VALIANT
“…son of Jesse the
Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man
of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with
him.” I Samuel 16:18
He who would valiant be ’gainst all disaster,
Let him in constancy follow the Master.
There’s no discouragement shall make him once
relent
His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.
Who so beset him round with dismal stories
Do but themselves confound - his strength the
more is.
No foes shall stay his might; though he with
giants fight,
He will make good his right to be a pilgrim.
Since, Lord, Thou dost defend us with Thy
Spirit,
We know we at the end, shall life inherit.
Then fancies flee away! I’ll fear not what men
say,
I’ll labor night and day to be a pilgrim.
John
Bunyan
Valiant – meaning
worthy, strong, capable, skilful, very able and virtuous. All of these definitions are portrayed in the
description of David in I Samuel 16:18, but the final phrase, “and the Lord is
with him”, captures the truth about being valiant. Such strong character comes from the
involvement of God in one’s life. A valiant
man knows that though he may be strong and wise, his real strength lies in the
fact that God is with him.
Take time to look at
the description of King David. He was a
talented musician, a brave warrior, a good businessman, well kept in
appearance, and godly. The Bible also
describes him as a man after God’s own heart.
Acts 13:22
We have only to look
through Scripture to see other men and women of renown who were also valiant,
Amos, Deborah, Esther, Daniel, Mary, Paul, etc.
Each of them rose to the calling of God in their lives to fulfil their
God- appointed purpose in life. Their
equipping was not of their own power, but of God’s. Their valiant choices and actions pointed to
the power of God working in their lives and their total obedience and trust in
their Lord.
They had made a
heart choice to follow – to be a pilgrim.
Would you describe
yourself as valiant? If so, why? If not, why?
VALIANT
“Through God we shall do
valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.” Psalm 60:12
Psalm 60:11 states that the help of man is
vain in the time of trouble. Sometimes
we forget that and are disappointed when our fellows fail us or do not respond
to our expectation. Someone once stated
that if we are looking for blessings from men, we are looking in the wrong
place. Blessings come from God alone.
Help is the same. Men are limited in what they can do, but when
God is in the midst, there are no limitations.
He is able to subdue any foe. He
is able to alter any circumstance. He is
able to remedy any problem. And when he
does, such a charge of energy and praise rushes through our souls that we have
to stop and acknowledge that God has fought our battle.
Sometimes others also see our success and fail
to recognize that our strength is coming from our Saviour. They want to laud praise on us for our great
character, or wisdom, or strength. Let
us always be ready to give the praise where it is due. Remember the words of Christ in John
15:5? “For without me ye can do nothing”.
When we have this attitude we can do valiantly
because we can work from the position that God is with us, he fights for us,
and will cause us to prevail. Our
valiant actions are the result of God working through us to accomplish His will
and to bring praise to His worthy name.
Do you recognize God’s involvement in your
life? Has he defeated any foes for you
lately?
VALIANT
“Be of good courage, and
let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our
God: and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.”
I Chronicles 19:13.
Joab is leading the children of Israel as they
are facing two foes - the Syrians and the children of Ammon. He has divided the people into two armies and
his battle plan is - “if the Syrians be too strong for me, then
thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I
will help thee.” He then gives them
the rally call of verse thirteen – “be of
good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people…” He is
charging them to do their best, to have courage, and to be valiant in battle.
Notice that he then leaves the outcome of the battle fully in the hands of the
Lord – “let the Lord do that which is
good in his sight.”
“Behaving ourselves valiantly” gives us a
further picture of the meaning of valiant.
Here it has the idea of hardening one’s heart in order to give strength
and to encourage, or to rally strength by physical and internal strength of
character. These people were in a hard
spot. The enemy was on both sides and
they were out numbered. Their commander
had formulated a plan, but even he knew that the outcome is in God’s
hands. Nevertheless, he did not want to
see them whimpering and fearful. In
battle they must do their part. They
must take up arms and defend themselves.
They must have stature and intent as they face the enemy.
We have a strong enemy and all around us the
battle rages. We, too, are not to be
whimpering and living fearfully, but we are to be strong and courageous, as we
trust in the Lord. In Ephesians 6 Paul
instructs us to put on the whole armour of God so that we can stand against the
fiery darts of the wicked. The words in
the passage indicate that we are to stand valiantly and rely on the equipment
God has provided. We are to be strong,
skilful and capable warriors. So, to
arms! Are you ready?
VALIANT
“And they bend their
tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon
the earth…” Jeremiah 9:3
This usage of the word “valiant” here means to
rise, to be greater, to prevail, to cause to triumph, or to confirm. The children of Israel had not stood for the
truth of God. They had given themselves
over to idols and become company with evil men.
The character of the supplanter had overtaken them and they had become a
family of liars. They had gone away from
the truth and had forgotten their God. Israel
was supposed to be the nation God would use to proclaim truth to the world. And
in truth, eventually, they will be, but in this era they have failed
miserably. They are not standing for the
truth of God.
To be valiant for the truth means that it is
to be held high. We are to live in such
a way that the truth of God’s Word is triumphant and visually confirmed. Lying is exactly the opposite of truth. When we allow falsehoods and exaggeration to
be commonplace in our language and lifestyle, we are not being valiant for the
truth. When we hold our tongues for fear
of ridicule, or fail to witness when prompted by the Spirit, we are not being
valiant for the truth. Praising God in
church on Sunday morning is not enough.
Our lives must show forth the truth of God valiantly. We are to live honestly and
courageously.
Would you say that you confirm the truth of
God by your language and lifestyle? Does
your life cause the truth of God to be lifted up and triumphant to those around
you? Are you valiant for the truth, or
ashamed of it?
VALIANT
“Quenched the violence of
fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed
valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Hebrews 11:34
Hebrews
eleven is knows as the Faith Chapter. It
is a history of those who walked by faith.
As we come to the later verses of the chapter the writer says that time
would fail him to tell of all of the men and women who had stayed true to their
faith, so he begins to condense his commentary by referring to actions instead
of individuals.
One
never knows how much courage he has until he is faced with a situation
requiring it. Nelson Mandela said, “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but
he who conquers that fear.” To wax
valiant in fight requires a person to not lay aside fear, but to face it. I saw a banner once that said, “Courage is
stronger than fear”, and when we think of the faithful ones who have gone
before us who faced great persecution and even martyrdom, we can know that they
experienced the truth of being valiant.
Even today,
though sadly we rarely speak of it, Christians are under severe persecution
throughout the world. They are held in
prisons waiting their outcome. They are mutilated and beaten. Reading accounts
of such persecution is hard reading, but it is also glorious as the believers
give count of the grace of God in their lives.
You or I
might never be called upon to face such persecution, but we can pray for those
who do. We can pray for them to wax
valiant, to have the courage to face their fear, to know God is with them in the
battle and to give them comfort and great faith.
Do you pray
for the persecuted brothers and sisters around the world? They are the valiant of our day - they need
your prayers.
