Goliath. Jehoshaphat and the people had to stand firm and hold their position and see the salvation of the Lord on their behalf. Even though they had to do something, the battle was still the Lord’s.

Psalm 33:16-19

 

The ultimate demonstration of this fact  is what God has done to sin and death by means of the word of the cross. 

I Corinthians 1:25 - 29

 

The second verse goes like this: 

 

“When the power of darkness comes in like flood, the battle belongs to the Lord.

 

He’s raised up a standard, the power of His blood.  The battle belongs to the Lord.”

 

There are many valuable applications of this precious truth.  All Christians do face battles of one kind or another. Those battles may come from the way we are treated because of our faith.

II Corinthians 12: 10

John 16: 33 

 

They may also come from temptations we have to face. They may come from illness or disease suffered by us or a loved one. We will face these types of battles throughout our lives here on earth. 

 

How does the fact that “the battle belongs to the Lord” apply in such cases? Temptation should be met with the belief that the battle belongs to the Lord. Every single one of us face temptation on a daily basis. Even Jesus faced it.  Temptation is not in and of itself a sin, but it will lead to sin if we are overcome by it. The Lord, however, knows how to deliver the godly from temptations.

II Peter 2:9

 

He always provides us the way out of temptation.

I Corinthians 10:13

 

We also have to face sickness or disease with the conviction that the battle belongs to the Lord. Sickness is a part of life, even for faithful servants of the Lord.

Philippians 2:25-27

By the nature of it, there’s not a time when the limits of our ability are more obvious than when we’re in the grip of illness or disease. We’re told to do what we can do to take care of ourselves, and we’re told to accept the care of others. We are also told to pray to the Lord who can raise us up from it, and who will remain with us through it.  Some things are in his hands, not ours, as we just read in Philippians and as James wrote.

James 5:14-15

 

Responsibilities for a family or a congregation become bearable when we know that the battle belongs to the Lord. There is no anxiety like what you have when you have to watch for the best interest of individuals who have a will of their own, and who you have no real control over. It’s what parents feel when their kids are two, or teens making choices, or adults off on their own.   Any relationship work like this can only be done by people who realize that they are not God, but believe unquestionably that He is.

 

The doubts and uncertainties which accompany the obedience of faith also require us to remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. The obedience of faith doesn’t take away everything we wonder about or everything we’re not sure about.

 

 As with Jehoshaphat, there will be times when we don’t have any idea what to do, and those will need to be especially the moments when we turn to prayer and to God. 

II Chronicles 20:12

 

In the midst of the worst uncertainty, Jesus continued trusting God. 

I Peter 2:23  

 

We must do the same. Anything in our lives that causes us grief, pain, sorrow, or ill feelings can be coped with if we remember that the battle is not ours. It belongs to the Lord.  None of us knows what a day will bring. 

James 4:14

 

Any number of unanticipated  things can, and do happen. However, that doesn’t mean we have to be easy victims of whatever surprise comes along next. There are some things we know, no matter what.

I John 5:18-20

Romans 8:28

Philippians 4:13 




 

Now think again of those places where you feel like the underdog as we sing verse 3 of the song:

 

 “When your enemy presses in hard, do not fear, The battle belongs to the Lord.

 

Take courage, my friend, your redemption is near, The battle belongs to the Lord.”

 

The question isn’t whether God is up for the battle. The important question is whether I’m in His army or not. He fights the battle for those who are faithfully obedient to Him, and not anyone else. One must have heard the Word, believed the Word, and obeyed the Word by repenting of their past sins, confessing that Jesus is the Messiah, and being immersed in water to have their sins washed away.  The question, then, is whether I have the heavenly armor on and whether I’m a faithfully obedient New Testament Christian.

Ephesians 6:10 

 

When we are, we can easily recognize the sentiment expressed in the chorus of the song:

 

“We sing glory, honor

Power and strength to the Lord.

We sing glory, honor

Power and strength to the Lord.”

Do your battles belong to the Lord? Any one of us can answer that question affirmatively by choosing to be baptized into Christ and by living in keeping with that commitment. What’s your answer today? We’ll close now by singing the song in its entirety. 

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