JUNE 4 "GREAT TASTE OF VICTORY!"

      There are those that know neither the woes of defeat neither the joy of victory, they just dwell in a perpetual state of mediocrity . Who could be more qualified to write the words that are written in our text; other than David himself.  "with your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall...He trains my hands for battle....you armed me with strength for battle"  Ever wonder how David went into battle after battle and was never killed, not only was he never killed, he was never injured, not only was he never injured but he killed thousands in the process.  A warrior for God is either going to feel God's supernatural, sustaining Grace or he is going to feel abandoned. He will either kill or be killed himself in the process. David not only fought amongst warriors, he fought against barbaric, at times, demon possessed men, yet in all of his fights he was never killed, but he killed many. If I sound redundant here it is because it needs to sink in exactly what David experienced from his viewpoint and then re-read the song he has written in our text. This is not some song or poetry of a man who has taken lucid drugs and just lets his mind wonder and his hand pen fantasies, this is written from a first hand experience. David does not play video games on war, video games are made of his life. David is a man of war. David has done so much killing and shed so much blood that God won't let him build his house.

     We cannot deny that many who have consciously made a decision to enter the battle field, have been taken out by that very decision to enter in battle. Some soldiers for Christ are taken out quickly, quicker than those that know neither defeat or victory; their death is a slow death of apathy and indifference, in trying to preserve their life they have not lived. Is your relationship with God uneventful, boring and fading. Is the reality of God very distant from you? It's because you play it safe, you do not give God an opportunity to sustain you lest you die or be overcome. God can only move in your life supernaturally when you put yourself in a position "where he must".  I don't know about you, but I'd rather die a quick death on the battle field than a slow death in some comfortable retirement home.
     The key to David's confidence to go into battle is tied to his confidence in his relationship with God. Our confidence in God will always be in proportion to our security about our relationship with him. The man who is insecure about his relationship with God will lack confidence in God to provide and sustain him in times of difficulty.  David is quick to quote, "I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin...to the faithful you show yourself faithful". David's confidence to sustain him in barbaric warfare is directly tied to his confidence of his heart towards God. David understood something many Born Agains don't understand today, our favour with God does not come from living "perfect" Christian lives, it comes from having a perfect heart towards God. David lived anything but a perfect righteous life, he messed up worse than many of us may ever do, but yet his heart was always perfect towards God. Many of us will never commit the sins that David committed, but it is not because our hearts are perfect towards God, it's because we could not bare to stand up to the shame it would bring us, not so much the shame it would bring God. What keeps most of us from great sin is the knowledge of the repercussions it would bring us, to put it bluntly, we are no so foolish to commit these grievous sins that would tarnish our reputations in the church and community, but yet our hearts are not perfect towards God.  When David was right with God, he was right with God. Some of us, even when we are right with God (so to speak) we are not blameless neither are we right with God through and through, there's always little crevices of sin in the chambers of our heart.  In short, we all need the confidence that David had in God to sustain him in war and to have that we will all need that same confidence that David had, in our relationship with God, and that comes from having not a perfect life, but a perfect heart, towards God.  You may ask, "what's the difference between being perfect in living for God vs. having a heart that is perfect towards him?"  You figure that one out and when you do, it may bring an ease, to your tight rope walk, relationship with God, that you currently have.

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