A Warrior’s Spirit
Psalms 27:1-14
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?
2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.
4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD
And to meditate in His temple.
5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a level path
Because of my foes.
12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
14 Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.
WWII: September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945
US dead: 407,300 - The total World War II was roughly 72 million people.
Korean War: June 25, 1950 - Full-scale fighting until an armistice on July 27, 1953
US dead: 36,516 - total - millions (as much as 2.5 mil)
Vietnam war: 1959 – April 30, 1975
US dead: 58,209 - total - 1,101,000
Gulf War or Persian Gulf War: (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991)
US dead: 148 battle-related deaths - 100,000 Iraqis
War in Afghanistan: October 7, 2001 - present
US dead: 459 - total - Between 10,000 and 20.000
War in Iraq: March 20, 2003 – present
US dead: 3,860 - total - 1,220,580
ILL.- A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it."
"Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!"
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. "Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in ’44 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find any Frenchmen to show it to."
David, God’s great veteran warrior, offers thoughts on engaging the enemy in spiritual warfare:
1. Keep your focus on God, not your fear. (Psalm 27:1-3)
Notice how David honors God first. Then, there is no need for fearing his enemies.
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread? NASB
"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
"The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" KJV
Undoubtedly one of the greatest hurdles to overcome in battle is fear.
David did not let fear take the song out of his life.
Max Lucado shares the story of a parakeet named Chippie. Chippie’s owner decided to clean his cage… with a vacuum cleaner. She was almost finished when the phone rang, so she turned around to answer it. Before she knew it, Chippie was gone.
In a panic she ripped open the vacuum bag. There was Chippie, covered in dirt and gasping for air. She carried him to the bathroom and rinsed him off under the faucet. Then, realizing that Chippie was cold and wet, she reached for the hair dryer! Chippie never knew what hit him.
A few days later when asked how he was recovering. "Well", she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares."
Have you ever felt like that? One minute you’re whistling through life, and the next you’re caught up in a whirlwind of unexpected events, you have no control over anything, and nothing you can possibly do has any effect . Life sucks you up into its vortex and just when you think you’ve recovered from one trouble, bam another something else happens.
Don’t be like Chippie the parakeet. Don’t let the song go out of your life.
But how is this possible to experience traumatic events, without any control? It is possible when we keep our focus on who God is, how great He is, and what He means to us, and what we mean to Him.
He is our light. He is our salvation. We are no longer living in the darkness of sin. No enemy can take God’s salvation from us!
David said in verse 2 and 3,
2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.
"When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell."
"Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."
Spiritual warfare requires absolute confidence. Not in our strength, wisdom or abilities. Our confidence in God is what gives us courage to challenge the enemy. Our enemy, when faced with our absolute trust in our Lord is the one who experiences the cold chill of fear running down his neck.
Psychological warfare plays a tremendous role in our battle with the enemy. If Satan and his demons can get believers to fear, to lose trust in God, they know they have gone a long way in winning a spiritual battle.
David, the veteran warrior for God, knew the secret to winning the fear game - focus on God, trust Him, depend on Him.
He also knew another secret to success in battle...
2. Practice consistent fellowship with God. (Psalm 27:4-10)
"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple." KJV
When David says "all the days of my life" he is talking about constant communion with God. He is not talking about coming to God only when he’s in trouble!
David puts it this way in verse 5, "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me upon a rock." KJV
Why did David have assurance in times of trouble? Because before trouble ever got to him, he had been dwelling in the presence of the Lord, he spent time fellowshipping with Him, he dwelt in God’s house "all the days" of his life.
One of the greatest mistakes you can make in spiritual warfare is to wait to train for battle when you hear the call to battle. The time to train is before the battle ever begins. I am told, in the military they practice every possible circumstance so that whatever happens it is second nature to respond without thought.
It is not by accident that David mentions several titles for God’s house when he talks of consistent fellowship with God. Some of our greatest training for battle takes place in the house of God.
David says, "That I may dwell in the HOUSE of the LORD all the days of my life", in verse 4, and "to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his TEMPLE."
In verse 5 he mentions the TABERNACLE and refers to it again in verse 6:
5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
For David, it was a priority to attend worship!
David was an excellent warrior for God because he was faithful to the house of God.
Some time ago, the governors of the western United States were warned about possible terrorist attacks on bridges. Transportation officials rushed to tell people that the bridges were safe in spite of the warnings.
If you watched the news, what you saw was a video of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fracisco as a backdrop to this news story. One transportation official standing by the Golden Gate explained why this particular bridge was secure.
Every bit of concrete, all the pavement, and every bit of steel in that entire bridge - all of it, relates one piece to another. Every piece of metal in that bridge finally relates to two giant cables, that finally come up to two great piers that go down into bedrock, and two anchors out on each side. That’s the genius of a suspension bridge - EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF METAL, EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CONCRETE, IS PREOCCUPIED WITH ITS FOUNDATION.
David’s life was like a suspension bridge. Everything was tied into God. He used the house of God as a focal point for his relationship to God.
This is where our strength must come from, we must be tied in to Jesus Christ, who is our salvation, our rock, our strength, our hope. When we are anchored to Him we can face whatever comes our way.
When David arrived at God’s house he sang praises (v.6), and he prayed: "Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me and answer me." KJV
Look closely also at verses 8 through 10:
8 When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the LORD will take me up. NASB
What are you seeking today? God never asks us to seek anything but Him. He asks us to seek His face, and He will provide our needs, give us strength for our day, give us hope for our future, for all of eternity.
To seek someone’s face is to seek intimacy. You don’t get into a person’s face with whom you are not close.
God wants us to get that close to Him.
It is even possible to lose closeness with others (v. 10), but God does not hide his face from those seeking communion with Him! Jesus is the good shepherd, typically the shepherd doesn’t hide from the sheep, the sheep don’t go looking for the shepherd. It is the shepherd who searches for, and keeps the sheep safe.
The key to victory in spiritual battle is consistent communion. Do you walk with God face to face, or is your relationship with God "on and off"? We’re people, and as such we have to work to maintain our relationships, we need constant correction to our course.
Strive for consistency. Especially in your relationship with the Lord. Make it a priority to worship, to spend time seeking His presence. That way when we need His empowering presence, we are there already.
One more piece of advice from this great spiritual warrior.
3. Live an upright life. (Psalm 27:11-14)
11 Teach me Your way, O LORD,
And lead me in a level path
Because of my foes.
The words "plain path" from the authorized version could be translated "straight or upright".
Very little is said today about the value of a morally good life. It is not politically correct to even say that one way of life is "good" and another is not, that one action is "moral" and another is not. But the word of God is clear, and if we honor it in our daily life, then we will be going in the safest, closest, most God honoring way possible.
God honoring values in society have been torn down in the name progress, this leads to spiritual weakness. The enemy tries to persuade us that God honoring values are outdated, intolerant, or unprogressive.
We should pray like David did in verse 12,
12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
People can be unkind when you when you seek to live a God Honoring life. They may falsely accuse you, they may refuse to associate with you.
Yes, there is such a thing as "goodness". It begins with God - look at verse 13 –
13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living. NASB
14 Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD. NASB
