2 Sam 10/1 Chron 19: Your Part in the Fight

"Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him." 2 Samuel 10:12

Yesterday we looked at how the LORD delights to give victory to his chosen ones. Amidst our victories, we must always realize that it is the Lord within us who is giving us strength to continue on. Thus, after the war is won, he deserves all the glory. Yet, I would like to note today that this victory that the Lord wins is not apart from our own effort. Although God is doing the saving work and we are desperate without him, that does not mean that we simply "let go and let God." Although we trust in him with all of our heart, we still have a part to play in his sovereign plan. Let me explain.

In 1 Samuel 10, we find Joab in a great moment of faith. Joab is an interesting character in the Bible. At times, he is faithful, but most of the times, he is not. Yet this morning, we get to take a look at one of his successes. Before going to battle against both the Ammonites and the Syrians, Joab says this great statement of faith to his fellow officer: "Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him." Joab is currently surrounded by the enemy, but in this very moment, he encourages his commanding officer with these words, which contain aspects of both human responsibility and divine sovereignty. In one aspect, Joab was resolved on going out and fighting the battle: be of good courage. Yet on the other side of the coin, Joab knew that the only victory was that which was won by the Lord: my the LORD do what seems good. Without contradicting one another, Joab perfectly lays our for us how we ought to fight our own battles, both persevering on our own part (that is, with God's strength) as well as trusting that the Lord will work his sovereign plan.

If we turn to the New Testament, we find the same pattern. Consider quickly with me Philippians 2:12b-13: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." In this passage, we find a great command of Paul: work our your own salvation. The original Greek term here could also be translated "develop." In other words, Paul wants you to grow in the salvation God has given you. Rather than taking God's salvation for granted, Paul encouraged all Christians here to take an active posture in response to their salvation, striving to develop it out for all that its worth, even with "fear and trembling" (or "reverance and awe"). This seems rather active on our part, does it not? Well, Paul continues. Why ought we to do this? Because it is "God who works in you." Although Paul is commanding us here to grow in our salvation, the reason for that is because God is the one doing the work within us. Thus we find both man's responsibility and God's sovereignty in the process of sanctification.

Thus, we find that rather than "letting go and letting God," we have a different pattern for our own sanctification that looks like daily perseverance in God's power. Once again, any victory in our personal lives belongs to the Lord, for he is the one who is working in us. Yet, this does not mean that we stand by idly. Remember when we looked at David yesterday? He went out to fight his battles, and his victory was accredited to the Lord. Notice how he did not sit inside his palace, praying that the Lord would just destroy his enemies by a pestilence. Rather, he went out and did the work. So did Joab, as we observe this morning. Joab's philosophy was not "let go and let God," it was "let's go out and fight with all that we got, because our God will work out his sovereign will according to his good plan." Surely this mindset ought to be ours as well.

In summary, let us say this: when fighting our personal battles, we ought to rely on the Lord. Yet to rely on the Lord is not synonymous with being idle. We do not passively rely on the Lord, we actively rely on him. We fight temptation with practical means, we stand up for our convictions, and persevere even when the going gets tough, all because we believe in a God who is sovereign over our condition. A correct understanding of God's sovereignty does not lead us to passivity, but rather activity. If you truly have a correct understanding on the fact that God is sovereign, your question will not be, "well then why do I have to do anything, if God has already appointed it?" but rather, "why am I sitting around so much? If God is sovereign over my condition, I have the confidence I need to go out and win the war."