STRENGTH
“And also the Strength of Israel will not lie
nor repent: for he is not man, that he should repent.” I Samuel 15:29
Strength
is one of the names of God. The
definition means eminence. It has to do
with perpetuity, victory, and everlastingness.
“In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1) He is the one outside of time. He was and is and evermore shall be. He is the supreme, the everlasting Father and
the King of kings.
From
him all things exist. “For by him were all things created, that
are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by
him, and for him…” (Colossians 1:16)
and “For in him we live, and move, and
have our being…” (Acts 17:28)
We
might think of strength as muscles or power to conquer, but the core of
strength is in the ability to make things happen or to control. It reminds me of the children’s game King of
the Mountain. The strongest kid was the
one who could gain and keep the highest point on the hill. His strength was in the fact that he could
put all others down and hold his spot.
Might seem rather trite, but that is the basic picture of the word as
used here.
God
is King of the Mountain. No one can take
his place. He has power to knock them
down if they try. He will always hold
his place. Always has, and always
will. And, he doesn’t have to explain to
anyone why he is on top. It is his
earned and deserved place. He is the
Eminence – the one who endures.
Our
place is to stand in awe of his majesty and power. His strength is definite and secure. It is a place we can find confidence and
security. He is not a man – he is THE
GOD - The God of Strength.
Are
you secure in Him?
STRENGTH
“The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with
majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength….”
Psalm 93:1
Being
clothed with strength indicates the ownership of the Lord in all areas:
material, physical, personal, social and/or political. As he sits upon his throne he not only is
Strength, he adorns himself in strength – in ownership. His essence is strength. He reigns majestically. No one can thwart his power.
As
His children, we have access to His strength.
Psalm 28:7 – “The LORD is my
strength and my shield…” and Exodus
15:2, “The LORD is my strength and song…”
along with several other similar verses tell us that we can wrap ourselves in
this clothing also. Like putting on the
cape of Superman, we avail ourselves of His power and exercise the assurance
that comes from strength.
It
is not our own strength; it is His strength.
As ambassadors and representatives of a higher authority, we can stand
assured that He has our back. From this
assurance come boldness, courage, and confidence. It also brings protection and rejoicing. It reminds me of the boldness of David as he
viewed the situation with Goliath and the army of Israel. “…for
who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the
living God?” (I Samuel 17:26)
David
knew the strength of the LORD and he was given, if you like, supernatural power. He was not timid or afraid to place his trust
in this power. He put on the cape of
God’s strength knowing God would deliver him because he was acting upon faith
and the solid understanding of the majesty, supremacy and strength of his God.
How
many times do we fail in our Christian lives, or run from things we believe too
big for us, just because we do not stop to consider the strength of our
Lord? We think the battle is one we must
fight alone, or we think God just isn’t interested in our battle. Nothing can be further from the truth.
God
is there to be our help. He is there to
be our strength. We just need to put on
the cape and become superhuman – through His power working in us.
STRENGTH
“The way
of the LORD is strength to the upright…”
Proverbs 10:29
“God is my
strength and power…” II Samuel 22:33
“….for the
joy of the LORD is your strength…”
Nehemiah 8:10
“But the
salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of
trouble.” Psalm 37:39
In each of these verses the word “strength” means a place of safety, fastness, harbor, stronghold or refuge. Let’s paraphrase them a bit and see what picture we can draw.
If we walk in the way of the Lord we
will be walking in a safe place because God is a safe place. He is a refuge and harbor. Our attitude toward Him affords us
strength. No matter what trouble we face
we can know that God is our place of safety.
It reminds me of Proverbs 18:10, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the
righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”
I don’t know how many times this verse has come to give me strength when
I have faced times of trouble. The
trouble might not have been resolved, but I found that place of safety in the
Lord. In his name – which is? STRENGTH!
The strength of the Lord allows me to
rise above the petty issues of life. It
creates in me hope and patience. Knowing
that I have a place of harbor and a strong tower into which I can retreat for
rejuvenation gives me endurance. The joy
in knowing whom I am in Christ and that my God is supreme and eminent resolves
fear.
“I will lift
up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” When we know we are walking as He commands,
and believe that He is the Eminent One, we will find joy. We will find strength – even in the day of
trouble, because we know where to look for strength!
Are you looking in the wrong places?
STRENGTH
“There is no king saved by the multitude of an
host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. The horse is a vain thing for safety: neither
shall he deliver any by his great strength.”
Psalm 33:17
“….by strength shall no man
prevail.” I Samuel 2:9
Human
strength is no assurance of victory.
Just one small stone brought Goliath to the ground. And a horse, though strong and swift, is
nothing compared to the strength of the Lord.
I
grew up with horses. My father trained
them and each member of our family had our own horse. We competed with them in horse shows and rode
them on trail rides. My sister and I
spent many long summer days out riding and playing with our horses.
My
horse was a Shetland pony named Kokomo.
He had loads of personality and was quite a free spirit. But he couldn’t be trusted not to run off
with you if he was so a mind. And also
he had no shame in nipping you if you weren’t doing things the way he
desired.
As
I thought about a horse and safety I could only come up with one advantage –
Kokomo could run. I could get away from
danger, possibly, but I could not look to him for defense.
Israel,
though God had commanded them not to multiply horses (Deuteronomy 17:16),
counted their strength by the number of horses they owned. Why?
Because mounted on a horse a man had an advantage over the foot
soldier. And, horses aren’t afraid of
battle. They will obey and run right
into the thick of it. But that doesn’t
mean the horse is doing the fighting!
God
plainly tells us that human strength and the strength found in created things
cannot prevail against His power and will.
We
are constantly on the hunt for a place where we can find a friend upon which we
can lean, a person who will be there for us and be our strength when we feel
weak and burdened by the cares of this world.
Sadly we attach ourselves to all sorts of things hoping that they will
give us security – retirement funds, better jobs, social networking, more
insurance policies, etc. While we are
busy trying to create our safety net in our own strength and wit we are
overlooking the actual source of strength – our Everlasting Father.
God
declares to Hosea “But I will have mercy
upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not
save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” God is in the business of using His strength
to take care of His people. How foolish
we are to look to any other person or thing for the strength and security
offered by the Strength of Israel – our God.
Take
time to look at these three verses in Psalms.
Each one assures you of God’s strength in your life. Psalm 20:6, 22:19 and Psalm 138:3
STRENGTH
“And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness….” II Corinthians 12:9
Hodge
explains “the strength of God is perfected, i.e. clearly revealed as
accomplishing its end, in weakness.
Weakness…is the condition of my manifesting my strength. The weaker people are, the more conspicuous
is God’s strength in sustaining and delivering them….the power of Christ is not
only thus manifested in the weakness of his people, but in the means which he
employs for the accomplishment of his purposes.”
Piper
explains…”God ordains that Paul be weak, so that Christ might be seen as strong
on Paul’s behalf. If we feel and look
self-sufficient, we will get the glory, not Christ. So Christ chooses the weak things of the
world “so that no man should boast before God”
(I Corinthians 1:29). And sometimes
he makes seemingly strong people weaker, so that the divine power will be the
more evident.”
We
love to think about the grace of God being sufficient, and we readily admit
that we are weak creatures. Most
commentators focus on these two elements.
However, our consideration is the word strength. It means power and ability, but it is more
than just the quality of being able. It
is inherent power - power that resides by virtue of the nature of the
owner.
The
Greek word is “dynamis”, from where we get our word dynamite. In God it is the power to perform miracles
out of the moral power and excellence of his nature. It is His ability to effect change due to the
power He exerts or puts forth. This
ability is made “perfect”, meaning complete, as it enters into the weaker
vessel to accomplish an end goal – that of endowing strength in order to create
change.
God
is able to enter your life and create the strength necessary to face life’s
challenges. It is God in you that makes
you strong and helps you persevere. It
is His moral force that creates power in you.
No
need to fear your human weakness. “If God be for us, who can be against
us?” (Romans 8:31) Allow His strength to be the driving force of
your life.
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