Hammer on Anvil '

I have been meditating recently on 1 Samuel 15. Samuel the prophet tells King Saul that God wants
him to attack the evil Amalekites for how they treated Israel. The word from the Lord is clear; Saul is to totally destroy them. Women, children, cattle sheep -- "anything that belongs to them" (vs. 3).

Saul was not obedient, though. Thinking he knew better than God, he spared "the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs -- everything that was good." He also spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites. But "everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed" (vs. 9).

The word of the Lord came immediately to Samuel, and it was not a gentle word. God was angry, and said He regretted making Saul king. When Samuel confronted Saul about his disobedience, Saul assured Samuel that he did obey, and he only kept the "best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God."

Ah, we humans are masters of backpedaling, aren't we? When confronted with our sin, we sometimes make excuses to rationalize why we did what we did -- or didn't do what we were supposed to do. We act as if God should settle for partial obedience.

Samuel then had the difficult job of communicating God's judgment to Saul:

Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.

Ouch. I wonder if Saul thought to himself, Geez, one little mistake and I get dethroned? I've never been dethroned (except from my pride), but I have certainly been in Saul's position, where God called me on something and I tried to make excuses.

The thing Saul forgot is that God is God, as Samuel reminds him in verse 29: "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind." In other words, God didn't change His plan to destroy the Amalekites simply because Saul decided to wing it and make a few alterations. That's call sin, my friends.

And to make it worse, Saul then pretended that he only did what he did so that he would have the choicest animals to sacrifice to God. Have you ever done that? Have you ever sinned, but tried to justify it as somehow righteous behavior?

For example, someone may boast, "I just say the first thing that comes to my mind. I speak the truth, and that's just how I am." Never mind the fact that their mouth is like a loose cannon, and leaves destruction in its wake. They conveniently forget God's warnings about the power of life and death being in the tongue. In other words, they are doing what Saul did -- their sin is obvious to everyone else, but they justify it as righteous because they are "only speaking the truth."

Another person may swear up and down that they have forgiven someone who offended them. Yet when the two happen to bump into each other in a public setting, it is painfully obvious that a grudge is still being nursed. If you try to gently confront your brother or sister about their lack of forgiveness, you may hear something like, "I told God I forgave that person; it doesn't mean I have to be civil to them." In their minds they are righteous, but they are still clinging tightly to their perceived "right" to be unfriendly and standoffish.

I am guilty in both of these scenarios, and probably a host of others. I am learning to not try to justify my sin, but to do as David did when Nathan the prophet exposed his sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 12. He said very simply, "I have sinned against the Lord." Period.

Remember, my dear friends, we are called to live our lives according to God's standard for us, not according to what the world dictates, and not according to what we might see others doing. The next time you are tempted to rationalize your sin, spend some time in worship. As you stand naked before a holy, righteous God, you will come face-to-face with the gravity of your sin. You will also come face-to-face with a God who loves you and will forgive you, and whose Spirit empowers you to live victoriously over sin every day. Remember, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is alive in YOU!

"You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you" (2 Chronicles 20:17).

I love Jehoshaphat. Though mention is made of him as early as the Book of 2 Samuel, we really get to know him in 1 Kings 22, where we learn he is the king of Judah. He visits the king of Israel, who is distraught that "Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria” (verse 3). The king of Israel enlists Jehoshaphat to help him, and the first piece of advice Jehoshaphat gives him is to “Inquire first for the word of the Lord" (verse 5). Wise man. It is always best to seek the Lord, no matter what sort of battle you are facing.

The more familiar passage of Jehoshaphat is in 2 Chronicles 20, where the Moabites and Ammonites are coming against Jehoshaphat. It was a vast army, and Jehoshaphat admittedly was scared. But once again, his first response is to seek the Lord. He even proclaimed a fast throughout all of Judah. As the people fasted and prayed, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, and he spoke this word of hope to the entire assembly:

Thus says the Lord to you, "Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in the battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf."

Now that's an encouraging word from the Lord when you're facing an insidious enemy who looks way bigger than you, and you know that you are helpless in your own strength. Much like when Gandalf faced Balrog in "Lord of the Rings."



Though I can't post a video because of copyright restrictions, here's what happens: Gandalf first ensures that Frodo and the gang are all safe, and then stands between his friends and the terrifying Balrog. When Balrog threatens to cross over the bridge, Gandalf holds his position tenaciously (as we are instructed to do in 2 Chronicles 20:17) and ultimately does battle with the formidable beast.

When I first saw that movie, I got what a friend of mine used to call "Holy Ghost goosebumps." It was such a powerful portrayal of spiritual warfare, and I wasn't expecting to see something so biblical come out of Hollywood (Tolkien, yes, but Hollywood, no).

You see, my friends, this is how our God does battle for us. We need to remember that the war is already won, thanks to the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. No matter how desperate things may seem, the reality is that nobody can throw anything at us that can change what Jesus has done for us. This world is not our home, friends -- and sometimes we need to cling tightly to that hope when the world gets very dark and hateful. Even if we face death, that only means we will be in the presence of our Savior!

If you are up against a Balrog in your life right now, seek the Lord's counsel. Then "Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord."

Recently God has been showing me how I have treated my relationship with Him like a contract. "Okay God, I'll get up at 5 a.m. to pray and read the Bible. YOUR part is to ________." I expected God to come through and fulfill His part of the bargain based on whether I performed certain spiritual disciplines. In short, I was telling the Creator of the universe how to do His job.


What gall! How could I treat what should be a cherished Father/child relationship as if it were a business deal? And oh, if God violated the terms of the contract, He would have some explaining to do!

I have struggled for consistency in my spiritual walk for as long as I can remember. I was constantly on the lookout for clues/solutions that would suddenly zap me into the model Christian I longed to be. "Oh, if just do this-or-that, or have this-or-that experience, I'll finally be changed!"

But notice where the focus is in these statements? It's on ME. It was all about something I could do in order to get into God's good graces. Isn't that called a works mentality?

Yes, that's exactly what it is. Much like I used to "perform" for my earthly parents in hopes that they would accept and love me, I was doing things to try to get into my heavenly Father's good graces. One thing is very wrong with this type of behavior -- you tend to forget that Jesus already accomplished everything that needed to be done. That's how He was able to say "It is finished," when He died.

As I was repenting about my callous indifference to my Father's great love, I was reminded of a Keith Green song that addressed this mindset. The first verse is as follows:

My son, my son, why are you striving? 
You can't add one thing to what I've done for you. 
I did it all while I was dying; 
Rest in your faith; My peace will come to you.

You see, my dear brothers and sisters, we don't have to strive to be in a particular position with God.We cannot make ourselves more presentable to Him than Jesus has already made us. "But," you may argue, "Faith without works is dead! I have to work for God!" Yes, in order to be a follower of Jesus, we must deny ourselves daily, take up our cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). But this speaks of a life totally surrendered to God, and if you are striving every day, wearing yourself out trying to be acceptable to Him, that's a sure sign you are not in right relationship with Him.

If today you find yourself exhausted and in a place of striving, I encourage you with the words of Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God." Stop focusing on yourself and what you perceive are your shortcomings and failings. Instead, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."