9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies. 11 Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! 12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
David believes that "supernatural power supercedes natural resources." Victory comes through trusting in God rather than in man. Defeat is the result of fear. "The answers to David's problems...come through prayer and praise - a recognition of God's sovereignty."
We get intimidated by obstacles and we are tempted to rely upon human resources for success. Those resources include our minds and talents, our weekly paychecks, even others with whom we work.
Human help, in David's final opinion, is worthless! "...vain is the salvation of man!" God is in control. With him, we will have the victory!
(Quotes from A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen)
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
"Because mortifying sin is difficult, we need the help of one or two friends to engage in the struggle with us."
"In the battle of putting sin to death, we need the mutual support of one another. In the New Testament we're taught to admonish one another (Colossians 3:16), encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13), confess our sins to one another (James 5:16), bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2), and pray for one another (James 5:16)."
This life that we are trying to live CANNOT BE LIVED ALONE!! This is why we are placed in a Family!
In the past year, God has repeatedly been teaching me about the importance of the Church. And when I use the word "Church," I am not referring to one small group of people that meet in a particular location on Sunday morning. I'm referring to the Body of Christ. We are members of a Church that encompasses the entire world. I am a brother to people in China and Korea. We are all Family.
So when we meet together on Sunday morning, wherever it may be (in my case, it's a suite in a strip shopping center in Richland Hills, Texas), we take part in something that is much larger than we could ever imagine. We ARE the Body of Christ. And as members of this Body, this Family, we must hold each other up! It is imperative that we do these activities mentioned above; encouraging, admonishing, confessing, praying, etc. The passage quoted above, from Ecclesiastes, is a favorite when it comes to fellowship of believers. If I fall down, and I am alone, who will help me up? Thank God, I am not alone! I am part of a Family. And I love that Family at least as much as I love my physical family.
I am also thankful that I have victory in you! I don't have to rely on the useless and vain help of humans. We are fickle, at best, Father. Our help is worthless. But yours is all powerful and sovereign, and you are in control of all things! Blessed be your name, O Lord!
Grace and peace, friends!