How To Fight
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)
We all have battles to fight. As long as you live in this world, you will have battles. Those who have gone before us can all testify to this truth. We can get so overwhelmed by the circumstances we face in life that we sometimes forget that we are not fighting against what we can see. As indicated in the anchor scripture of this article, we are battling against powers and spiritual forces of evil. With this knowledge, as Christians, we don’t fight as others do. We don’t fight by trying to figure out the end from the beginning in the situation we face. We don’t fight people. However, we often lose sight of this and instead focus on what we can see. We focus on the person(s) troubling us or the situation getting in the way of the good things we had planned for our lives. Consequently, we risk investing our energy in fighting the wrong battle and aiming for the wrong target. The real battle we should be fighting is against what Satan is trying to achieve in our hearts and against our relationship with God through that person disappointing us or in that unideal circumstance.
An example of someone who understood how to fight is David. David became King Saul’s target right after he defeated Goliath. The women of the city celebrated and sang, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7, ESV)
That alone set Saul off into making it his life’s mission to pull David down. Instead of investing in David and setting him up so he could take over as king, Saul did everything to destroy him as envy consumed his heart. This resulted in David fleeing from Saul for years. At this stage, God had already chosen David to be Israel’s king and rejected Saul. David didn’t pick himself to be King; God did. David has to hold on to this truth, which influences how he fights. In this article, we will focus on two key tools David used to fight as he fled from Saul and encountered him in the Cave of Adullam. Psalm 57 and Psalm 142 are key passages that demonstrate David’s use of these tools. As Christians, we need to employ these tools.
- Fight by Relying on God through prayer.
David spent years fleeing Saul. It would have been natural for David to grow bitter and angry at Saul for the level of instability Saul’s envy inflicted upon David’s life. David could have drowned in bitterness and channelled all his energy towards hating Saul, but we don’t see this in David at all.
The Book of Psalms is filled with prayers attributed to David, which were written while he fled from King Saul. We get a glimpse into David’s agony as he fled from Saul in Psalm 57 as David prayed while he was in the cave of Adullam.
Psalm 57:1, ESV Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
Notice that David prayed to God for mercy. David understood that mercy in this battle could only come from God. He fixed his eyes on God’s ability to keep and protect him. David also stayed close to God by hiding in the “shadow of” His wings. He understood that he could withstand the “storms of destruction” with God’s protection. He wasn’t looking for another place of refuge. He would patiently wait in the Lord until “the storms of destruction pass by”.
Satan tries to prevent us from seeking God in prayer amid our battle by introducing bitterness into our hearts. He wants us to focus on lamenting the circumstance and find no refuge in prayer. He wants us to focus on how we feel. He wants us to make the storm all about us instead of God’s ability to keep and deliver us. We need to be aware of this. In prayer, we refocus on the power of God to keep us amid our trials. Prayer also reminds us that we will not succeed by taking matters into our own hands. Therefore, we must avoid seeking vengeance or our solution but instead trust in God’s justice.
Rather than kill Saul when he had the chance at the Cave of Adullam, David said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:6, ESV). He resisted the desire of his men to kill Saul. We see humility in David in that despite the chase, envy, and pain Saul inflicted upon David, David still respected Saul and recognized him as ‘The Lord’s anointed’. All this time, Satan was working on introducing pride and bitterness into David’s heart. David could have easily fallen into that trap. He was anointed, and Saul was rejected. God was with David but not with Saul. But David didn’t fall into that trap. Prayer kept him humble and kept his faith in God for justice.
Psalm 142:5-7, ESV captures David’s prayer and heart posture of relying on God for vengeance in the cave of Adullam.
5 I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me!
7 Bring me out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.
His prayer demonstrated his trust in God. Ultimately, your prayer reveals what you genuinely believe. If someone were to listen to your prayers, what would they say about your heart posture? Do your prayers align with biblical principles? Do you look to God for deliverance and understand that He is the final judge and vengeance belongs to Him?
Satan wants us to take matters into our own hands. But scripture is clear: To me belongeth vengeance and recompense (Deuteronomy 32:35, KJV).
It takes faith to trust God for justice. God’s justice doesn’t always come according to our timelines, but it will come through. Running ahead of God has never proven to be an effective strategy. It only results in additional wasted time, effort and unnecessary pain. I repeat, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. David understood this and reminded himself of this through prayer. Prayer kept his heart from going astray or growing bitter, refocusing it on God.
2. Fight by Praising God
As we continue reading in Psalm 57, we find David praising God. David understood the power of praise in the midst of trials. While hiding from Saul in the Cave of Adullam, David understood praise as a powerful tool that brings us joy amid a storm. Praise takes our eyes off the storm, circumstance, and person(s) and pushes us to sing about how great our God is. When we praise God, our battle is belittled. Praise should not be taken lightly, and most certainly was not taken lightly by David.
Psalm 57:5 ESV Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
David Guzman comments on the above: ‘It’s important to remember that David’s circumstances were not much better when he sang this song. He was delivered from the immediate danger at Gath, but a cave was a long way from the throne of Israel which God had promised him. David didn’t wait for his circumstances to change before he praised God above the heavens.’
57:10 Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds:
David’s Guzman comments on the above passage: “A cave narrows and darkens the vision of most people, but David’s heart and song soared unto the clouds. He exalted the mercy and truth of God even from difficult circumstances.”
Psalm 22:3, KJV But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
God hears our praise, and He deserves our praise. Praising God amid trials demonstrates that you genuinely believe that God can keep you and that He is in control. It keeps our hearts from becoming bitter and fearful. It resets our focus on the author of salvation (Hebrews 2:10). Satan would rather we withhold our praise. But resist, open up your heart and mouth and shout to the Lord in the midst of your trial!
Let’s remember how Paul and Silas praised God and sang hymns and how their chains fell off in Acts 16:25-26, KJV
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed.
Praise sets us free from the bondage Satan wants to introduce into our lives through the difficulty we may be facing. Satan would rather we be bitter, complain, or take on the burden of figuring things out without God’s guidance. Praise will set you free from this trap. Use it as a tool to fight. Praise doesn’t just set you free; it positively impacts others around you who are down. Not only were Paul and Silas set free, but the other prisoners were set free, too. It is a tool and weapon that should not be underestimated.
I recall the lyrics of William Murphy’s song titled “Praise is what I do’
“I vow to praise you, Through the good and the bad,
I’ll praise you, whether happy or sad.
I’ll praise you in all that I go through, because praise is what I do.
Because I owe it all to you’’
In conclusion, as Christians, we cannot effectively fight without prayer and praise. If one fails to pray, it means that they can fight their battles alone. Prayer brings us to our knees as we humbly commit the situations we face to God. If one fails to praise, the circumstance before you can grow unnecessarily large in your eyes. But by exalting God, you remind yourself that God is bigger than any mountain you may face. This is how we experience true freedom.
Prayers and Praises should be key identifiers in a Christian’s life. Your circumstances will not consume you. In the end, you’ll look back and see that indeed the hand of God was with you. Don’t give up, keep fighting, keep praying and keep praising. Shalom!
