2 Samuel 22:29-32
29 For you are my lamp, O LORD,
and my God lightens my darkness.
30 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
32 “For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God?
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It is verse 30 above which drew my attention to this particular passage in my reading this morning. David has clearly seen the LORD’s deliverance in a battle, and this psalm is his joy-filled response to God’s faithfulness. In the middle of the song, David declares that, if God was with him, he could attack an entire troop of soldiers on his own and be victorious. He could leap over a wall, if only God would be the one to lift him up.
The question that I feel myself asking in my heart is, “Do I believe that?” Do I really believe that, in God, I could charge a troop? Do I believe that, in God, I could leap over a tall building in a single bound? Do I truly believe that God can empower me, as his servant, to do all things as he gives me strength? I had better believe these things. I had better have such a view of God that says that all things are possible through him. Because, if I do not believe such things, I have a faith that does not honor the Lord.
David’s words above sound like the words of a fired up young believer. If I heard someone make such a declaration today, I would immediately think, “young Christian.” But this faith that God can do in my life and with my life anything he wants must not be something bound up with new Christianity. Instead, such a faith is bound up in real Christianity. Real faith in God believes that all things are possible for the one who is following the Lord. Real Christianity is not jaded by worldly thinking that limits what we believe God can do even through us.
The fact is, I feel refreshed and challenged as I read this passage this morning. God wants me to remember that, in his power, I can take on the world with the gospel. In his strength and for his glory, I can see lives, families, and nations changed. By his mighty hand, I can see a church that is vibrant and alive, actively seeking him and his kingdom before anything else. Nothing is impossible for our God except to act in opposition to his character. No deed is too difficult. No circumstance is impossible for him.
Dear Lord, I thank you for this passage this morning. Here, in your living and active, inspired and holy word, you remind me that all things are possible in you. You challenge me to open my heart to trust you to accomplish the supposedly impossible. You truly are God, and no one can stand in your way. You are able to accomplish your will, because you have the power to do anything. Please forgive me for living even a single moment without the strong confidence that David displayed in these verses. Forgive me for allowing my heart to be captured by the dull thinking of this world and what the flesh believes is possible. Please break me out of such a mold, that I might declare with David that in you, I can leap over a wall, pull down a tower, charge an army, and depopulate hell for your kingdom’s sake.
Pastor Travis Peterson 